Alan Arkin death: Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine and Argo actor dies, aged 89

Hollywood star Alan Arkin, who won an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine, has died aged 89.

The news was announced by his sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony, who shared a joint statement on behalf of the family.

They told People: “Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed.”

He died at his home in Carlsbad, California on Friday (30 June).

Arkin’s illustrious career began in 1957, with his first notable screen credit arriving in Norman Jewison’s 1966 Best Picture nominee The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

For the film, he received his first of two Oscar nominations for Best Actor, the second of which followed in 1969 for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

He would have to wait almost 40 years for his next nomination, which was Best Supporting Actor for the comedy drama Little Miss Sunshine (2007). Arkin won the trophy, as well as a Bafta, and received a fourth Oscar nomination in 2013 for Ben Affleck’s Argo.

In the 1960s, Brooklyn-born Arkin, who first started taking acting lessons age 10, was a member of the Second City compedy troupe, and made his debut on Broadway in a production of From the Second City.

He also received a Tony nomination for his role of David Kolowitz in Joseph Stein‘s 1963 comedy Enter Laughing.

Also in the 1960s, Arkin starred in psychological thriller Wait Until Dark opposite Audrey Hepburn, and took over as Inspector Clouseau in the third Pink Panther film when Peter Sellers quit the role.

His high-profile credits in the 1970s included the Joseph Heller adaptation Catch-22, in which he played Captain John Yossarian, and comedy film The In-Laws, which he starred in alongside Peter Falk.

He earned an Emmy Award-nomination for his role in 1987 TV film Escape from Sobibor, which told the story of a mass escape from a Nazi concentration camp.

The 1990s saw roles in Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands and cult Disney film The Rocketeer, as well as the film adaptation of David Mamet’s play Glengarry Glenn Ross starring Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino and Kevin Spacey.

He also appeared opposite John Cusack and Minnie Driver in comedy Grosse Pointe Blank and Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke in the science-fiction drama Gattaca.

After winning his Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine in 2008, a moment that saw him become the sixth oldest Best Supporting Actor recepient, Arkin said: “More than anything, I’m deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received, which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth, and connection.”

In the film, he played the foul-mouthed father of Greg Kinnear’s Richard, who drives his dysnfuctional family on a road trip so that his daughter cancompete in a child beauty pageant.

Shortly after his role of the Hollywood agent Lester Siegel in Affleck’s Best Picture winner Argo, Arkin found more success on TV. He voiced JD Saligner in Netflix’s acclaimed adult animation BoJack Horseman, and received two Emmy nomintions for his role in The Kominsky Method.

During his lifetime, Arkin, who also wrote and performed as part of a folk group, married three times: Jeremy Yaffe (1955-1961), with whom he had sons Adam and Matthew; Barabara Dana (1964-1994), with whom he had son Anthony; and, most recently, psychotherapist Suzanne Newlander, whom he married in 1996.