Jack Palance: 1919-2006

Actor Jack Palance attends the closing night gala and screening of "72 Meters" at the Russian Nights Annual Festival of Cinema, Music, Theatre and Arts on April 22, 2004, in West Hollywood, Calif. The actor, who was born Volodymyr Palanyuk, died Friday, Nov. 10, 2006, of natural causes at his home in Montecito, Calif., surrounded by family. He was 87.

A florist places flowers on the star of actor Jack Palance on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Friday, Nov. 10, 2006. In 1992, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Actor Jack Palance, right, poses for a photograph with Billy Crystal prior to the 18th annual American Museum of the Moving Image benefit in New York Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003. The two co-starred in "City Slickers" and "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold."

Lifemasks of actors Al Pacino, left, Christopher Walken, center, and Jack Palance hang on display at the Museum of the Moving Image during the reception for the museum's exhibit, "From Penny Arcade to Megaplex: A Special Exhibition In Honor of the 100th Anniversary of Loews," Nov. 8, 2004, in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York.

After accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his touigh guy self-parody in "City Slickers," Jack Palance delighted viewers of the 1992 Academy Awards by dropping to the stage and performing one-armed push-ups to demonstrate his physical prowess.

Actor Jack Palance talks to the press following his March 20, 1992, Oscar win. Palance received two earlier supporting actor Academy Award nominations: as Lester Blaine in "Sudden Fear" (1952) and for his role as the evil gunfighter Jack Wilson in "Shane" the following year. The latter role was one that helped cement Palance's reputation as Hollywood's favorite menace.

Jack Palance is seen on the set of "City Slickers" in 1991. Palance, the craggy-faced menace in "Shane," "Sudden Fear" and other films who turned successfully to comedy in his 70s with his Oscar-winning self-parody in "City Slickers," died Friday, Nov. 10, 2006. Palance died of natural causes at his home in Montecito, Calif., surrounded by family. He was 87.

Jack Palance in a scene from the 1995 TV mini-series "Buffalo Girls." The veteran movie actor was a professional heavyweight boxer in the early 1930s, fighting under the name Jack Brazzo. That career was cut short by World War II, where Palance was wounded in combat. He received a number of medals, including the Purple Heart.

Jack Palance is shown on the set of the movie "City Slickers," May 16, 1991, a film for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Palance also appeared as Duke in the 1994 sequel, "City Slickers II."

Actor Jack Palance poses in Tehachapi, Calif., Jan. 27, 1997. Palance used his skills and threatening countenance to become a popular star for 40 years. The World War II veteran and heavyweight boxer won fame in 1953 when, dressed all in black, he gunned down a hapless farmer in the classic Western "Shane." Nearly four decades later, he won an Oscar for the comedy "City Slickers."

Jack Palance appears in costume for his role of Tursen, in "The Horseman," outside Madrid, Spain. Palance co-starred with Omar Sharif in the 1971 action/adventure film film.

Jack Palance holds his Emmy award in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles March 16, 1957. Palance won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Mountain McClintock in the Playhouse 90 production of Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight."