Growing up in Brooklyn, Alan Arkin always knew he wanted to be an actor. “My parents were wonderful people in many ways, but they weren’t affectionate. I felt ignored to the point where I didn’t even exist – so acting was my lifeline. For many years, the only place I felt alive was on stage.” 

And throughout his seven-decade career, Alan, who died on June 29 at age 89, brought to life such diverse characters as the intruder menacing Audrey Hepburn in 1967’s Wait Until Dark, the cantankerous grandpa in 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine (for which he won an Oscar), and Michael Douglas’ best friend and agent on TV’s The Kominsky Method. “I never had any doubts about making it,” he said. “I just knew I had to, because there was no alternative.”