His family can trace their American roots back to 1635, when an ancestor traveled from Weymouth, England, to Massachusetts
He and his two sisters were raised by his grandfather after his parents' divorce when he was 2
Left Denison University to serve during WWII in the Army Engineers before returning to complete his degree
Best known for his one-man show, Mark Twain Tonight!, which began as an honors project that he and his first wife, Ruby, created at Denison
Found his first steady acting job on the soap opera The Brighter Day in 1954
Was the oldest-ever Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the time of his nod in 2008 for Sean Penn's Into the Wild; Robert Duvall broke his record in 2015 with his nomination for The Judge
Penned the 2011 memoir Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain
Awards
2012Screen Actors Guild Awards-Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:nominated