Josip Elic

Josip Elic (March 10, 1921 – October 21, 2019) was an American character actor. He was best known for his role as Bancini in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.[1]

Josip Elic
Born
Joseph Elich Jr.

(1921-03-10)March 10, 1921
Butte, Montana, United States
DiedOctober 21, 2019(2019-10-21) (aged 98)
River Edge, New Jersey, United States
OccupationActor
Years active1956–1989

Early life

Elic was born in Butte, Montana, the son of Croatian immigrants, Martha and Joseph Elich. One of several children, including siblings John and Helen, he grew up in the East Side neighborhood known as "Cabbage Patch". At age 16, he began work in a Montana copper mine, before later joining the U.S. Navy. In 1945, following his service, and a brief stint on Wall Street, Elic relocated to New York City to pursue an acting career, using the G.I. Bill to enroll in acting school. At the age of 30, he officially changed his name. Initially entering show business by building sets for an Upstate Connecticut summer stock company, he eventually began appearing in off-Broadway productions, including Threepenny Opera in 1954, alongside Bea Arthur and John Astin.[1][2]

Career

While off-Broadway shows and burlesque were amongst Elic's first forays into acting, in 1956, the 6-foot-3-inch Montanan landed his first television role on the NBC anthology series Kraft Television Theatre, opposite Rance Howard and Joe Mantell, in an episode directed by William A. Graham. While numerous minor television and film roles soon followed, Elic was also notable for his commercial appearances, becoming one of the first character actors to headline television ads, a role traditionally reserved for Hollywood's leading men.[2] He later became more nationally recognized after two appearances on The Twilight Zone, including in "The Obsolete Man" with Burgess Meredith. His breakout role however came when asked to appear as confused mental patient, Bancini, in Miloš Forman's 1975 classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Despite having few lines in the film, his major scene came in the form of an improvisation by Jack Nicholson for the patient's basketball game. In his words, Elic remembered the scene's development as:

"I'm sitting down there on the bench watching them play basketball, and all of a sudden somebody is on my shoulders with their legs over my shoulders and over my head. It was Jack Nicholson. I got up and said, 'I'll play the game with him' and I started playing basketball. He had thighs like you wouldn't believe. Holy crap. He said to me, 'If I fall, I close this picture down for a week. I said, 'If I fall, I'll close this picture down for two weeks."[3]

Although his film and television career began to dwindle by the late seventies, Elic's final on-screen performance was in 1989 for the Ridley Scott action thriller, Black Rain. Regardless of his disappearance from television and theater screens however, he continued to maintain a strong presence in the acting community of New York, and would regularly make appearances at conventions to meet fans.[2]

Personal life and death

Suffering a fall in his New York apartment, Elic briefly stayed at the home of his longtime friend, actress Lee Meredith, and her husband, Bert, before moving into the Brookdale Senior Living assisted-living residence in Paramus, New Jersey.[3]

In October 2019, at the age of 98, Elic died of complications from his fall.[4]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1960 Murder, Inc. Red Alpert
1961 Pocketful of Miracles Darcey Henchman Uncredited
1962 Third of a Man Uncredited
Convicts 4 Vic the Barber
1964 Santa Claus Conquers the Martians Shim as Joe Elic
1967 The Producers Violinist
1968 For Love of Ivy Off Broadway Family
1969 Trilogy HaHa (segment "A Christmas Memory")
1971 Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? Chomsky
1972 The Stoolie 1st Hijacker
Dirty Little Billy Jawbone
1973 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Workman
1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Bancini
1977 The World's Greatest Lover Headwaiter
1979 The Halloween That Almost Wasn't Zabaar the Zombie ABC television special
1989 Black Rain Joe the Bartender (final film role)

Television
Year Title Role Episode Notes
1956 Kraft Theatre Pvt. Adams "Paper Foxhole"
1959 The Phil Silvers Show Bopster "Bilko's Bopster"
The DuPont Show of the Month Centipede "I, Don Quixote"
1961 Peter Gunn Professor Thurston "The Deep End"
The Asphalt Jungle Luther "The Fighter"
The Dick Powell Theatre Gunsel "Doyle Against the House"
The Untouchables Nitti Hood "Tunnel of Horrors" Uncredited
The Twilight Zone Subaltern "The Obsolete Man" as Josep Elic
Follow the Sun Ralph Metz "The Woman Who Never Was"
1962 The Twilight Zone Electrician "One More Pallbearer" Uncredited
Follow the Sun Herschel "Run, Clown, Run"
1966 ABC Stage 67 HaHa "A Christmas Memory"
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References
  1. Barnes, Mike; Bartlett, Rhett (October 25, 2019). "Josip Elic, Actor in 'One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest,' Dies at 98". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  2. Birkenbuel, Renata (August 16, 2015). "In character: Butte-born actor Josip Elic still rolls with the punch lines". Montana Standard. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  3. Beckerman, Jim (December 26, 2018). "For two veteran film actors, friend is the role of a lifetime". North Jersey Record. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  4. Beckoff, Matt (October 24, 2019). "Josip Elic Death Announcement By Manager". Retrieved October 26, 2019.
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