Ah, I miss Jack Palance. He just seemed like the kind of guy who would live
forever. And win more Oscars. When he won at 72, for "City Slickers," it was one
of those my-grandpa-can-kick-your-grandpa's-ass moments. We don't have ... more many of
those. Not content with the requisite thank-yous delivered by scroll (and
Palance had been around -- he'd have a lot of shout-outs), the actor dropped to
the floor and performed an impressive set of one-handed pushups. His amused
"City Slickers" co-star and Oscar host Billy Crystal used Jack as the running
gag for the rest of the evening with zingers like, "Jack Palance has just
bungee-jumped off the Hollywood sign." No matter how much Palance may have
deserved an award for better films in his canon, like "Shane" or "The Big Knife"
or "Sudden Fear," there's no doubt that he flat-out ruled that night. And yes,
he probably could beat up your grandpa.
