Eli Herschel Wallach (born
December 7, 1915) is an American film, TV and stage
actor. Wallach was born in Brooklyn, New York, the
son of Bertha (née Schorr) and Abraham Wallach, the
only Jewish family in a mostly Italian American
neighborhood. Wallach released his autobiography The
Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage. In this
tome, Wallach talked about his most famous role as
Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He mentioned
that he didn't realize he was going to be "blessed"
with that title until he saw the film. He mentioned
it was an honor to work with Clint Eastwood, whom he
praised for his professionalism. Wallach mentioned,
however, that director Sergio Leone was notoriously
careless in ensuring the safety of his actors during
dangerous scenes. It was during filming that Wallach
accidentally drank from a bottle of acid that a film
technician had carelessly placed next to his soda
bottle. He spat it out immediately, but was furious
that his vocal cords could have been damaged if he'd
swallowed any of it. Leone gave him some milk to
wash his mouth out with and apologized for the
incident, but also commented that accidents do
happen.
Leone could not find a real cemetery that matched
his requirements so he asked his Spanish chief of
pyrotechnics to get him 250 soldiers from the
Spanish Army to build one at Carazo near Salas De
Los Infantes: it took two days."
Eli Wallach as Tuco: The
Ugly, Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria
Ramirez, a comical, oafish, fast talking
bandit who is wanted by the authorities.
Tuco manages to discover the name of the
cemetery where the gold is buried, but
he doesn't know the name of the grave -
only Blondie does. This state of affairs
forces Tuco to become reluctant partners
with Blondie. The director originally
considered Gian Maria Volonté for the
role of Tuco, but felt that the role
required someone with "natural comic
talent". In the end, Leone chose actor
Eli Wallach based on his role in How the
West Was Won (1962), in particular, his
performance in "The Railroads"
scene.Leone met with Wallach in L.A. who
was skeptical about playing this type of
character again, but after Leone
screened the opening credit sequence
from For a Few Dollars More, Wallach
said: "When do you want me?" The two men
got along famously, sharing the same
bizarre sense of humor. Leone allowed
Wallach to make changes to his character
in terms of his outfit and recurring
gestures. Both Eastwood and Van Cleef
realized that the character of Tuco was
close to Leone's heart, and director and
Wallach became good friends. Van Cleef
observed, "Tuco is the only one of the
trio the audience gets to know all
about. We meet his brother and find out
where he came from and why he became a
bandit. But Clint's character and mine
remain mysteries."
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