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Allen Garfield

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Actor

The Resume

    (November 22, 1939-April 7, 2020)
    Born in Newark, New Jersey
    Birth name was Allen Goorwitz
    Appeared in the films ‘Greetings’ (1968), ‘Hi, Mom!’ (1970), ‘The Candidate’ (1972), ‘The Conversation’ (1974), ‘The Front Page’ (1974), ‘Nashville’ (1975), ‘Mother, Jugs, and Speed’ (1976), ‘Gable and Lombard’ (1976), ‘The Brinks Job’ (1978), ‘The Stunt Man’ (1980), ‘One from the Heart’ (1981), ‘The State of Things’ (1982), ‘The Cotton Club’ (1984), ‘Beverly Hills Cop II’ (1987), ‘Until the End of the World’ (1991), ‘The Ninth Gate’ (1999), ‘The Majestic’ (2001), and ‘Chief Zabu’ (filmed in 1986, released in 2016)
    Appeared on Broadway in ‘Inquest’ (1970)

Why he might be annoying:

    He made his screen debut in the porn film ‘Orgy Girls ’69.’ (1968)
    He was typecast as ‘weaselly criminals, lecherous villains and corrupt businessmen and politicians.’
    During the middle of his career, he started using his birth name in film credits, then reverted to Garfield after five years.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a Golden Gloves boxer.
    Before acting, he was a journalist at the Newark Star Ledger who worked his way up from copy boy to sports reporter.
    He studied at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan.
    He used his birth name in credits as a tribute to his recently deceased father.
    He taught acting and Quentin Tarantino was one of his students. (On further reflection, given that Tarantino is usually the worst actor in his own films, maybe this should be under the ‘Why He Might Be Annoying’ section instead.)
    When he suffered a stroke before filming began on ‘The Ninth Gate,’ Roman Polanski wrote the resulting facial paralysis into the script rather than recast the role.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying