# Alan Arkin has passed {June 29, 2023} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [June 30, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352 "2023-06-30T15:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/21 "2023-06-30T18:06:52Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I immediately liked Arkin’s black naval uniform and copied as much of it as I could on Halloween. Forty years from now, someone’s going to get in trouble for dressing up like a certain on Halloween. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/22 "2023-06-30T18:15:38Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > He was also in one of my favorite movies - which few other people seem to like - **Catch-22.** I wouldn’t call it a favorite, but I did enjoy it. Arkin held his own amid an amazing cast of actors. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/23 "2023-06-30T18:36:54Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > I dunno why I am surprised so many other people thought “Serpentine” as well. > > Yes, not always great movies, but always good performances. > > I do love _The Return of Captain Invincible_, a superhero musical spoof. Alan started off as a singer with a folk group called The Tarriers, so he sings well. And Christopher Lee being the villain didn’t hurt either. To me _The In-Laws_ is at least in the top three comedies of all time for me. Maybe #1. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/24 "2023-06-30T20:58:22Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I saw _ **The Russians Are Coming** _ as soon as it came out. “Emergency! Everybody to get from street!” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/25 "2023-06-30T21:16:03Z")
Arkin was so damn funny, RIP. He was great. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/26 "2023-06-30T23:38:27Z")
Always liked Alan Arkin, and recently we just finished watching The Kominsky Method, reminding me all over again how great he was. Now I’ve had to watch the funeral of his fictional character in that show, followed closely by the death of Alan Arkin himself, which is an unpleasant bit of deja vu. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/27 "2023-07-01T06:14:28Z")
He was also in Glengarry Glen Ross as sad sack George Aranow. From The Russians Are Coming: “Pay mark to this, Whittaker Walt. We must have boat. Even now may be too late. This is your island; I make your responsibility. You help us get boat quickly, otherwise there is World War III, and everybody is blaming YOU!” ---
**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/28 "2023-07-01T06:40:41Z")
I also liked him in Edward Scissorhands - perfectly played a clueless automaton dad barely existing in suburban life. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/29 "2023-07-01T07:31:55Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > “Emergency! Everybody to get from street!” For me it was, “Pay mark to this, Whittaker Walt. We must have boat. Even now may be too late. This is your island; I make your responsibility. You help us get boat quickly, otherwise there is World War III, and everybody _is blaming YOU!_” ETA: Nuts. Ninjaed. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/30 "2023-07-01T07:46:11Z")
"‘There, there,’ I said, because I did not know what else to say. ‘There, there.’ ‘There, there. There, there’.” ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/31 "2023-07-01T08:02:01Z")
You sure it wasn’t _Theodore_? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/32 "2023-07-02T02:57:39Z")
> **[The Defection of Simas Kudirka (TV Movie 1978) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077418/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_84_act)** > > The Defection of Simas Kudirka: Directed by David Lowell Rich. With Alan Arkin, Richard Jordan, Donald Pleasence, George Dzundza. Based on the true story of the attempted defection in 1970 by a Lithuanian seaman seeking political asylum in the United... I remember watching this back in '78. There was one unintended (I hope) moment of hilarity when Arkin barged onto the bridge of the US ship and spoke in “English–English” instead of “Russian/Lithuanian–English.” A very dramatic scene, but he sounded like one of the Gumbys: “I so happy to BEEE here!” My brother and I (and probably everybody else watching the show) burst out laughing. We half expected him to say “MY BRAIN HURTS!” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/33 "2023-07-06T03:33:35Z")
Here’s Arkin in a video excerpt of the Second City sketch (circa 1960), “Football Comes to the U. of Chicago.” He plays a student named Alejandro Pym. Announcer and Morton Throckmorton: Eugene Troobnik. Coach: Andrew Duncan. Morgenstern: Seven Darden. [The excerpt](https://vimeo.com/195830483). At the link, listen to the audio of the compete sketch as well as “Museum Piece”, in which Arkin plays a beatnik to Barbara Harris’s museum visitor. [Second City Writhes Again!](https://archive.org/details/lp_the-second-city-writhes-again_alan-arkin-jack-burns-avery-schrieber-b) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/34 "2023-07-06T12:13:04Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > He was a gifted and versatile actor who always seemed to fit perfectly into whatever role he landed, from comedy to drama. First thing I saw him in was **The Rocketeer** , as the eccentric tinkerer who acts like — and, well, _is_ — the most _sensible_ guy in the room; he’s like Doc Brown in reverse. And he of course did it perfectly. (And, like so many other posters here, I was then blown away by **The In-Laws**.) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/35 "2023-07-06T18:58:50Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > I do love _The Return of Captain Invincible_, a superhero musical spoof. Alan started off as a singer with a folk group called The Tarriers, so he sings well. And Christopher Lee being the villain didn’t hurt either. I really love that terrible, terrible movie. I honestly did not think of that one when he died. Thank you for reminding me. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/36 "2023-07-06T21:06:25Z")
How can you not love a movie with dialogue like: > [@](#): > > See that? > > That’s Albert Einstein. > > He was a close personal > friend of mine, Patty. > > And he said to me once, he said. > > (Captain Invincible speaking > in foreign language) > > Which means that the universe, Patty, > > and time it, it goes on, goes on forever > > all the way through to eternity, > > and, and folds in on > itself in a kind of vortex, > > and then comes all the way back. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352/37 "2023-07-07T23:26:57Z")
I loved this guy. _The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming_ is a great early movie. Saw _The Last of the Red Hot Lovers_ in a old school theater in a matinee. Etc. _The Kominsky Method_ was a nice almost finale. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-has-passed-june-29-2023/986352.md?page=1)