Veteran western star Palance dies

Veteran American actor, Jack Palance, who starred in the classic western Shane and the cowboy comedy City Slickers, has died aged 87.

His family were at his home in Montecito, California, when he died of natural causes, a spokesman said.

Born in Pennsylvania of Ukrainian descent, Palance won fame as a hard man in Shane, Sudden Fear and other films.

He turned to comedy in 1991 with City Slickers, parodying his tough image and landing an Academy Award.

He delighted the audience by celebrating the best supporting actor award with a series of one-armed push-ups on the stage.

Evil gunslinger

Palance was born Vladimir Palahnuik in 1919, the son of a coal miner, and took up boxing in the 1930s.

He turned to acting after decorated service in the Second World War and made his film debut in 1950.

He quickly received an Oscar nomination for Sudden Fear and then achieved greater fame a year later, in 1953, playing evil gunslinger Jack Wilson in Shane, for which he received another Academy Award nomination.

Palance also achieved critical acclaim for his role in Bagdad Cafe in 1987.

Palance was often as tough off the screen as on, saying that most of his roles were "garbage" and most of his directors incompetent.

"Most of them shouldn't even be directing traffic," he said.