Actor Jack Palance dies.

November 10, 2006 3:37 PM

RIP, Jack.
posted by bz (77 comments total)

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posted by jettloe at 3:41 PM on November 10, 2006

whatever, I don't believe it.
posted by mcsweetie at 3:45 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by octothorpe at 3:47 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by about_time at 3:47 PM on November 10, 2006

Jack, you are.. my numbah one.... guy!

The best I've seen so far is Harry Knowles comment:

"Palance was a man that it looked like he was carved of clay by the gods of old. His type isn't around these days - he will be missed."

Resquiescat in pace, friend.
posted by elendil71 at 3:48 PM on November 10, 2006

The man did one-handed push-ups in his seventies ffs.

Class act.
posted by bardic at 3:51 PM on November 10, 2006

Hats off to an excellent career. Well down, Mr. Palance.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:52 PM on November 10, 2006

Don't worry, I'm sure his secret twin brother will explain this all to us shortly.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 3:53 PM on November 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

Believe it... or not.
posted by Eideteker at 3:53 PM on November 10, 2006

go ahead pick it up.



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posted by nola at 3:56 PM on November 10, 2006

That's too bad. I remember when he hosted Ripley's Believe It or Not in the '80s: "Believe it....ssssssssssssOR NOT!"

(Sorry...how the hell do you use text to show his signature style of enunciating?)

See ya Jack.
posted by sharpener at 3:59 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by brundlefly at 4:01 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by googlebombed at 4:03 PM on November 10, 2006

/wipes away tear at the loss of a great man.

He was in Tango and Cash for God sakes. And City Slickers.

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posted by quin at 4:04 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by papercake at 4:05 PM on November 10, 2006

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One of the best Oscar moments ever.
posted by Ruki at 4:06 PM on November 10, 2006

my favorite mongol.
posted by Busithoth at 4:09 PM on November 10, 2006

He could STILL kick your ass.

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posted by Kickstart70 at 4:10 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by dragstroke at 4:10 PM on November 10, 2006

I really liked him as the lean, wolfish gunfighter in Shane. I was even rooting for him over Shane.
posted by vacapinta at 4:13 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by mike3k at 4:13 PM on November 10, 2006

Now there's a Bad Guy power vacuum in Hollywood.
posted by The Power Nap at 4:14 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by feelinglistless at 4:16 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by moonbird at 4:16 PM on November 10, 2006

i thought he was already dead.
posted by GoodJob! at 4:18 PM on November 10, 2006

Jack Williamson, the the Dean of Science Fction, died today as well.
posted by RichardP at 4:20 PM on November 10, 2006

I shit biggern' you.
posted by LondonYank at 4:21 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by keswick at 4:27 PM on November 10, 2006

Palance's place in history is assured following his searing portrayal of Xenos in Gor and Outlaw of Gor.
posted by meehawl at 4:28 PM on November 10, 2006

*salutes*
posted by jonmc at 4:30 PM on November 10, 2006

Oh yeah, and Hawk the Slayer ruled as well!
posted by meehawl at 4:30 PM on November 10, 2006

Things to Come

/watch that girder, Lomax
posted by squidfartz at 4:31 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by Faint of Butt at 4:31 PM on November 10, 2006

Now there's a Bad Guy power vacuum in Hollywood.

I nominate Carrottop (seriously...is there anything scarier mentally or physically than what he's now become?).
posted by Kickstart70 at 4:33 PM on November 10, 2006

Palance's place in history is assured following his searing portrayal of Xeno

Feh. Xeno might be a little ruby in his impressive crown, but the role that guaranteed him a throne among the stars was Voltan in Hawk the Slayer.

I bumped into him on a sidewalk in Jackson Hole in the summer of 1987, when I was working in a dining room in Yellowstone. He had a powder blue suit and a bolo tie and he blotted out the sun.
posted by mph at 4:34 PM on November 10, 2006 [3 favorites]

oops, I meant Omus
posted by squidfartz at 4:35 PM on November 10, 2006

Hawk: VVVOOOLLLTTAAAANNNNNNNNNN, you will DIIEEEEEE by my SWOOOOOOOORD!

On being struck down Palance/Voltan's response was: I WILL WAIT FOR YOU AT THE GATES OF HELL!

I may have watched this movie one too many times during my impressionable years.
posted by meehawl at 4:41 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by Smart Dalek at 5:00 PM on November 10, 2006

Believe it, or not...

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posted by Samizdata at 5:01 PM on November 10, 2006

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:(
posted by perilous at 5:06 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:12 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by effwerd at 5:17 PM on November 10, 2006

meh.
posted by unmake at 5:33 PM on November 10, 2006

=(


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posted by cholly at 5:36 PM on November 10, 2006

"The man ate bacon at every meal! You can't do that!"

