Allen Garfield

Allen Garfield, born Allen Goorwitz on November 22, 1939, in Newark, New Jersey, was an American actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television. The son of Alice (née Lavroff) and Philip Goorwitz, he grew up in a Jewish family alongside one sister, Lois. He graduated from Weequahic High School in 1957, and before pursuing acting he worked as a sports reporter and competed as a Golden Gloves boxer. He trained at The Actors Studio in New York City under both Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan, building his craft on stage before transitioning to screen work.

Garfield made his Broadway appearance in 1970 in the play Inquest. His stage training informed a screen career in which he accumulated credits in more than 100 films and television productions. He became particularly associated with portrayals of nervous villains, corrupt businessmen, and corrupt politicians. Among his lead film roles were the 1971 production Cry Uncle!, the 1978 film Skateboard alongside Leif Garrett, and the 1982 film Get Crazy. He also appeared in two films by German director Wim Wenders, Der Stand der Dinge and Bis ans Ende der Welt, and had a role in the Tales from the Darkside episode "The Deal" in 1988. Early in his career, Quentin Tarantino studied acting with Garfield.

For a period following his father's death, Garfield used his birth surname, Goorwitz, for his screen credits as a tribute. Before filming his role in Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate in 1999, Garfield suffered a stroke; Polanski chose to incorporate Garfield's paralyzed appearance into the character rather than recast the role or conceal the condition. A second major stroke in 2004 left Garfield a long-term resident of The Motion Picture Home. He died on April 7, 2020, at the age of 80, from complications related to COVID-19 and his prior strokes, at the Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital.