Born Leo Melis in Brooklyn, he moved with his family to the Lower East Side. He later attended New York University and studied with Lee Strasberg, and Canada Lee, then joined the US Army.
Upon his discharge, he studied with Michael Howard. He did many years in the regional theatre, moving to Broadway and appearing in A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, Unlikely Heroes, Zalman or the Madness of God, Grind, The Cemetery Club, Some of My Best Friends and co-starred opposite Maureen Stapleton in The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild.
His movie roles include more than a dozen productions big and small, including Klute (1971), The Hot Rock (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) as the Mayor of New York City, The Happy Hooker (1975), Diary of the Dead (1976), Thieves (1977), Private Benjamin (1980) as Mr. Waxman, World War III (1982), Daniel (1983), Batman (1989) as Gotham City's Mayor Borg, and Used People (1992). John Simon in his review of Batman called Wallace "a perfect Ed Koch lookalike".
Survivors include actress Marilyn Chris, to whom he was married for 45 years.
Upon his discharge, he studied with Michael Howard. He did many years in the regional theatre, moving to Broadway and appearing in A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, Unlikely Heroes, Zalman or the Madness of God, Grind, The Cemetery Club, Some of My Best Friends and co-starred opposite Maureen Stapleton in The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild.
His movie roles include more than a dozen productions big and small, including Klute (1971), The Hot Rock (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) as the Mayor of New York City, The Happy Hooker (1975), Diary of the Dead (1976), Thieves (1977), Private Benjamin (1980) as Mr. Waxman, World War III (1982), Daniel (1983), Batman (1989) as Gotham City's Mayor Borg, and Used People (1992). John Simon in his review of Batman called Wallace "a perfect Ed Koch lookalike".
Survivors include actress Marilyn Chris, to whom he was married for 45 years.
Born Leo Melis in Brooklyn, he moved with his family to the Lower East Side. He later attended New York University and studied with Lee Strasberg, and Canada Lee, then joined the US Army.
Upon his discharge, he studied with Michael Howard. He did many years in the regional theatre, moving to Broadway and appearing in A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, Unlikely Heroes, Zalman or the Madness of God, Grind, The Cemetery Club, Some of My Best Friends and co-starred opposite Maureen Stapleton in The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild.
His movie roles include more than a dozen productions big and small, including Klute (1971), The Hot Rock (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) as the Mayor of New York City, The Happy Hooker (1975), Diary of the Dead (1976), Thieves (1977), Private Benjamin (1980) as Mr. Waxman, World War III (1982), Daniel (1983), Batman (1989) as Gotham City's Mayor Borg, and Used People (1992). John Simon in his review of Batman called Wallace "a perfect Ed Koch lookalike".
Survivors include actress Marilyn Chris, to whom he was married for 45 years.
Upon his discharge, he studied with Michael Howard. He did many years in the regional theatre, moving to Broadway and appearing in A Teaspoon Every Four Hours, Unlikely Heroes, Zalman or the Madness of God, Grind, The Cemetery Club, Some of My Best Friends and co-starred opposite Maureen Stapleton in The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild.
His movie roles include more than a dozen productions big and small, including Klute (1971), The Hot Rock (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) as the Mayor of New York City, The Happy Hooker (1975), Diary of the Dead (1976), Thieves (1977), Private Benjamin (1980) as Mr. Waxman, World War III (1982), Daniel (1983), Batman (1989) as Gotham City's Mayor Borg, and Used People (1992). John Simon in his review of Batman called Wallace "a perfect Ed Koch lookalike".
Survivors include actress Marilyn Chris, to whom he was married for 45 years.
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