Jack Palance, the tough guy actor died today of natural causes at his Hollywood home. He was 87.
Palance was the legendary actor in such classic films as Panic In The Streets, Shane, The Big Knife, The Professionals, Batman, Godard’s Contempt, and um er… City Slickers, for which he won an Oscar. In between were about a thousand Italian exploitation movies and DTV crap. But part of Palance’s charm was the fact that he was fully aware of the quality of some of his work and he didn’t care who knew it. He once told a reporter “"Most of the stuff I do is garbage.” On the subject of directors he worked with he replied "Most of them shouldn't even be directing traffic."
Palance was a unique, authentic, and simply cool film presence, and he will be sorely missed.
