Born: November 4, 1919
Died: February 13, 1996 (at age 76)
Birthplace: Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 - February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He is best known for his film roles as Milton Arbogast in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, as Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), and as Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men, as well as for his role as Murray Klein in the television sitcom Archie Bunker's Place.
Martin Balsam was born in Bronx borough of New York City to Russian-Jewish parents, Lillian (née Weinstein) and Albert Balsam, who was a manufacturer of women's sportswear. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he participated in the drama club. He studied at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the German director Erwin Piscator and then served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Martin Balsam made his professional debut in August 1941 in a production of The Play's the Thing in Locust Valley. In early 1948, he was selected by Elia Kazan to be a member in the recently formed Actors Studio. Balsam would go on to perform in several episodes of the Studio's dramatic television anthology series, broadcast between September 1948 and 1950. He appeared in many other television drama series, including Decoy with Beverly Garland, The Twilight Zone (episodes "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine" and "The New Exhibit"), as a psychologist in the pilot episode, Five Fingers, Target: The Corruptors!, The Eleventh Hour, Breaking Point, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Fugitive, and Mr. Broadway, as a retired U.N.C.L.E. agent in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode, "The Odd Man Affair", and guest starred in the two-part Murder, She Wrote episode, "Death Stalks the Big Top". He also appeared in the "Route 66" episode, "Somehow it Gets to be Tomorrow".
Balsam appeared in such films as On the Waterfront, 12 Angry Men (as Juror #1), Time Limit, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Carpetbaggers, Seven Days in May, The Anderson Tapes, Hombre, Catch-22, Tora! Tora! Tora! (as Admiral Husband E. Kimmel), Little Big Man, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, All the President's Men, Murder on the Orient Express, The Delta Force, and The Goodbye People.
In 1960, he appeared in one of his best remembered roles as Detective Arbogast in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Along with Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum, Martin Balsam appeared in both the original Cape Fear (1962), and the 1991 Martin Scorsese remake. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (1965). In 1968, he won a Tony Award for his appearance in the 1967 Broadway production of You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running.
Balsam played Washington Post editor Howard Simons in All the President's Men (1976). and a film that eventually became a highly popular Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, the Joe Don Baker police drama Mitchell (1975). He played Dr. Rudy Wells when the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg was adapted as a TV-movie pilot for The Six Million Dollar Man (1973), though he did not reprise the role for the subsequent series. He appeared as a spokesman/hostage in the TV movie Raid on Entebbe (1976) and as a detective in the TVM Contract on Cherry Street (1977). He also appeared on an episode of Quincy ME. Balsam starred as Murray Klein on the All in the Family spin-off Archie Bunker's Place for two seasons (1979-81) and returned for a guest appearance in the show's 4th and final season. He even filled in for Charles Nelson Reilly on Match Game for one question when Reilly was late for a taping.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1949 | Suspense | Abramson | |
1949-50 | Actors Studio | Soldier | 4 episodes |
1950 | Danger | 2 episodes | |
1951 | The Living Christ Series | Innkeeper | Miniseries |
The Big Story | Bill Pinney | ||
Frontiers of Faith | |||
1952 | The Living Bible | Nobleman | |
1953 | Man Against Crime | Tony/Jean Pinay | |
Valiant Lady | Joey Gordon | ||
1954 | On the Waterfront | Gillette | Uncredited role |
Inner Sanctum Mystery | Wesley/Hanson/Larkin | 3 episodes | |
1954-55 | Philco Television Playhouse | Charlie Malick/Mike Galloway | 3 episodes |
