June 25, 2014 - A truly magnificent actor died today, Eli Wallach, he was 98 years of age.  I went to the New York Times website to read more about his passing, where his grandnephew had posted a video interview he did in 2011 with his great uncle.  Well, I was listening to his story and I was reminiscing of all the great movies he was in, The Magnificent Seven, Rhinoceros, Waltz of the Toreadors and one of my wife’s favorites, The Misfits and many other noteworthy productions he was in. He truly was one of the greatest character actors of his generation, which made me recall a conversation I had with a really good friend who told me that he was a D list celebrity and I thought, no you’re not, you have to be much higher on the alphabet than that, but as far as Hollywood’s concerned, he may have been right.  I can’t help but believe that the large group of friends and those that follow his career think differently.  The very first thing he did when he came to Hollywood was to be the headlining star in a movie. 

I ask you how many D list celebrities can say that. He also co-starred on Matlockand Nash Bridges and made guest appearances in a multitude of TV series since he’s been in Hollywood.  He appeared in a string of box office hits where his name is listed in the starring

credits.  This young man from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is, in my opinion, a hit in Hollywood and extremely blessed.  I’ve heard so many horror stories from people that went to Hollywood to become successful and lost everything including their moral compass.  He has always been an inspiration to me and I’ve always felt like he was someone to aspire to be like. No, not as an actor but as a human being because I’m not an actor and could never be as good as he is.  I’m going to tell a story now and I hope his children don’t mind.  We were visiting him one summer as we had done the previous summer and his daughter had done something wrong.

Rather than getting angry and screaming as so many of us do, he pulled her to the side and spoke to her in an extremely soothing, quiet and calming voice. I have to say, it kind of shocked me. I had never seen a parent do this quite like he did.  His young daughter cried and I felt so sorry for her. She looked like she had been spanked with a paddle and he had never laid a hand on her and whatever it was she had done wrong, she would never repeat it.  He was the parent that I wished I always should have been.  He upheld his moral values to the highest level and welcomed strangers in his life with the kindest and utmost understanding way of anyone I have ever known.  So
you see, he may be known to others as a great character actor but Daniel Roebuck is someone that I hope will allow me to call him my friend for the rest of my life.