--- name: "Jack Palance" canonical: "https://film.one/person/jack-palance" fi1m_id: "jack-palance" imdb_id: "nm0001588" tmdb_id: 3785 wikidata_id: "Q193653" roles: ["Actor"] born: "18 February 1919" died: "10 November 2006" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 80 average_as: "actor" average_over: 4 updated: "2026-09-26T15:07:01.743115+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Jack Palance ## Identity Jack Palance - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jack-palance - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** jack-palance - **IMDb ID:** nm0001588 - **TMDB ID:** 3785 - **Wikidata ID:** Q193653 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Palance, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193653, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001588/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3785 Actor. Born 18 February 1919 in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 10 November 2006. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 18 February 1919, Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, USA - **Died:** 10 November 2006 - **Active:** 1953–1991 - **Also known as:** Walter Jack Palance, Walter Palance, Jack Brazzo, Джек Пеланс, Джек Паланс, Володимир Палагнюк, Джек Пэланс, Джак Паланс, Џек Паланс, Τζακ Πάλανς, Wolodymyr Iwanowitsch Palagnjuk, جک پالانس - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated) - **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as actor, over 4 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 83 (1), 1960s 86 (1), 1980s 77 (1), 1990s 76 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 80 to 74 across 4 titles - **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 4 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 2, Western 2, Action 1, Comedy 1, Crime 1, Fantasy 1 - **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $611m across 4 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Palance, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193653, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001588/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3785 ## Streaming the US now - **The Roku Channel:** [*Contempt*](https://film.one/film/contempt.md) (86) - **Apple TV:** [*Shane*](https://film.one/film/shane.md) (83) - **HBO Max:** [*Batman*](https://film.one/film/batman.md) (77) - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*City Slickers*](https://film.one/film/city-slickers.md) (76) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Jack Palance > Jack Palance stood still and let the face do the work. For forty years that made him the man nobody wanted to see ride into town; in *City Slickers* it made him the funniest thing on screen, and he scarcely had to speak. Watch Curly Washburn on his horse in *City Slickers* (1991) while Billy Crystal and his friends talk. The city men fill every silence, because silence frightens them, and Palance does nothing. He does not shift in the saddle, he does not react, and the gap between their noise and his stillness is the joke. Ron Underwood understood that a tough cowboy beside men who talk their way through discomfort needs no extra help, and Palance gave him none; his restraint left the others something solid to push against. It was a face built for the job, gaunt and unreadable, with a voice like gravel under a boot, and he had been putting it to use since 1950. Before acting he boxed professionally as Jack Brazzo, and gave it up, by his own account, when he decided he must be nuts to get his head beat in for two hundred dollars. On Broadway he understudied and then replaced Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski, which tells you what sort of presence casting directors saw in him. Elia Kazan put him on film as Blackie in *Panic in the Streets* (1950), and within three years he had played a murderous husband in *Sudden Fear* (1952) and the hired gun Jack Wilson in *Shane* (1953). Hollywood then did what Hollywood does with a face like that, and cast him as the threat for the next two decades. From the late 1950s he worked a great deal in Europe, most memorably as the producer Jeremy Prokosch in Godard's *Contempt* (1963), and made two films with Robert Aldrich. There were also spaghetti westerns, international co-productions and, by the 1980s, a run of cheap action films that few critics bothered to see, along with four years as a television host. In Tim Burton's *Batman* (1989) he is the crime boss Grissom, and our review gave the louder moments to Jack Nicholson and did not linger on him, which is fair; the film does not give him much to be still about. *City Slickers* did. We laughed at Curly more than we expected to, and it was almost never a line; it was Underwood cutting back to that face while the tenderfeet chattered, and the face declining to move. The part works because Palance plays it exactly as he played Wilson in *Shane*, and the film lets the audience notice. Where the script insists on a life lesson, Palance has usually already made the point by saying nothing, and some of the more emphatic gags around him feel unnecessary as a result. If you have only seen the later, crustier Palance, go back to *Shane* first and then watch *City Slickers* in the same week. It is the same man, and the second film knows it. ## Biography Jack Palance was an American actor. Born Volodymyr Palahniuk on 18 February 1919 in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, he served in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. He briefly attended Stanford University before beginning a career in the theatre and making his film debut in *Panic in the Streets* (1950). Palance received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in *Sudden Fear* (1952) and *Shane* (1953), winning the award almost 40 years later for his performance as Curly Washburn in *City Slickers* (1991). He appeared in films including *The Professionals* (1966), *Young Guns* (1988), *Batman* (1989), *Tango & Cash* (1989) and *The Swan Princess* (1994), and hosted the ABC series *Ripley's Believe It or Not!