I'd come out of the army after five years as a medic. I was a medical administrator and we ran hospitals, and I was a Captain in the army at the end, in 1945.

Wallach is central to one of the most infamous show business legends. Sinatra went on to win an Oscar for the performance which revived his career. Wallach's film debut was in Elia Kazan's controversial 1956 Baby Doll and he went on to a prolific career in films although rarely in a starring role.

Eli Herschel Wallach (born December 7 1915) is an American film television and stage actor whose career has spanned more than six decades beginning in late 1940s. Wallach has received BAFTA Awards Tony Awards and Emmy Awards for his work and received an Honorary Academy Award at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards presented on November 13 2010. One of America's most prolific screen actors Wallach has remained active well into his nineties with roles as recently as 2010 in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Ghost Writer.