I didn't know Jack.

Well, Jack Palance died. He was one of my favorite 'B' actors, along with Charles Bronson.

One of Jack Palance's less gleaming accomplishments was probably a voiceover he did for an Ortega Taco TV spot I wrote in 1992. For some reason, I remember that they paid him $85,000 for a four-hour session. This was 1992 – That's around $200,000 in today's money. Not bad for half a day's work.

Sometime during the session, I found the nerve to ask him if he could read a certain line with a little more enthusiasm, and I performed a few words showing how I wanted it read. In front of our whole team, he replied to me, "If that's enthusiasm, we're ALL going under." I was pretty embarrassed at the time, but looking back on it, the spot did kinda suck.

But that was nothing. He was known for telling his directors they shouldn't even be directing traffic, much less movies. I guess I got off easy.