* (1982–1986). Palance died on 10 November 2006. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) - *City Slickers* (1991), Fi1m 76, as Curly Washburn — [page](https://film.one/film/city-slickers.md) - *Batman* (1989), Fi1m 77, as Grissom — [page](https://film.one/film/batman.md) - *Contempt* (1963), Fi1m 86, as Jeremy Prokosch — [page](https://film.one/film/contempt.md) - *Shane* (1953), Fi1m 83, as Jack Wilson — [page](https://film.one/film/shane.md) ## Complete filmography (136) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Bardot mystery* (2012), Actor - *Back When We Were Grownups* (2004), as Paul 'Poppy' Davitch - *Living with the Dead* (2002), as Allan Van Praagh - *Living with the Dead* (2002), series, as Allan Van Praagh - *Prancer Returns* (2001), Actor - *The Omen Legacy* (2001), as Narrator (voice) - *Night Visions* (2001), series, as Jake Jennings (segment "Bitter Harvest") - *Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End* (1999), as John Witting - *Joe D'Amato Totally Uncut - The Erotic Experience* (1999), as (archive footage) - *Treasure Island* (1999), as Long John Silver - *Ebenezer* (1998), as Ebenezer Scrooge - *The Incredible Adventures of Marco Polo* (1998), as Beelzebub - *I'll Be Home For Christmas* (1997), as Bob Greiser - *Monster Mania* (1997), as Host - *Buffalo Girls* (1995), as Bartle Bone - *The Swan Princess* (1994), as Lord Rothbart (voice) - *City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold* (1994), as Duke Page - *The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics* (1994), as Dr. Jeremy Wheaton (segment "Where the Dead Are") - *Cops & Robbersons* (1994), as Jake Stone - *Cyborg 2* (1993), as Mercy - *Legends of the West* (1992), as Host / Self - Judge Roy Bean · Executive Producer - *Solar Crisis* (1992), as Travis - *When It Was a Game 2* (1992), as Passage Narrator (voice) - *Keep the Change* (1992), as Overstreet - *Horror of the Hungry Humongous Hungan* (1991), as Opening Narration (voice) - *City Slickers* (1991), as Curly Washburn — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/city-slickers.md) - *Tango & Cash* (1989), as Yves Perret - *Batman* (1989), as Grissom — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/batman.md) - *Outlaw of Gor* (1988), as Xeno - *Young Guns* (1988), as L. G. Murphy - *Bagdad Cafe* (1987), as Rudi Cox - *Gor* (1987), as Xenos - *George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey* (1985), as (archive footage) - *Alone in the Dark* (1982), as Frank Hawkes - *Ripley's Believe It or Not!* (1982), series, as Host - *The Helm of Destiny* (1982), as Narration - *Psychic Confession* (1982), as Narrator - *Evil Stalks This House* (1981), as Stokes - *Without Warning* (1980), as Joe Taylor - *Hawk the Slayer* (1980), as Voltan - *The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story* (1980), as Whitey Robinson - *The Ivory Ape* (1980), as Marc Kazarian - *The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang* (1979), as Will Smith - *Cocaine Cowboys* (1979), as Raphael - *Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Planet of the Slave Girls* (1979), as Kaleel - *Buck Rogers in the 25th Century* (1979), series, as Kaleel - *Portrait of a Hitman* (1979), as Jim Buck - *The Shape of Things to Come* (1979), as Omus - *Angels' Brigade* (1979), as Mike Farrell - *The One Man Jury* (1978), as Lieutenant Wade - *National Geographic: The Volga* (1977), as Narrator (voice) - *Welcome to Blood City* (1977), as Frendlander - *Kolossal - The Magnificent Macisti* (1977), Actor - *Blood and Bullets* (1976), as Duke - *Rulers of the City* (1976), as Scarface' Manzari - *Black Cobra* (1976), as Judas Carmichael - *The Cop in Blue Jeans* (1976), as Norman Shelley / Richard J. Russo - *God's Gun* (1976), as Sam Clayton - *Safari Express* (1976), as van Daalen - *The Sensuous Nurse* (1975), as Mr. Kitch - *Rickles* (1975), Actor - *Africa Express* (1975), as Robert Preston / Willaim Hunter - *The Four Deuces* (1975), as Vic Morono, the Boss - *Bronk* (1975), series, as Lt. Alex Bronkov - *The Great Adventure* (1975), as William Bates - *The Hatfields and the McCoys* (1975), as Devil Anse Hatfield - *The Godchild* (1974), as Rourke - *Dracula* (1974), as Dracula - *Craze* (1974), as Neal Mottram - *Oklahoma Crude* (1973), as Hellman - *Brothers Blue* (1973), as Hillman - *Father Jackleg* (1972), as Buck Santini - *Chato's Land* (1972), as Quincey Whitmore - *It Can Be Done Amigo* (1972), as Sonny Bronston - *The Horsemen* (1971), as Tursen - *The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour* (1971), series, Actor - *Compañeros* (1970), as John - *Monte Walsh* (1970), as Chet Rollins - *The McMasters* (1970), as Kolby - *Battle of the Commandos* (1969), as Charley MacPherson - *Che!