Actor Jack Palance (Vladimir Palagniuk): biography, films

In the city of Latimer, Pennsylvania, on February 18, 1919, in the family of workers who came from Ukraine, Vladimir's son was born. The father of the future celebrity is Ivan Palagniuk, a native of the village of Ivan-Zolot in the Ternopil region, and his mother comes from the Lviv region. Years passed, and Vladimir Palagniuk became Jack Pelence. Under this name, he entered the history of American and world cinema.

Youth

When Americans want to celebrate the strength of the individual and express respect for the person's life path, they say: "This person has made himself." This statement absolutely correctly characterizes an outstanding American actor. Jack Palance, a biography that is no less harsh than his stage image, really made himself. His difficult life began with a coal mine, where he was forced to go to work to help his parents make ends meet. The boy from the family of poor emigrants was not easy to survive on the street among his peers, so he had to wave his fists to protect himself.

Professional boxing

Later, the method of protection grew into occupation by professional boxing. Jack Palance as a boxer reached a fairly high level in the heavyweight division. According to some reports, he broke the record in boxing at that time in the number of uninterrupted victories, most of which ended in a knockout. During his sporting career, Palagniuc was known under the pseudonym Jack Brazzo. In one of the fights, he was seriously injured in the throat, resulting in the actor Jack Palance had a husky voice, which later became one of his business cards.

Military years

When the Second World War began, Jack did not stand aside and went to the service in the US Air Force. During one of the training missions, his bomber suddenly flared up. Escaping from the flames of the aircraft, Jack received serious burns to his face, but still managed to jump out with a parachute. Ahead of the hero awaited painful plastic surgery and prolonged treatment. On recovery, Jack Palens returned to the service in military aviation again. For his participation in the fighting, he was repeatedly awarded, including the "Purple Heart", therefore, demobilized in 1944, he returned to his homeland as a hero. As the actor later recalled, the scars that remained on his face always served as a reminder of that terrible wartime. However, in the eyes of the viewer they only added masculinity to his image.

The path to acting career

In the postwar years, Jack Palence did not return to the sporting career, but decided to devote himself to acting. Therefore, taking advantage of the benefits of a veteran of the war, he received an excellent education at Stanford University in the faculty of acting. Making a living during his studies as a simple worker, security guard, and restaurant employees, Palance always aspired to self-improvement, so he was a fully educated person. He was fluent in six languages: native English, Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, French and Spanish.

Broadway

Palance's debut as an actor took place on the Broadway scene in the pioneering production of the classic "Tram of Desires". At first he got a small role, and Stanley Kowalski's character was performed by Marlon Brando. Later this character was played by Jack Palance. In 1948, Jack was engaged in the performances "Temporary Island" and "All-night Vigil". After a brilliant acting in these productions, he receives approval from critics and a leading role in the play "Darkness at Noon." For his work in it, he received a worldwide theater prize "Perspective Actor". Recognition of theater critics helped Palance conclude a lucrative contract with the film studio Twentieth Century Fox. So began his film career.

Hostage of the image

Despite the fact that Jack was a gentle and kind person, the scars on his face, left after the war, and a hoarse voice added to his image of a certain brutality. Therefore, the directors offered the actor mostly negative roles. Debut in cinematography was the role of an outrageous bandit in the movie "Panic in the street." Recognized as an actor in the genre of the western, where he had to play mainly the terrible bandits of the Wild West, Palance later regretted that his arsenal had few decent roles and had to play mostly garbage. Viewers, on the other hand, liked the villainous villains in his performance, like, for example, the vampire Count Dracula in the movie "Dracula" in 1973, or the pirate John Silver from the film "Treasure Island" in 1999. European viewer Palance is also known as a dramatic actor. In the film "Cafe Bagdad" he showed his best acting qualities as an eccentric spiritual artist. This image was completely unlike the usual cowboy style of the hero of the Wild West. One of his best works in European cinema is the role of Jeremy Prokos in the film "Contempt" in 1963. In this film drama, his partner on the set was still very young actress Brigitte Bardot.

Jack Pelence (films)

The winner of the Golden Globe and Emmy awards, Pelas was repeatedly nominated for an Oscar and received it only in 1992 for his role in the comedy City dudes. In his characteristic image of a harsh manner, he played an elderly, but from this no less intimidating for city dwellers of the Wild West. As the actor later admitted, he always wanted to appear in comedies, so he gladly took up this role and had plenty of fun over his screen stereotype. Palance's main works in films are roles in the films Tango and Kesh, Young Arrows, Dracula, War Games, Treasure Island, Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow, Batman, and Che. Until the last Jack tried to keep a good physical shape, therefore at the Oscar ceremony he caused a standing ovation when at the age of 72 years he squeezed four times on one hand.

last years of life

Until the last days, Palance continued to work. Taking advantage of the opportunity to change the role after the movie "Urban dudes", he starred in several television comedies. Also with pleasure he took part in concerts and events organized by Ukrainian communities in the United States. Jack loved the culture of his small homeland and especially folk Ukrainian songs. Therefore, despite his hoarse voice, he happily performed them. Once in an interview he confessed that one of his dreams remained unfulfilled - this is the role of Taras Bulba. The actor died at the age of 87, on November 10, 2006 in Minnesota, California, leaving behind a rich inheritance in the form of wonderful roles for all fans of the cinema. Close actor knew how much creativity meant to him. Therefore, after Palance's death, a scholarship was approved for his novice actors at the University of Pennsylvania.