1954-56 | Goodyear Television Playhouse | Perkins/Walter Gregg | 3 episodes |
1955 | The Greatest Gift | Harold Matthews #2 | |
The United States Steel Hour | Petty Officer | ||
1957 | 12 Angry Men | Juror #1 | |
Time Limit | Sargeant Baker | ||
1957-58 | Studio One | Francis Toohey/Ed Coyne | 3 episodes |
1958 | Kraft Television Theatre | Dino | |
Marjorie Morningstar | Dr. David Harris | ||
Father Knows Best | Teacher | ||
Pursuit | Holden | ||
Decoy | Nick Santos | ||
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Leonard Thompson | ||
1958-59 | Playhouse 90 | Sam Gordon/Captain Mantell | 3 episodes |
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Gambetta/Dr. Gillespie | 2 episodes | |
1958-60 | Have Gun - Will Travel | Marshall Jim Brock/Charles Dawes | 2 episodes |
1959 | Rawhide | Father Fabian | |
Al Capone | Mac Keeley | ||
The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen | 2 episodes | ||
Middle of the Night | Jack | ||
Brenner | Arnold Joplin | ||
The DuPont Show of the Month | Charlie Davis | ||
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater | Sam Butler | ||
Winterset | Garth | ||
The Twilight Zone | Danny Weiss | Episode: "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine" | |
1959-62 | Naked City | Captain Russell Barris/Joseph Creeley/Caldwell Wyatt/Arnold Fleischman | 4 episodes |
1960 | Five Fingers | Monteverdi | |
Goodyear Theater | Joe Lane | ||
The Robert Herridge Theater | |||
Sunday Showcase | Nicola Sacco | ||
Psycho | Detective Milton Arbogast | ||
Tutti a casa | Sergenti Quintino Fornaciari | ||
1961 | Way Out | Bill Clayton | |
Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Elon Marsh | ||
Ada | Steve Jackson | ||
Breakfast at Tiffany's | O.J. Berman | ||
The New Breed | Frank Eberhardt | ||
The Untouchables | Barry Leimer | ||
Route 66 | Corelli | ||
1961-64 | The Defenders | District Attorney/Bernard Maxwell/Floyd Harker | 4 episodes |
1962 | Cain's Hundred | Jack Garsell | |
The Untouchables | Arnold Justin | ||
Cape Fear | Police Chief Mark Dutton | ||
Target: The Corruptors | Jeffrey Marvin | ||
La città prigioniera | Joseph Feinberg | ||
1962-66 | Dr. Kildare | Dr. Milton Orliff/Benny Orloff/Ned Lacey | 7 episodes |
1963 | Route 66 | Mike | |
The Eleventh Hour | Frank Dunlear | ||
The Twilight Zone | Martin Lombard Senescu | Episode: "The New Exhibit" | |
Breaking Point | Rabbi Eli Oringer | ||
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? | Sanford Kaufman | ||
1964 | Arrest and Trial | Leo Valera | |
Espionage | Richard Carey | ||
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Dave Breslaw | ||
Seven Days in May | Presidential aide Paul Girard | ||
Wagon Train | Marcey Jones | ||
Suspense | Detective Jack Gross | ||
The Carpetbaggers | Bernard B. Norman | ||
Youngblood Hawke | Cameo Appearance | Uncredited role | |
Mr. Broadway | Nate Bannerman | ||
1965 | ITV Play of the Week | Doc Delaney | |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E | Albert Sully | ||
Harlow | Everett Redman | ||
The Bedford Incident | Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, M.D. U.S.N | ||
A Thousand Clowns | Arnold | ||
1966 | Caccia alla volpe | Harry Granoff | |
"Anyone Around My Base Is It" | Narrator | Short Documentary | |
1967 | The Fugitive | Andrew Newmark | |
Hombre | Mendez | ||
Among the Paths to Eden | Ivor Belli | ||
1968 | The Name of the Game | Angie | |
Around the World of Mike Todd | Michael Todd | TV Movie / Documentary; Voice role | |
1969 | Me, Natalie | Uncle Harold | |
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys | Mayor Wilker | ||
Trilogy | Ivor Belli | Segment: "Among the Paths to Eden" | |
1970 | CBS Playhouse | Jesse | |
Hunters Are for Killing | Wade Hamilton | TV Movie | |
Catch-22 | Colonel Cathcart | Group Commander, 256th Bomb Group | |
Tora! Tora! Tora! | Admiral Husband E. Kimmel | ||
The Old Man Who Cried Wolf | Stanley Pulska | ||
The Name of the Game | Herb Witmer | ||
Little Big Man | Mr. Merriweather | ||
1971 | Confessions of a Police Captain | Inspector Bonavia | |
The Anderson Tapes | Tommy Haskins | ||
1972 | Chronicle of a Homicide | Judge Aldo Sola | |
The Hassled Hooker | District Attorney Turrisi | ||
The Man | Jim Talley | ||
Night of Terror | Captain Caleb Sark | TV Movie | |
The Infamous Column | |||
1973 | A Brand New Life | Jim Douglas | TV Movie |
The Six Million Dollar Man | Dr. Rudy Wells | TV Movie: "The Moon and the Desert" | |
The Stone Killer | Al Vescari | ||
