Born in New York City, Arkin is one of only five actors to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his first screen appearance (for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming), in 1966. Two years later, he was again nominated, for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.
Arkin is equally comfortable in comedy and dramatic roles, in such diverse films as Inspector Clouseau, Catch-22, Hearts of the West, The Seven Percent Solution (where he played Sigmund Freud), Edward Scissorhands, The Rocketeer, The In-Laws, Glengarry Glen Ross and So I Married an Axe Murderer.
His son is actor Adam Arkin.