Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 â€" February 13, 1996) was an
American actor who had a prolific career in character roles in film,
in theatre, and on television.An early member of the Actors Studio, he
began his career on the New York stage, winning a Tony Award for Best
Actor in a Play for Robert Anderson’s You Know I Can't Hear You When
the Water's Running (1968). His best known film roles include Juror #1
in 12 Angry Men (1957), detective Milton Arbogast in Psycho (1960),
Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (1965) (for which he won the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actor), Colonel Cathcart in Catch-22 (1970),
Mr. Green in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Signor Bianchi
in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Howard Simons in All the
President's Men (1976). He also had a starring role as Murray Klein in
the television sitcom Archie Bunker's Place (1979â€"83).Martin Henry
Balsam was born in the 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 from 1941 to 1945 during World War II, reaching
the rank of Sergeant. He served as a sergeant radio operator in a B-24
in the China-Burma-India theater of operations.Martin Balsam made his
professional debut in August 1941 in a production of The Play's the
Thing in Locust Valley. After World War II, he resumed his acting
career in New York.
American actor who had a prolific career in character roles in film,
in theatre, and on television.An early member of the Actors Studio, he
began his career on the New York stage, winning a Tony Award for Best
Actor in a Play for Robert Anderson’s You Know I Can't Hear You When
the Water's Running (1968). His best known film roles include Juror #1
in 12 Angry Men (1957), detective Milton Arbogast in Psycho (1960),
Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (1965) (for which he won the Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actor), Colonel Cathcart in Catch-22 (1970),
Mr. Green in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Signor Bianchi
in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Howard Simons in All the
President's Men (1976). He also had a starring role as Murray Klein in
the television sitcom Archie Bunker's Place (1979â€"83).Martin Henry
Balsam was born in the 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 from 1941 to 1945 during World War II, reaching
the rank of Sergeant. He served as a sergeant radio operator in a B-24
in the China-Burma-India theater of operations.Martin Balsam made his
professional debut in August 1941 in a production of The Play's the
Thing in Locust Valley. After World War II, he resumed his acting
career in New York.
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