Maybe theatre isn't the first thing one thinks of when one hears the name "Jack Palance," but North Carolina's PlayMakers Repertory will honor that actor nonetheless, for his six decades on stage, film and television. Best known for his Oscar-winning, supporting actor turns in Shane and 1991's City Slickers, Palance actually started his career as a writer for radio and then gravitated to Broadway. The 77-year-old actor appeared (under the name Walter J. Palance) in 1947's The Big Two, The Vigil and Darkness At Noon, for which he received Theatre World's Most Promising Personality Award. Palance understudied Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire and later played the role of Stanley. Palance's performance on Playhouse 90's 1957 telecast of Requiem For A Heavyweight netted him an Emmy.

The Nov. 1 event will take place at the Carolina Inn on the Chapel Hill campus of the University of North Carolina. Said spokesperson Pam O'Connor about the special evening, "We've invited past honorees for the event." Those include Rosemary Harris, Eva Marie Saint and George Grizzard.

--By David Lefkowitz