Alan Alda - Biography

Last Editor: Vista111				Alan Alda Biography -   Name : Alan Alda Birth Name : Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo Date of Birth : 28 January 1936 Place of Birth : New York, New York, USA Height : 6' 2 Nationality : American Profession : Actor

Alan Alda Trivia -

He did not sign on to play Hawkeye Pierce on "M*A*S*H" (1972) until 6 hours before filming began on the pilot episode. He commuted from LA to his home in New Jersey every weekend for 11 years while starring in "M*A*S*H" (1972). His wife and daughters lived in NJ, and he did not want to uproot the family to LA, especially because he did not know how long the show would last. Brother of Antony Alda. Son of Robert Alda. Alan, Robert and Antony appeared together in an episode of "M*A*S*H" (1972), "Lend a Hand" during season 8. Robert had previously appeared in "The Consultant" in season 3. Alda almost turned down the role of Hawkeye Pierce on "M*A*S*H" (1972) because he did not want war to be a "backdrop for lighthearted high jinks... I wanted to show that the war was a bad place to be." Suffered from bad case of Polio as a young child. Has three daughters: Eve, Elizabeth Alda and Beatrice Alda. 1975 People's Choice Award: Favourite Male TV-Performer Studied at Fordham University in New York Earned a reported $200,000 a week for "M*A*S*H" (1972) in 1980. "If you work very, very hard, this is the kind of actor, writer, and director you may turn out to be. And if you work extra hard, this is the kind of person you may turn out to be." - James Lipton, to students at New School University, where Alda gave an interview. He is the son of Joan Brown, a former Miss New York pageant winner. To show the horrors of war in a television sit-com, Alda had it written into his contract that one scene of every episode must take place in the operating room while surgery occured. Is the only person ever to win an Emmy for acting, writing, and directing. Studied at the Sorbonne during his junior year of college. Served in the U. S. Army, and he went AWOL every weekend because he was dating the woman that he ultimately married, Arlene. He was once selected as the most believable actor in the U. S. Once did a cartwheel down the aisle while on his way to accept an award that he had just won. Earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University (New York City, USA) in 1956. Attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY. Was one of the actors considered to play President Bartlett on "The West Wing" (1999). 19 October 2003 - Underwent emergency surgery in La Serena, California to clear an intestinal obstruction. Has succeeded Donald Sutherland in two roles: Hawkeye Pierce in "M*A*S*H" (1972), and Flan in Six Degrees of Separation. He played the latter part in an Audio Books recording. Was the only actor to appear in every episode of "M*A*S*H" (1972). Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith; pg. 7-8. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 With the exception of taking a course in "Theater Games", he's never studied acting. His degree from Fordham University is in English. He felt that he was a natural performer and that studying would ruin his gift for being natural. His favorite curseword is "horse". It stems from an outburst he once had on a set, where he went through every obscenity he could think of, then unable to come up with anymore, he loudly stated "Horse!". According to Alda, it has since become his favorite curse. He is an Italian-American.

Alan Alda Detailed Biography -

Good-natured leading man who in the late 1970s was everyone's ideal of the "sensitive male." The son of actor Robert Alda, his early work was primarily on stage, with occasional forays into TV, notably as a semiregular on "That Was the Week That Was" (1964-65). His first noteworthy film role was as author George Plimpton in Pa per Lion (1968), and he was a surprisingly credible hillbilly in 1970's The Moonshine War Then in 1972, he was cast as Hawkeye in the TV series version of "M*A*S*H," and though it was almost canceled that first season, it went on for 11 years, and won Alda four Emmys in the process: two for acting, one each for writing and directing. His total involvement in the show left little time for outside work, but he was effective as Caryl Chessman in the TV movie Kill Me If You Can and in 1978 appeared in two films based on hit Broadway comedies, California Suite and Same Time, Next Year In 1979, Alda wrote and starred (opposite a young Meryl Streep) in a political drama, The Seduction of Joe Tynan and two years later donned the director's cap as well with The Four Seasons a bittersweet romantic comedy that spun off a brief TV series. His later films, which continued his often-glib exploration of human nature, were Sweet Liberty (1986), a Hollywood satire; A New Life (1988), about middle-age divorcˇes, and Betsy's Wedding (1990), a genial cousin to Father of the Bride Cast against type, he was deliciously sleazy as an egotistical filmmaker in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Allen used him again to good effect in Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), and, perhaps taking a cue from Woody's casting idea, he was hired to play an egocentric doctor in the AIDS telefeature And the Band Played On (1993). Alda has also been active on stage in recent years, in London and on Broadway, in a revival of "Our Town" and in Neil Simon's "Jake's Women."