* (1969), as Fidel Castro - *Marquis de Sade: Justine* (1969), as Antonin - *A Bullet for Rommel* (1969), as Major John Heston - *The Desperados* (1969), as Parson Josiah Galt - *The Mercenary* (1968), as Ricciolo ("Curly") - *Madigan's Millions* (1968), as Matteo Cirini (voice) (uncredited) - *They Came to Rob Las Vegas* (1968), as Douglas - *The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1968), as Dr. Jekyll / Mr.Hyde - *Kill a Dragon* (1967), as Rick Masters - *Torture Garden* (1967), as Ronald Wyatt (segment 4 "The Man Who Collected Poe") - *The Dinosaur and the Baby* (1967), as Jeremy Prokosch (archive footage) - *The Spy in the Green Hat* (1967), as Louis Strago - *And Still Champion! The Story of Archie Moore* (1967), as Narrator (voice) - *Alice Through the Looking Glass* (1966), as Jabberwock - *The Professionals* (1966), as Jesus Raza - *Convoy* (1965), series, as Harvey Bell - *Run for Your Life* (1965), series, as Julian Hays - *Once a Thief* (1965), as Walter Pedak - *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.* (1964), series, as Louis Strago - *Contempt* (1963), as Jeremy Prokosch — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/contempt.md) - *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1963), series, Director - *Warriors Five* (1962), as Jack - *Night Train to Milan* (1962), as Herr Bauer / Schneider - *Barabbas* (1961), as Torvald - *The Last Judgment* (1961), as Matteoni - *The Mongols* (1961), as Ogataï - *Sword of the Conqueror* (1961), as Alboino - *The Barbarians* (1960), as Revak - *Austerlitz* (1960), as Gen. Weirother - *Beyond All Limits* (1959), as Jim Gatsby - *Ten Seconds to Hell* (1959), as Eric Koertner - *The Man Inside* (1958), as Milo March - *House of Numbers* (1957), as Arnie Judlow / Bill Judlow - *The Death of Manolete* (1957), as Manolete - *The Lonely Man* (1957), as Jacob Wade - *The Last Tycoon* (1957), as Monroe Stahr - *Requiem for a Heavyweight* (1956), as Harlan 'Mountain' McClintock - *Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre* (1956), series, as Dan Morgan - *Playhouse 90* (1956), series, as Harlan 'Mountain' McClintock - *Attack* (1956), as Joe Costa - *I Died a Thousand Times* (1955), as Roy Earle / Roy Collins - *The Big Knife* (1955), as Charles Castle - *Kiss of Fire* (1955), as El Tigre - *The Silver Chalice* (1954), as Simon The Magician - *Sign of the Pagan* (1954), as Attila - *Man in the Attic* (1953), as Slade - *Flight to Tangier* (1953), as Gil Walker - *Arrowhead* (1953), as Toriano - *Second Chance* (1953), as Cappy Gordon - *Shane* (1953), as Jack Wilson — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/shane.md) - *Sudden Fear* (1952), as Lester Blaine - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as John, Paul 'Poppy' Davitch - *Halls of Montezuma* (1951), as Pigeon Lane - *Panic in the Streets* (1950), as Blackie - *Suspense* (1949), series, as Tom Walker, Count Alessandro di Cagliostro - *Studio One* (1948), series, as Arky ## Gallery - ![Jack Palance](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-f8e5f6888e6f.jpg) Jack Palance — 20th Century Fox, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Jack_Palance_-_1954_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Jack Palance](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-5ec14ad4945a.jpg) Jack Palance — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Badham_Palance_1974.jpg/1280px-Badham_Palance_1974.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Constance Smith & Jack Palance in Man in the Attic - cropped screenshot (1953)](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-302254f44ccb.jpg) Constance Smith & Jack Palance in Man in the Attic - cropped screenshot (1953) — film screenshot (20th Century Fox), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Constance_Smith-Jack_Palance_in_Man_in_the_Attic.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Screenshot from the trailer of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973)](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-7ef3cff141b9.png) Screenshot from the trailer of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973) — EMI Film Distributors Limited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Dracula_%281973%29.png/1280px-Dracula_%281973%29.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Jack Palance](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-c9638b94dc6c.jpg) Jack Palance — Image via TMDB - ![Jack Palance](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-b53467ebce76.jpg) Jack Palance — Image via TMDB - ![Jack Palance](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-663549ceb6ce.jpg) Jack Palance — Image via TMDB - ![Screenshot from the trailer of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973)](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-876892ef2f48.png) Screenshot from the trailer of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973) — EMI Film Distributors Limited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Dracula_%281973%29_-_Jack_Palance_1.png/1280px-Dracula_%281973%29_-_Jack_Palance_1.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Screenshot from the trailer of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973)](https://film.one/media/person/79853/gallery-7d7ef03e2c01.png) Screenshot from the trailer of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1973) — EMI Film Distributors Limited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Dracula_%281973%29_-_Jack_Palance_2.png/1280px-Dracula_%281973%29_-_Jack_Palance_2.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated - 1992: Best Supporting Actor (won), for *City Slickers* - 1954: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Shane* - 1953: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Sudden Fear* ### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won - 1957: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (won), for *Playhouse 90* ### Other awards — 1 won - Theatre World Award 1951: Theatre World Award (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jack-palance