Wallach's film debut was in Elia Kazan's controversial 1956 Baby Doll, for which he won the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) as "Most Promising Newcomer."[REF]
Noting this versatility as a character actor, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences called him "the quintessential chameleon," with the ability to play different characters "effortlessly,"[REF] and L.A. Times theater critic Charles McNulty saw Wallach's "power to illuminate" his various screen or stage personas as being "radioactive."[REF]