Academy Award Winning Actor Alan Arkin Dies at Age 89

LOS ANGELES -- Actor Alan Arkin, who won an Academy Award for his role in ``Little Miss Sunshine'' in 2006 and received four Oscar nominations, has died. He was 89.

His sons Adam and Anthony confirmed their father's death through Arkin's publicist today, according to media reports.

``Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man,'' they said in a statement.

Arkin reportedly died at his home in Carlsbad, north of San Diego, earlier this week.

Arkin was a part of the Second City comedy troupe out of Chicago and appeared in ``The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming'' early in his acting career. He won an Oscar for best supporting actor for ``Little Miss Sunshine.'' More than 40 years separated his first and last Academy Award nominations between ``The Russians Are Coming'' in 1966 and ``Argo'' in 2012.

He was also nominated for best actor for ``The Heart is a Lonely Hunter'' in 1968.

Most recently, he starred in the Netflix comedy series ``The Kominsky Method'' with Michael Douglas. Arkin earned two Emmy nominations for his work on ``The Kominsky Method.''

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was 11. His parents were teachers but were fired during post World War II's Red Scare because they were Communists.

Arkin studied acting at Los Angeles City College, California State University, Los Angeles and Bennington College in Vermont.

He married classmate Jeremy Yaffe and they had two sons, Adam and Matthew. Arkin and Yaffe divorced in 1961 and Arkin married actress-writer Barbara Dana. They had one son, Anthony. All three of Arkin's sons became actors, and Adam was in the TV series ``Chicago Hope.''

-- City News Service