On a nationally televised talk show, Palance addressed the oft repeated story about how he supposedly had such damage done to his face that plastic surgery gave him the face we all know. He said, "I know I'm no beauty, but these are the Estonian features I was born with.".
Once fell asleep in his square during a taping of "The Hollywood Squares" (1965).
Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV).
Shortly before his death in 2006, he put his farm house near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and its contents up for sale. Thousands of items were auction off and more than $700,000 was raised.
Son of a coal miner.
Spoke six languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French and English.
Studied acting with Michael Chekhov in Hollywood.
The comic book villain Phil Defer (Phil Wire in the English version) - from Lucky Luke contre Phil Defer (1956) - is based on Palance's famous evil gunslinger Jack Wilson from Shane (1953).
Turned down Telly Savalas's role in The Dirty Dozen (1967) because he believed the film had too much unnecessary violence.
Was Stephen King's choice of preference for the (similarly named, coincidentally or not) role of Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980).
Was a vegetarian but maintained a 1000-acre cattle ranch in California's Tehachapi Mountains and a 500-acre farm in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. His ranch brand was an "H" with a "B" and a "C" woven around it, the initials of the first names of his children, Holly, Brooke and Cody.
Was an avid painter and poet.
Was forced to decline the role of Gen. Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) due to scheduling conflicts over his work on City Slickers (1991). He went on to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for City Slickers (1991). Christopher Plummer was eventually cast as Chang.
Was infamous in Hollywood for his Method-style acting, in a time when Marlon Brando was one of its few practitioners. Once, while filming a fight scene with Burt Lancaster, Palance actually punched the unsuspecting Lancaster in the face. Tough guy Lancaster responded by socking Palance in the gut, causing him to vomit.
Was offered the role of Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974).
While an understudy to Marlon Brando in the Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire," Brando, who was into athletics, rigged up a punching bag in the theater's boiler room and invited Jack to work out with him. One night, Jack threw a hard punch that missed the bag and landed square on Brando's nose. The star had to be hospitalized and understudy Palance created his own big break by going on for Brando. Jack's reviews as Stanley Kowalski helped get him a 20th Century-Fox contract.