Martin Balsam

Acting

Martin Balsam

Born 1919-11-04 · The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American character actor. He is best known for a number of film roles, including detective Milton Arbogast in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Arnold Burns in A Thousand Clowns (1965), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Juror #1 in 12 Angry Men (1957), and Mr. Green in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), as well as for his role as Murray Klein in the television sitcom Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983).

Acting credits

12 Angry Men poster
8.6

The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.

12 Angry Men

1957

Psycho poster
8.4

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

Psycho

1960

Breakfast at Tiffany's poster
7.6

Holly Golightly is an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. But when young writer Paul Varjak moves into her apartment building, her past threatens to get in their way.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

1961

Murder on the Orient Express poster
7.1

In 1935, when his train is stopped by deep snow, detective Hercule Poirot is called on to solve a murder that occurred in his car the night before.

Murder on the Orient Express

1974

Cape Fear poster
7.3

Sam Bowden is a small-town corporate attorney. Max Cady is a tattooed, cigar-smoking, Bible-quoting, psychotic rapist. What do they have in common? 14 years ago, Sam was a public defender assigned to Max Cady's rape trial, and he made a serious error: he hid a document from his illiterate client that could have gotten him acquitted. Now, the cagey Cady has been released, and he intends to teach Sam Bowden and his family a thing or two about loss.

Cape Fear

1991

The Delta Force poster
6.0

A 707 aircraft jetliner, en route from Athens to Rome and then to New York City, is hijacked by Lebanese terrorists, who demand that the pilot take them to Beirut. What the terrorists don't realize is that an elite team of commandos have been called in to eliminate all terrorists on the jetliner.

The Delta Force

1986

Death Wish 3 poster
6.2

Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.

Death Wish 3

1985

Tora! Tora! Tora! poster
7.2

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

Tora! Tora! Tora!

1970

All the President's Men poster
7.7

During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.

All the President's Men

1976

On the Waterfront poster
7.9

A prizefighter-turned-longshoreman with a conscience goes up against labor leaders to expose corruption, extortion, and murder among the union ranks.

On the Waterfront

1954

St. Elmo's Fire poster
6.1

Reluctant to let go of college life, a close-knit team of seven friends--irresponsible saxophone player Billy, young Republican Alec, his girlfriend Leslie, struggling journalist Kevin, drama queen Jules, lovesick waiter Kirby, and Wendy, a social worker with a heart of gold--realise the party is over. And as the burdens of maturity close in on the young dreamers, the complexities of adulthood and the daily struggle of growing up put their sacred friendship to the test. But everyone knows life is not a bed of roses. It won't be easy, but when all is said and done, what will it take for St. Elmo's clique to find its place in the real world?

St. Elmo's Fire

1985

Catch-22 poster
6.7

A WWII military pilot makes a valiant effort to be certified insane in order to be excused from flying missions. But there's a catch.

Catch-22

1970

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three poster
7.5

In New York, armed men hijack a subway car and demand a ransom for the passengers while the authorities question about the method of their escape.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

1974

Cape Fear poster
7.5

Sam Bowden witnesses a rape committed by Max Cady and testifies against him. When released after 8 years in prison, Cady begins stalking Bowden and his family but is always clever enough not to violate the law.

Cape Fear

1962

Hombre poster
7.1

John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.

Hombre

1967

Seven Days in May poster
7.4

A U.S. Marine Corps colonel alerts the president of a planned military coup against him.

Seven Days in May

1964

Little Big Man poster
7.4

Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.

Little Big Man

1970

The Anderson Tapes poster
6.1

Thief Duke Anderson—just released from ten years in jail—takes up with his old girlfriend in her posh apartment block, and makes plans to rob the entire building. What he doesn't know is that his every move is being recorded on audio and video, although he is not the subject of any surveillance.

The Anderson Tapes

1971

La Classe américaine poster
7.6

George Abitbol, the classiest man in the world, dies tragically during a cruise. The director of an American newspaper, wondering about the meaning of these intriguing final words, asks his three best investigators, Dave, Peter and Steven, to solve the mystery. (Sixteen French actors dub scenes from various Warner Bros. films to create a parody of Citizen Kane, 1941.)

La Classe américaine

1993

The Bedford Incident poster
7.0

During a routine patrol, a reporter is given permission to interview a hardened cold-war warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. The reporter gets more than he bargained for when the Bedford discovers a Soviet sub and the captain begins a relentless pursuit, pushing his crew to breaking point.

The Bedford Incident

1965

The Sentinel poster
6.1

As a young girl, Alison Parker attempted suicide after being traumatized by her father's sexual exploits. Now an elite fashion model, she moves to a Brooklyn Heights apartment building where she encounters a number of bizarre, eccentric tenants and attempts to uncover the building's sinister secret.

The Sentinel

1977

Mitchell poster
3.3

A tough-guy cop pursues two drug runners across the city to bust a large syndicate. Very much an anti-hero, Mitchell often ignores the orders of his superiors and demonstrates disdain for by-the-book development work as well as normal social graces.

Mitchell

1975

The Silence of the Hams poster
4.9

Rookie FBI agent Jo Dee Foster has been assigned to work on the case of the Psycho Killer, a psycho killer who has psycho-killed over 120 people. But to learn more about his target, he's forced to meet Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza, a famous doctor turned cannibal who ate pizzas with human body parts. Meanwhile, Jo's girlfriend, Jane Wine, has just stolen $400,000 in cash from her money-hungry boss, Mr. Laurel, so she and Jo can be happy, but gets lost in a horrible storm and stops at the Cemetery Motel, where the owner, Antonio Motel, is dominated by his insane mother.

The Silence of the Hams

1994

Aunt Mary poster
7.3

The true-life drama about a handicapped Baltimore woman living on welfare who organized a sandlot baseball team and ended up coaching more than 50,000 boys and girls over nearly 40 years.

Aunt Mary

1979