Alan Alda facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alan Alda
Alda in 2015
Born	Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo (1936-01-28) January 28, 1936 (age 89) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Fordham University (BA)
Occupation	Actor director screenwriter
Years active	1955–present
Spouse(s)	Arlene Alda ​ (m. 1957)​
Children	3, including Beatrice Alda
Parent(s)	Robert Alda (father)
Relatives	Antony Alda (half-brother)
Awards	Full list

Alan Alda (born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo on January 28, 1936) is an American actor. He has won many awards, including six Emmy Awards and six Golden Globe Awards. He is most famous for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the TV show M*A*S*H (1972–1983). He also wrote and directed many episodes of this popular series.

Alda has also starred in and directed movies like The Four Seasons (1981). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Aviator (2004). Other well-known films include Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), and Bridge of Spies (2015).

On TV, Alda won an Emmy for his role as Senator Arnold Vinick in The West Wing. He also had roles in ER, 30 Rock, and The Blacklist. He has appeared on Broadway and was nominated for three Tony Awards. In 2019, he received the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. He hosts a podcast called Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda.

Early Life and Education

Alan Alda was born in Manhattan, New York City, in 1936. His childhood involved a lot of travel across the United States. This was because his father, Robert Alda, was an actor and singer. His mother, Joan Browne, was a homemaker. His family had roots in Italy and Ireland.

When Alan was seven, he got polio. His parents helped him with a special treatment to fight the disease. He went to Archbishop Stepinac High School and later studied English at Fordham University. During college, he studied in Paris and performed in Rome and Amsterdam.

In 1956, Alda earned his college degree. He served in the United States Army Reserve for six months at Fort Benning. His half-brother, Antony Alda, was born in 1956 and also became an actor.

Acting Career

Starting Out: Broadway and Early TV

Alda began his acting journey in the 1950s. He joined comedy groups like the Compass Players and Second City. In 1958, he acted in a play at the Cleveland Play House. He also appeared on The Phil Silvers Show.

In 1961, Alda made his Broadway debut in the play Purlie Victorious. He later starred in The Owl and The Pussycat and the musical The Apple Tree. For The Apple Tree, he was nominated for a Tony Award.

Alda was also part of the TV show That Was the Week That Was in the mid-1960s. He appeared in early films like Paper Lion (1968) and The Mephisto Waltz (1971). He often appeared on game shows like What's My Line?. He also helped write stories for Marlo Thomas's children's show Free to Be... You and Me.

M*A*S*H: A Big Hit

Alda (left of center) as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H, 1972

In 1972, Alan Alda was chosen to play Hawkeye Pierce in the TV show M*A*S*H. This show was based on a movie about a medical team during the Korean War. Alda was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards for this role and won five. He was the only actor to appear in all 256 episodes of the show.

The cast of M*A*S*H from season two, 1974 (clockwise from left): Loretta Swit, Larry Linville, Wayne Rogers, Gary Burghoff, McLean Stevenson, and Alda

Alda also wrote 19 episodes and directed 32, including the final episode, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen". This finale was 2.5 hours long and watched by many people. During the 11 years of M*A*S*H, Alda traveled from Los Angeles to his home in New Jersey every weekend. His wife and daughters lived there, and he wanted to keep his family settled.

Alan and Robert Alda in 1975

His father, Robert Alda, and half-brother, Antony Alda, even appeared in an episode of M*A*S*H together. As the show went on, Alda gained more control over its creative direction. While it kept its humor, it also started to deal with more serious topics.

After the third season, some original cast members left. Harry Morgan joined as Colonel Sherman T. Potter, and Mike Farrell joined as Hawkeye's new friend, BJ Hunnicutt.

Writing and Directing for M*A*S*H

After M*A*S*H: More Roles

Alda in 1979

After M*A*S*H, Alda continued to write and direct films. One of his most successful was the comedy-drama The Four Seasons. He also took on roles that were different from his "nice guy" image. He appeared in several films by director Woody Allen, starting with Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).

Alda at the 1994 Emmys

Alda was a guest star on ER as Dr. Gabriel Lawrence, a mentor to another character. He also played Dr. Robert Gallo in the TV film And the Band Played On (1993).

From 1993 to 2005, Alda hosted Scientific American Frontiers on PBS. This show explored new discoveries in science and technology. In 1995, he played the President of the United States in the comedy film Canadian Bacon. He also played Henry Ford in Camping With Henry and Tom (1996). In 1998, Alda starred in the Broadway play Art, which won a Tony Award.

Later Roles and Awards

From 2004 to 2006, Alda was a regular on the NBC show The West Wing. He played Republican Senator Arnold Vinick, a candidate for president. He won an Emmy for this role in 2006. In 2004, Alda was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Senator Owen Brewster in the film The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

In 2005, Alda returned to Broadway in Glengarry Glen Ross. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance. He also appeared in three episodes of 30 Rock as Milton Greene. In 2010, Alda hosted The Human Spark, a PBS series about human uniqueness and the brain.

In 2015, Alda appeared with Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg's film Bridge of Spies. In 2016, he received praise for his role as Uncle Pete in the web series Horace and Pete. From 2018 to 2020, Alda played Dr. Arthur Amiot in the show Ray Donovan. In 2019, he appeared in the film Marriage Story as a kind lawyer. Alda has shared that he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2015.

Helping Others

Alda has done a lot of work for charity. He helped narrate a TV special for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He and his wife are friends with Marlo Thomas, who helps raise money for the hospital. Alda and Thomas also worked together on the children's album Free to Be... You and Me in the 1970s. This project showed his early support for women's rights. He also led a campaign called "Men for the Equal Rights Amendment."

Explaining Science

For 14 years, Alan Alda hosted Scientific American Frontiers, a TV show about science and technology. In 2010, he became a visiting professor at Stony Brook University. He helped start the university's Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science in 2009. He wants to help scientists explain their work better to the public.

Alda is very interested in cosmology, which is the study of the universe. He helped cover the opening of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland in 2008. In 2014, he received an award for his work in science communication. In 2016, he received the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal. This award recognized his amazing ability to use his acting skills to share science with others.

In 2011, Alda wrote a play called Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie. It was about the life of scientist Marie Curie. In 2021, he received the first-ever Distinguished Kavli Science Communicator award.

Personal Life

Alda, 1960s

In 1956, while in college, Alan Alda met Arlene Weiss. They met at a dinner party where they were the only two people willing to eat a rum cake that had fallen on the floor. Alda said he was "captivated by her" even before that moment. They got married on March 15, 1957.

They have three daughters: Eve, Elizabeth, and Beatrice. Two of their eight grandchildren are also interested in acting. The Aldas lived for a long time in Leonia, New Jersey.

On July 31, 2018, Alda shared on TV that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease three years earlier.

Books by Alan Alda

In 2005, Alda wrote his first memoir, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and Other Things I've Learned. In the book, he shares stories from his life. He talks about a time his intestines became twisted while filming in Chile. He also shares how his mother dealt with schizophrenia. The title of the book comes from a childhood memory. His dog died, and his father had it stuffed, which horrified young Alan. This taught him that sometimes you have to accept things as they are.

His second memoir, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (2008), combines advice from his speeches with personal stories.

His third memoir, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating (2017), is about his journey to learn and teach better communication skills.

Images for kids

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  Alda's handprints and noseprint at Disney's Hollywood Studios

See Also

In Spanish: Alan Alda para niños