Today we saw the passing of the toughest man ever to grace any movie screen with his presence. Jack Palance died today at the age of 87, in his home in Montecito, CA of natural causes. Jack, a soldier awarded the Purple Heart in WWII, gained most of his fame for playing the villainous gunslinger Jack Wilson in 1953’s Shane, the greatest western ever made. Jack’s performance actually gained him his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in as many years. He would eventually win that award in 1992, at the age of 70, for his role as Curly in City Slickers, essentially a self-parody with as much heart as all of the performances he was mocking.

Jack was born Vladamir Palaniuk on February 18th, 1919, in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania. The son of a coal miner, and an eventual UNC Tarheel, he had an early career as a professional boxer before joining the Army Air Corps during WWII. He was severely burned in a training accident in Tucson, AZ and was forced to undergo several surgeries before being discharged in 1944. Jack went on to pursue a career in acting, first on stage as Marlon Brando’s understudy for “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and then as the lead after he accidentally broke Brando’s nose after missing a punching bag.

Jack was known throughout his career as the perfect tough guy, and he was usually cast as a villain. In addition to numerous Westerns, he also stared in many war films. As he began to age he moved away from being an action star, and began to be a character actor in action movies. His brief, but memorable, turn as the mob boss Carl Grissom in Batman is certainly a highlight. He is perhaps best known for his portrayal as Curly in City Slickers. As the rough, old cowboy, who teaches Billy Crystal some lessons on life (and scares him senseless too), Palance won the hearts of all the moviegoers who saw his performance. His signature line from the movie, “I crap bigger than you,” has been identified by many as one of their favorite movie quotes, and the film was included in the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 funniest movies (#86). Palance would reprise the role, in a way, for City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold, playing Curly’s twin brother Duke.

Palance will always be remembered as a man who didn’t care what others thought of him. He was always very vocal with his distaste for many aspects of Hollywood, and he was never afraid to be who he was or say what he felt (he even famously fell asleep in his square on the game show Hollywood Squares). For me, however, the memory that sticks the most is his acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in City Slickers. When he finally approached the microphone after his long walk to the stage, his first words were “I crap bigger than him”, pointing to Oscar host and City Slickers co-star, Billy Crystal. He then mumbled his way through a short acceptance speech. Suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he backed away from the microphone, set his award down, and began doing one-handed push-ups on the stage. He was 72 years old.

So tonight, I’m going to pop in Shane on DVD, and I’m going to follow that with City Slickers. It’s easy to watch those two bookends on Jack’s stellar career, and forget all that came between, but tonight, I’m going to celebrate the toughest guy to ever grace the screen, and be thankful for all the moments he left us with. We’ll miss you, Jack. Rest in peace.