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| Biography |
When his father became an actor, he changed his name to Robert Alda, taking the AL from Alphonso and the DA from D'Abruzzo. This name was adopted by Alan and also by his brother Anthony. After college, he could be seen mainly on stage and occasionally on the TV screen. He acquired improvisational training as stand-up comedian with "Second City" in Chicago and "Compass" at Hyannisport. With a background in political and social satire, he became a semi-regular on television's That Was the Week That Was in 1964. Over the next years he received critical acclaim for his performances on Broadway, including The Owl and the Pussycat, Purlie Victorious, Fair Game for Lover (for which he received a Theatre World Award), and The Apple Tree (earning him a Tony nomination). Alan Alda's first motion picture part came in Gone Are the Days (1963), in which he recreated his stage role from Purlie Victorious. He also appeared in Paper Lion (1968), Jenny (1969), The Moonshine War (1970), and The Mephisto Waltz (1971). On television, he performed in The Glass House (1972) on CBS.
His wife Arlene is an award-winning professional photographer, whose work has appeared in a number of magazines. She wrote 5 books, including one on The Last Days of M*A*S*H, co-written by her husband. Wikipedia: Alan Alda |
| Filmography | |
This filmography is based on the Internet Movie Database: English | |
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| He wrote the following episodes of M*A*S*H: | |
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| He directed the following episodes of M*A*S*H: | |
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When the TV series version of the movie M*A*S*H was offered to him, he first wanted to turn it down, because he did not want to be a "backdrop for lighthearted high jinks... I wanted to show that the war was a bad place to be." Therefore he had written in his contract, that at least one scene per episode had to be in the O.R. while surgery occurred. Another reason was, that he did not want to be bound to a TV series for 5 or more years, and furthermore some friends warned him, saying a TV conversion of M*A*S*H would not work and would damage his acting career. But his wife encouraged him to read the script and he was absolutely thrilled. He agreed on a meeting with Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds, but this could not take place before he had finished shooting of a TV movie. The last shoot was exactly one day before the beginning of rehearsals for the new show. If he would have turned down the offer, the producers of M*A*S*H would have had to cast the main character of the series within 24 hours. But he accepted the role, and the rest is TV history.
The TV series M*A*S*H boosted Alda's career right into the top league of Hollywood actors. From $ 10,000 for the pilot show, his salary went up to $ 235,000 per episode in the last year. He won numerous awards during the series 11 years run, including People's Choice Awards, Golden Globe's, and 5 Emmy Awards. So far he is the only person to win Emmys for acting, directing and writing. He began writing and directing during the 11 years of M*A*S*H. From season 6 on he gained more influence on the series as a whole as creative consultant. He has in total written or co-written 19 and directed 31 episodes of the series. Because he did not want to move with his family, he commuted for eleven years every week from his home in New Jersey to Los Angeles. His father Robert Alda starred twice as Robert Borelli, M.D. in the series. He played this role in episode III/65: 
Although the schedule of M*A*S*H left not much time free for him, he appeared in the movies California Suite (1978), Same Time, Next Year (1978), and The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), which he also wrote. In 1981 he wrote, directed and starred in The Four Seasons (1981), which was followed by a TV series in 1984, which he co-produced. After the end of M*A*S*H, Alda has written, directed and starred in Sweet Liberty (1986), A New Life (1988) and Betsy's Wedding (1990). He often played off his persona, which came to define the tolerant, good-natured, intelligent, and middle-aged, middle-class American male of the 1980s and 90s. Since 1990, he has been the host of the TV show Scientific American Frontiers, has starred in numerous TV movies, and has become one of Woody Allen's favorite actors, appearing in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), and Everyone Says I Love You (1996). Beneath TV he also starred on the big screen in various movies, including Flirting with Disaster (1996), Murder at 1600 (1997), Mad City (1997), The Object of My Affection (1998), and What Women Want (2000). In 1999 Alda gained attention playing Dr. Gabriel Lawrence, an aging surgeon on the hit TV series ER, earning him another Emmy nomination. He also remained an active stage actor, leading him to two further Tony award nominations as Best Actor (Play) for Jake's Women in 1992 and as Best Performance by a featured actor (Play) for Glengarry Glen Ross in 2005.
On March 5, 2002 he received the WGA's Valentine Davies Award, which is for writers "who have contributed to the entertainment industry as well as the community at large, and who have brought dignity and honor to the profession of writing everywhere." He also received the Regal Cinemas' Career Achievement Award at the Sarasota Film Festival on January 13, 2001. On October 19, 2003 he had to undergo emergency surgery in La Serena, Chile to clear an intestinal obstruction. In 2005 he received a nomination as best supporting actor for the Academy Awards® for his role in the Martin Scorsese movie The Aviator (2004), but did not win. In the same year he also has released his memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed - And Other Things I've Learned. The title refers to an incident in his childhood, when Alda's dog had died and his well-meaning father had the animal stuffed. Alda was horrified by the results, and took from this that sometimes we have to accept things as they are, rather than desperately and fruitlessly trying to change them.
Beneath his acting career, Alda was always a dedicated feminist and he was appointed to serve on the National Commission for the Observance of International Women's Year in 1976. There he co-chaired the Equal Rights Amendment Committee. In 1982, he was co-chair with Betty Ford of the National ERA Countdown Campaign. Beneath feminist issues, he became a member of the Board of the Museum of Broadcasting in 1985.
