Alan Arkin, Oscar-winning Little Miss Sunshine star, dies at 89

Alan Arkin, the prolific Oscar-winning actor, director, producer, and author, has died. He was 89.

A representative for Arkin confirmed the news to EW, and his sons Adam, Matthew, and Anthony provided a statement to PEOPLE. "Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man," it read. "A loving husband, father, grand- and great-grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed."

Born in Brooklyn in 1934, Arkin expressed an interest in acting from a young age and trained at several drama schools before making his silver-screen debut in the musical film Calypso Heat Wave in 1957. Also a venerable Broadway star, Arkin went on to appear in multiple productions before earning a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his turn as the wide-eyed aspiring actor David Kolowitz in Joseph Stein's Enter Laughing in 1963.

Following his stage success, Arkin returned to film, with plaudits trailing after him. He not only received Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for his performance as Lieutenant Rozanov in the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians are Coming, but took home his first Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the role.

Over the next decade, Arkin continued his rise to mainstream fame as he racked up rave reviews and award nods for 1968's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter; 1969's Popi alongside Rita Moreno; and 1970's Catch-22, costarring Martin Sheen and Jon Voight. In 1979, Arkin starred and co-produced the highly successful comedy The In-Laws, in which he and Peter Falk embarked on a series of hilarious and highly illegal hijinks just before their respective children are set to be married.

Arkin's credits also include several standout television appearances on Sesame Street, St. Elsewhere, Harry, and The Pentagon Papers. In 1987, he portrayed real-life Polish resistance fighter Leon Feldhendler as he escaped from a Nazi extermination camp in the made-for-TV film Escape from Sobibor. The role snagged him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film and an Emmy nomination.

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Arkin starred in supporting roles in Tim Burton's 1990 film Edward Scissorhands, 1991's The Rocketeer, 1997's Grosse Point Blank and Gattaca, among others.

However, amongst his storied filmography, Arkins is perhaps most beloved for his performance as Little Miss Sunshine's wisecracking grandfather Edwin Hoover. The role — which saw him star opposite Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear, and Abigail Breslin — won him his first Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actor, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2007.

Arkin received his fourth and final Academy Award nomination — alongside Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nods — five years later for his role in Ben Affleck's 2012 political drama Argo, in which he starred as high-profile agent Lester Siegel. He also took home the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for his performance in 2013. The following year, Arkin was awarded the Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence, which honors an actor's lifetime achievements, by the San Diego Film Festival.

Arkin continued to receive high praise for his excellent performance as Norman Newlander opposite Michael Douglas in Netflix's comedy-drama series The Kominsky Method, a part that earned him multiple Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and Golden Globe nominations from 2019 to 2021.

Just as talented behind the camera as he was in front of it, Arkin directed several films, including 1971's Little Murders, starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd; 1977's Fire Sale; and 1993's Samuel Beckett Is Coming Soon. He was also an accomplished author of multiple novels, such as 1976's The Lemming Condition, its 1986 follow-up The Clearing, and 1979's Halfway Through the Door: An Actor's Journey Toward Self. He also wrote two memoirs, An Improvised Life and Out of My Mind.

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