Few people know that veteran movie actor Jack Palance was a professional heavyweight boxer in the early 1940s. Fighting under the name Jack Brazzo, Palance a product of Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, won his first 15 fights, 12 by knockout before losing a 4th round decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi on Dec. 17, 1940. With the outbreak of World War II, Jack Palance's boxing career ended and his military career began. Wounded in combat, he received the purple heart, good conduct medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. After the war he began his long and famous motion picture career.


Former father-in-law of Roger Spottiswoode. Father-in-law of Michael Wilding Jr.. Father of Brooke Palance, Holly Palance and Cody Palance. According to a website honoring movie celebrities that flew in B-24s, Palance burned his face severely while bailing out of a B-24 which was on fire during a training flight in Tucson in 1942 (that would probably have been the Davis-Monthan Army Air Corps base at that time) and after several surgeries was discharged in 1944. He is described as a "pilot in training". Spoke six languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French and English. His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is in front of the display window of Fredericks of Hollywood, a seller of intimate apparel. Graduate of Stanford University in 1949 with an AB in Drama. During his struggling days, he worked as a short order cook, waiter, soda jerk, lifeguard at Jones Beach, and a photographer's model. Son of a coal miner. Was infamous in Hollywood for his Method-style acting, in a time when Marlon Brando was one of its few practitioners. Once, while filming a fight scene with Burt Lancaster, Palance actually punched the unsuspecting Lancaster in the face. Tough guy Lancaster responded by socking Palance in the gut, causing him to vomit. Was an avid painter and poet. Studied acting with Michael Chekhov in Hollywood. Was a vegetarian but maintained a 1000-acre cattle ranch in California's Tehachapi Mountains and a 500-acre farm in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. His ranch brand was an "H" with a "B" and a "C" woven around it, the initials of the first names of his children, Holly, Brooke and Cody. Shortly before his death in 2006, he put his farm house near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and its contents up for sale. Thousands of items were auction off and more than $700,000 was raised. Was Stephen King's choice of preference for the (similarly named, coincidentally or not) role of Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980). Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch). Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV). The comic book villain, Phil Defer (Phil Wire in the English version) - from Lucky Luke contre Phil Defer (1956) - is based on Palance's famous evil gunslinger, Jack Wison from _Shane(1953)_.