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posted by killy willy at 5:44 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by JWright at 5:47 PM on November 10, 2006

I met him once. I was about ten. Meeting him, I suddenly desperately wanted his autograph and took off my belt. He autographed it. Don't know the moral of this story. Nice guy.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:47 PM on November 10, 2006

Dear Lord, we give you Jack Palance. Try not to piss him off.
posted by padraigin at 5:49 PM on November 10, 2006 [5 favorites]

This is a little bit embarassing to admit, but ... I was under the assumption that Jack Palance died years ago. So I actually felt good after reading that he only died just now.

Shane, great movie. Sorry he's gone for real this time.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 5:51 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by owhydididoit at 5:52 PM on November 10, 2006

I mean, I felt good that he had a few more years than I thought he had.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 5:52 PM on November 10, 2006

He was so great in Panic in the Streets. That scene on the stairwell contains one of the few truly shocking moments I've seen in a Hollywood movie.

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posted by maryh at 5:52 PM on November 10, 2006

I thought this was going to be Jack LaLanne. Jesus, hurry up.
posted by fire&wings at 5:57 PM on November 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

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posted by gcbv at 5:59 PM on November 10, 2006

"LaLanne" nothing; I thought this was for Jack Williamson—I may post him to the front page.
posted by cgc373 at 6:03 PM on November 10, 2006

This is a little bit embarassing to admit, but ... I was under the assumption that Jack Palance died years ago.

Good to know it wasn't just me, then.
posted by jrossi4r at 6:40 PM on November 10, 2006

After reading his real name was Volodymir Ivanovich Palahniuk, I can't help but wonder if he's related to Chuck. Probably distantly back in some Ukranian past.
posted by mediareport at 6:51 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by evilcolonel at 7:00 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by rougy at 7:19 PM on November 10, 2006

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I thought he died 6 years ago, though.
posted by frecklefaerie at 7:24 PM on November 10, 2006

If you're not satisfied with my best then that's too fucking bad ...
posted by bwg at 7:27 PM on November 10, 2006

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He was the meanest guy who ever lived. [audio]
posted by ktrey at 7:35 PM on November 10, 2006

In his youth, he was incredibly menacing film villain. Watch his rodent-like performance in Panic in the Streets for an example. At the end of the film, he is actually running along the wooden supports under the New Orleans pier and shimmying up the mooring lines of nearby ships like some rabid rat.

God, I loved me some Jack Palance. RIP.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:36 PM on November 10, 2006

I loved this guy! Palance is the man. RIP.
posted by stinkycheese at 8:41 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by DragonBoy at 8:54 PM on November 10, 2006

I haven't much of his work, but the two that I have - City Slickers and Batman - convinced me utterly that he was truly one of the last of the True Tough Guys. What a great character and actor. WWII veteran, too. RIP, Jack.
posted by davidmsc at 8:55 PM on November 10, 2006

Bummer, but it does go to show that not all the good guys died young.

He was a tough guy's tough guy. And a unique individual. He will be missed.

UrineSoakedRube, I thought the same thing, don't feel too bad.
posted by fenriq at 9:03 PM on November 10, 2006

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posted by ab3 at 9:30 PM on November 10, 2006

Palance's 1968 TV portrayal of Mr. Hyde was the best (or worst, depending on your POV) on any screen.
posted by cenoxo at 10:23 PM on November 10, 2006

Dear Jack; my whole life you were there, but I loved ya best for playing the painter in Baghdad Cafe.

I didn't buy the "one thing" is "honesty" ploy. Have fun painting nipples in heaven.
posted by Twang at 12:21 AM on November 11, 2006

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posted by tomcosgrave at 6:55 AM on November 11, 2006

How strange. I recently saw him in Kazan's first film for Hollywood in 1950 Panic in the Streets, in which he plays a sociopathic hoodlum carrying bubonic plague. You can't really take your eyes off him. He's a film noir director's or comic book artist's wet dream of a creepy hoodlum. The closest thing to a human shark I've ever seen and an inspired bit of casting. (on a sidenote the film was filmed on the New Orleans waterfront with lots of dock workers and you really see Kazan taking notes for the masterpieces he would make in the future w/ On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire).

Anhow, goodbye Jack you were an original.

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posted by Skygazer at 7:20 AM on November 11, 2006

Jack always had that look that said "I come from a time and place that precedes all your bullshit"

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posted by reality at 7:23 AM on November 11, 2006

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My favourite Palance moment has to be his big speech in Tango and Cash. "Ray Tango...how he loves to dance!", etc.

RIP, Yves Perret.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:28 AM on November 11, 2006

Astro Zombie: In his youth, he was incredibly menacing film villain. Watch his rodent-like performance in Panic in the Streets for an example. At the end of the film, he is actually running along the wooden supports under the New Orleans pier and shimmying up the mooring lines of nearby ships like some rabid rat.

Like totally dude. Zero Mostel was excellent in that film too as his lackey.

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posted by Skygazer at 7:32 AM on November 11, 2006

snif.

And by "snif," I mean "sniiiiiiiiiiifffffffffffff ahhhh."
posted by Alt F4 at 7:33 PM on November 11, 2006

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posted by cass at 11:04 AM on November 13, 2006