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Jack Palance: Jack Palance: Remembering a famous Tehachapi Resident
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Posted by editor Mon Nov 13, 2006 17:45:17 PST
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0 responses 1 comment I was going to write just about “Golden Light” in Tehachapi and how you shouldn’t put your camera away too early in the day because of the beauty of late afternoon light, but then one of Tehachapi’s most famous residents passed away and I decided that I would devote my column to celebrated actor Jack Palance, 87, who died on Nov. 10.
As I’ve read the various news stories and obituaries about Jack, I have noticed the many things about the man that were omitted. All the stories mention his acting career and the one-armed push-ups he did onstage while accepting an Oscar for his performance in “City Slickers,” but he was much more interesting than simply a movie bad guy who finally got to parody himself in a popular comedy.

For starters, most everyone pronounced his last name “Pa-lance,” while he himself preferred “Palance,” like “balance” with a “P”. Why this was so difficult for others to get right, I have no idea.

Tehachapi has seldom been mentioned in any of the national news coverage of Jack’s death, and yet he loved Tehachapi. His ranch near Stallion Springs was one of his favorite places on Earth and he made no secret of that.

I’ve also seen virtually no mention of Jack’s son Cody, who lived in Tehachapi on the family’s Holly-Brooke Ranch until his untimely death from cancer in 1998. I was at an album party for Cody when he released a rock CD, and when visiting Cody I used to enjoy quietly watching the wolf that he kept in a fenced enclosure at the ranch.

While talking with Jack in his art studio, it was when we were looking at some of Cody’s paintings that Jack became emotional about the loss of his only son. He was permanently wounded by Cody’s death.

The  mention of Jack’s art studio brings to mind another side of him that gets little mention: his creative talents. Jack was twice as smart as the average Hollywood actor, and he used the journalism skills he honed at Stanford to work as a reporter until he moved on to bigger things.

He was also a gifted painter and a poet, and he produced some beautiful, moving paintings while working in his studio in the historic barn at Holly-Brooke Ranch. He was both an artist and an art lover, and his buildings at the ranch are filled with Western artwork as well as some beautifully-carved European antique furniture.

Jack has generously allowed the Cummings Valley Protective Association to include the Holly-Brooke Ranch on bus tours of the area ever since we began our tours, and even made personal appearances a few times. His wife, longtime companion and friend Elaine Palance and his ranch manager Abel also helped with the ranch tours. On one of the recent tours, Jack gave everyone present a complimentary copy of  “The Forest of Love,” a collection of his poems that also features some of his artwork.

What I enjoyed most about Jack Palance was the fact that in person, he was real. He well-educated, well-read and well-travelled, but he didn’t posture or perform as though he was onstage. If he felt awkward around strangers, he wouldn’t say much. If they came away thinking he was gruff or distant, so be it. He didn’t feel compelled to impress the public or be everyone’s friend.

A friend of mine approached Jack in a Tehachapi restaurant a few years ago and asked for his autograph. He declined, saying that he had retired from acting. My friend was a little unhappy, but I reminded her that he wasn’t here for a movie opening or to promote himself, Tehachapi was his home (one of them at least) and he just wanted to have a quiet dinner with friends.

Personally, I always found Jack to be an old-school gentleman. He was kind without being effusive. He once greeted me at his ranch house by saying “There’s my favorite writer” and then invited me in to enjoy his Western art collection.

I will always remember my friend Jack Palance. He came to Tehachapi 40 years ago as an outsider and became a respected longtime resident. He was a real man and a fine example of an American with a complex and talented soul.

Once when we were discussing the history of his Cummings Valley ranch, I made the comment to Jack “When oldtimers have talked to me about Tehachapi, I always listened.” He treated me to one of his slow smiles and replied “I know. I appreciate that about you.”

This column is in honor of you, Jack, not because of what you did away from here but because of who you were in Tehachapi. Thanks for the class and dignity.

Have a good week.

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Comment From: Sparks

Good write, I enjoyed it a very lot. Thank you, debi