Counselor at Crime | Don Antonio Macaluso | ||
Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams | Harry Walden | ||
Money to Burn | TV Movie | ||
Police Story | Detective Al Koster | ||
1974 | The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Harold "Green" Longman | |
Trapped Beneath the Sea | T.C. Hollister | TV Movie | |
Kojak | Ray Kaufman | ||
Murder on the Orient Express | Bianchi | ||
1975 | Miles to Go Before I Sleep | Ben Montgomery | TV Movie |
Smiling Maniacs | Carlo Goja | ||
Death Among Friends | Ham Russell Buckner | TV Movie | |
Cry, Onion! | Petrus Lamb | ||
Mitchell | James Arthur Cummings | ||
Season for Assassins | Commissioner Katroni | ||
1976 | The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case | Edward J. Reilly | TV Movie |
All the President's Men | Howard Simons | ||
Maude | Chester | ||
Meet Him and Die | Giulianelli | ||
Death Rage | Commissario | ||
Two-Minute Warning | Sam McKeever | ||
Raid on Entebbe | Daniel Cooper | TV Movie | |
1977 | The Sentinel | Professor Ruzinsky | |
Contract on Cherry Street | Captain Ernie Weinberg | ||
The Storyteller | Ira Davidoff | TV Movie | |
Blood and Diamonds | Rizzo | ||
Eyes Behind the Stars | Inspector Jim Grant | ||
1978 | Silver Bears | Joe Fiore | |
Siege | Henry Fancher | TV Movie | |
Rainbow | Louis B. Mayer | TV Movie | |
The Millionaire | Arthur Haines | TV Movie | |
The Joe Franklin Show | Himself | Television interview | |
A Salute to American Imagination | Himself | TV Movie / Documentary | |
1979 | The Seeding of Sarah Burns | Dr. Samuel Melman | TV Movie |
Gardenia | Salluzzo | ||
The House on Garibaldi Street | Isser Harel | TV Movie | |
Aunt Mary | Harry Strasburg | TV Movie | |
Cuba | General Bello | ||
1980 | The Love Tapes | David Franklin | |
There Goes the Bride | Elmer Babcock | ||
The Warning | Questore Martorana | ||
1981 | The Salamander | Captain Steffanelli | |
The People vs. Jean Harris | Joel Aurnou | TV Movie | |
1982 | Quincy, M.E. | Hyam Sigerski | |
Little Gloria... Happy at Last | Nathan Burkan | TV Movie | |
Night of 100 Stars | Himself | TV Special | |
1983 | I Want to Live! | Jack Brady | TV Movie |
Cold Storage | Parmigian | TV Movie | |
1984 | The Goodbye People | Max Silverman | |
Innocent Prey | Sheriff Virgil Baker | ||
1985 | Space | Senator Glancey | Miniseries |
St. Elmo's Fire | Mr. Beamish | ||
Murder in Space | Alexander Rostov | TV Movie | |
Death Wish 3 | Bennett | ||
Great Performances | Jack | ||
Glitter | Bo | ||
1986 | La piovra 2 (it) | Frank Carrisi | Miniseries; 5 episodes |
The Delta Force | Ben Kaplan | ||
Whatever It Takes | Hap Perchicksky | ||
Second Serve | Dr. Beck | TV Movie | |
Murder, She Wrote | Edgar Carmody | Episodes: "Death Stalks The Big Top" Parts 1 & 2 | |
The Twilight Zone | Professor Donald Knowles | Segment: "Voices in the Earth" | |
1987 | Hotel | Dr. Gilbert Holt | |
Queenie | Marty | TV miniseries | |
P.I. Private Investigations | Cliff Dowling | ||
The Twilight Zone | Rockne O'Bannon | Segment: "Personal Demons" | |
Brothers in Blood | Major Briggs | ||
Kids Like These | Grandpa | TV Movie | |
Once Again | TV Movie | ||
1988 | The Child Saver | Sidney Rosenberg | TV Movie |
The Brother from Space | Father Howard | ||
1989 | Oceano | TV miniseries | |
1990 | Two Evil Eyes | Mr. Pym | |
Midnight Caller | Gil Solarski | ||
La piovra 5 - Il cuore del problema (it) | Don Calogero Barretta | ||
1991 | Ľultima meta | Lawyer | |
Cape Fear | Judge | ||
1992 | The Sands of Time | TV Movie | |
1993 | "The Black Cat" | Movie Short | |
1994 | The Silence of the Hams | Detective Martin Balsam | |
1995 | Soldato ignoto | English meaning: Unknown Soldier | |
1997 | Legend of the Spirit Dog | Gramps | Released posthumously on August 19, 1997, 9 months after his death |
In 1951, Balsam married his first wife, actress Pearl Somner. They divorced three years later. His second wife was actress Joyce Van Patten. This marriage lasted for four years (from 1958 until 1962) and produced one daughter, Talia Balsam. He married his third wife, Irene Miller, in 1963. They had two children, Adam and Zoe Balsam, and divorced in 1987.
On February 13, 1996, Balsam died of a sudden stroke in his hotel room in Rome, Italy, while on vacation. He was 76. Balsam is interred at Cedar Park Cemetery, in Emerson, New Jersey. He was survived by his three children and Renee Landau, his companion.
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