Martin Balsam was a versatile and prolific actor who appeared in many memorable films and TV shows. He won an Oscar for his role in A Thousand Clowns and played the detective who was stabbed in Psycho. He also starred in classics such as 12 Angry Men, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Catch-22, and All the President’s Men. But how did he die and what were the circumstances of his death?
Early Life and Career
Martin Henry Balsam was born on November 4, 1919, in the Bronx, New York, to Russian Jewish parents. 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, achieving the rank of Sergeant. He served as a sergeant radio operator in a B-24 in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations.
After the war, he resumed his acting career in New York. In 1947–1949, he was a resident member of the summer stock company Town Hall Players in West Newbury, Massachusetts. In early 1948, he was selected by Elia Kazan to be a member in the recently formed Actors Studio, where he learned the method acting technique from Lee Strasberg and other mentors.
He made his Broadway debut in 1941 in Ghost for Sale and his movie debut in 1954 in On the Waterfront. He had many roles on stage and on television, where he was a fixture during the golden age of live drama. He had recurring roles on some of the most popular television series of that time, including The United States Steel Hour, The Philco Television Playhouse, Goodyear Playhouse and Studio One.
Oscar-Winning Role and Other Film Successes
In 1957, he had a breakthrough role as Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Henry Fonda. The film was a critical and commercial hit and is considered one of the best courtroom dramas ever made. Balsam’s performance as the calm and rational foreman of the jury was praised by critics and audiences alike.
In 1960, he worked with Alfred Hitchcock in Psycho, playing the private detective Milton Arbogast, who was hired to find the missing Marion Crane (Janet Leigh). His death scene, in which he reels backward down a staircase as he is repeatedly stabbed, rivaled the famous scene in which Leigh is stabbed in the shower. Hitchcock was impressed by Balsam’s work and offered him the role after seeing him in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
In 1961, he played the Hollywood agent O.J. Berman in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, opposite Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. He also had roles in The Carpetbaggers, The Bedford Incident, Harlow, and Seven Days in May. In 1965, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Arnold Burns, the brother of a nonconformist writer (Jason Robards) in A Thousand Clowns. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA Award for the same role.
He continued to work in films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in such movies as After the Fox, Hombre, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Little Big Man, Catch-22, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Anderson Tapes, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Murder on the Orient Express, and All the President’s Men. He also had a recurring role as Dr. Milton Orloff on the television drama Dr. Kildare and guest-starred on many other shows, such as The Twilight Zone, The Fugitive, The Name of the Game, and Columbo.
Later Years and Death
In the late 1970s and 1980s, Balsam accepted roles in European movies, especially in Italy, where he developed a love for the country and its culture. He appeared in more than a dozen Italian films and TV series, such as The Salamander, The Warning, The Octopus, and The Unknown Soldier. He also starred in the American TV series Archie Bunker’s Place, playing Murray Klein, the Jewish partner of Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor) in his bar.
Balsam was married three times and had three children. His first wife was Pearl Somner, whom he married in 1951 and divorced in 1954. His second wife was actress Joyce Van Patten, whom he married in 1957 and divorced in 1962. They had a daughter, Talia Balsam, who is also an actress and the wife of actor John Slattery. His third wife was Irene Miller, whom he married in 1963 and divorced in 1987. They had two sons, Adam and Zoe.
On February 13, 1996, Balsam was found dead in his hotel room in Rome, where he was on vacation. He was 76 years old. According to the Washington Post, he appeared to have died of natural causes, and the body was taken to a hospital for a preliminary examination. The police chief inspector Francesco Fucci said that a maid found Balsam lying on the floor near his bed, dressed in the same clothes he had on when he left the hotel bar the previous night. He said that Balsam probably died before going to bed.
Balsam was buried at Cedar Park Cemetery in New Jersey. He left behind a legacy of more than 100 film and TV credits and a reputation as one of the finest character actors of his generation. He was praised for his versatility, professionalism, and ability to bring depth and realism to any role he played. He once said, “I think the average guy has always identified with me. There’s a certain mediocrity about me. I’m not handsome, I’m not ugly. I’m not tall, I’m not short. I’m not brilliant, I’m not stupid. I’m the guy in the middle.”
