Facts About Jack Palance

He was great as a "low down "Yankee liar."

Jack PalancePhoto byCreative Commons:

Jack was great as a villain. To me, his signature role was that of the gunfighter, Jack Wilson, in the classic movie, Shane. Jack was also great in City Slickers, and he could do a lot of pushups in his old age. I knew he had what I will call an “interesting look,’ but felt like I had forgotten a lot of stuff about him.

So, I was inspired, sort of, to do some more research on Jack. So, here are some things you might not have known about Jack Palance.

1: Jack was of Ukrainian descent and is birth name was Volodymyr Ivanovich Palahniuk.

Since that wouldn’t fit on a marquee, he changed it to Walter Jack Palance.

2: Jack briefly worked in coal mines but escaped via athletics. Jack got a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina and also boxed professionally.

He boxed under the name Jack Brazzo, and won his first 15 fights, 12 by knockout. Actually, Jack Brazzo sounds like a really good screen name.

3: World War II put an end to Jack’s boxing career. He became a bomber pilot, being awarded numerous medals.

Jack survived his plane’s crash and burn but suffered facial burns and damage that required reconstructive surgery. It resulted in reconstructive surgery that shaped not only Jack’s face, but his career.

4: Jack was once filming a scene with Burt Lancaster that got a little too realistic. Jack accidently punched Burt in the face, and Burt responded by socking Jack in the gut.

Jack responded by throwing up. Ah, method acting.

5: He missed out on an Oscar winning part after Elia Kazan reneged on a promise to him.

Kazan reportedly promised Palance the role of Marlon Brando’s brother in Viva Zapata. Kazan went on to give the role to Anthony Quinn instead. Quinn went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actor, and Palance went on to never speak to Kazan again.

6: Richard Widmark also ran into some problems while filming a scene with Jack Palance. The scene called for Palance to pistol whip Widmark. During the rehearsals, Palance used a rubber gun. When the scene was shot Palance used a real gun. Widmark was knocked out for 20 minutes.

When asked about it, Widmark said “Why did he switch? Who knows?” I guess Palance was a stickler for realism.

7: When accepting his Oscar for his work in “City Slickers,” he took the occasion to do some one-handed pushups.

It would have been a great opportunity to introduce a workout video.

8: Palance’s big break came when he was Marlon Brando’s understudy in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

There were no reported altercations between Palance and Brando.

9: Jack grew reflective about boxing saying, “Then I thought, ‘You must be nuts to get your head beat in for $200.’

I guess Richard Widmark was making more than $200 a day when Jack hit him the head with a gun.

10: He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Shane as Jack Wilson.

He was great/menacing in the role of gun fighter/ low down Yankee liar, Jack Wilson.