Alan Arkin

Alan Arkin accepts the Oscar for best supporting actor for his work in "Little Miss Sunshine" during the 79th Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles Feb. 25, 2007.

Alan Arkin and John Phillip Law played Russian sailors whose submarine runs aground off the shore of Massachusetts in "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" (1966). Arkin was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. The film's most memorable line: "Emergency! Everybody to get from street!"

Alan Arkin was born March 26, 1934, in New York City. Here, in 1966, he is shown with then-wife, actress and writer Barbara Dana, eating at a clam bar. The following year, he would depart from his "Russians!" comic persona to play a thief who terrorizes a blind woman (Audrey Hepburn) in the movie "Wait Until Dark."

Alan Arkin started his career as a singer and songwriter in the '50s, making children's albums with a group called The Babysitters. He also worked as a folk singer. But he has said he knew he wanted to be an actor since he was 5 years old, and he got his comic training as an early member of Chicago's Second City troupe.

Alan Arkin, Antonio Banderas and Eion Bailey attended the premiere of the film "And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself" Aug. 18, 2003, in New York City. Throughout his movie career, Arkin has often re-invented himself. In 1968, after starring in "Russians!" and "Wait Until Dark," he earned a second Oscar nomination playing a sensitive deaf-mute in "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."

Here is another shot of Alan Arkin at the "Pancho Villa" premiere Aug. 18, 2003. To many moviegoers, his best-known role is that of Capt. Yossarian in "Catch-22" (1970). But after that, he didn't do much film work until his turn as Sigmund Freud in "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" (1976).

Alan Arkin was on hand Jan. 20, 2006, for the premiere of "Little Miss Sunshine" during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. He sinks his teeth into the role of Grandpa, foul of mouth and soft of heart, who coaches his granddaughter in all her "moves" for the pageant.

"Little Miss Sunshine" had the honor of being screened July 2, 2006, on the closing night of the Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF). Among those attending were, from left, actor Paul Dano, producer Albert Berger, producer Ron Yerxa, producer David Friendly, actor Alan Arkin, actress Abigail Breslin, directors Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris and actor Greg Kinnear. (The VW van plays its own part in the movie.)

The summer of 2006 was a busy one for the cast of "Little Miss Sunshine." Here, Arkin "chokes around" at the New York premiere with Abigail Breslin, who plays his granddaughter, Olive, in the film. Arkin himself has three sons, two of whom (Adam and Tony) are also actors. And he does have a granddaughter, too.

Alan Arkin appears on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" Oct. 24, 2006, in Los Angeles. In addition to his careers as an actor and a singer/songwriter, Arkin has written several books -- some science fiction and children's stories.

"An Evening With Alan Arkin" was the title of an event, sponsored by Fox Searchlight Pictures, at New York's Lincoln Center on Dec. 19, 2006. It included a live onstage interview, interspersed with film clips to illustrate his career, and then a special screening of "Little Miss Sunshine."

Here is Alan Arkin on Dec. 20, 2006, the day after the Lincoln Center event. He has said that he wants to live "as quietly as humanly possible," and his home base is in New Mexico, near Albuquerque, where he has been given the name "Grey Wolf" by some Native American friends.

Actors Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin of the film "Little Miss Sunshine" pose backstage at the 18th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival 2007 Gala Awards Presentation with their Chairman's Vanguard Award on Jan. 6, 2007.

Alan Arkin served as a presenter Jan. 12, 2007, at the 12th Annual Critics' Choice Awards in Santa Monica, Calif.

At the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, the whole cast of "Little Miss Sunshine" won the award for best ensemble. Here, Alan Arkin is shown backstage in the press room Jan. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles.

Greg Kinnear, left, Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin accept their award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for their work in "Little Miss Sunshine" at the 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. Cast member Steve Carell looks on at left.

Shown in a scene from "Little Miss Sunshine" are, from left, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, Abigail Breslin and Toni Collette. The movie was directed by the husband-and-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.