Eddie Albert
Encyclopedia
Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005), known professionally as Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist
. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid
.
Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat
films, traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical Oklahoma!
, and the corrupt prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas
in the 1960s television situation comedy
Green Acres
and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama Switch
. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest
, opposite Jane Wyman
.
, Illinois
, the oldest of the five children of Frank Daniel Heimberger (1874–1970), a realtor, and his wife Julia (née Jones). His year of birth is often given as 1908, but this is incorrect. His parents were unmarried when Albert was born and his mother altered his birth certificate after her marriage.
When he was one year old, his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
. Young Edward secured his first job as a newspaper boy when he was only six. During World War I
, his German name led to taunts as "the enemy" by his classmates. He studied at Central High School in Minneapolis and joined the drama club. His schoolmate Harriette Lake (later known as actress Ann Sothern
) was a few years his junior. Finishing high school in 1924, he entered the University of Minnesota
, where he majored in business.
left him substantially unemployed. He then took odd jobs, working as a trapeze
performer, an insurance
salesman, and a nightclub
singer. Albert stopped using his last name professionally, since it invariably was mispronounced as Hamburger. He moved to New York City
in 1933, where he co-hosted a radio show, The Honeymooners - Grace and Eddie Show, which ran for three years. At the show's end, he was offered a film contract by Warner Bros.
In the 1930s, Albert performed in Broadway
stage productions, including Brother Rat, which opened in 1936. He had lead roles in Room Service
(1937–1938) and The Boys from Syracuse
(1938–1939). In 1936, Albert had also become one of the earliest television actors, performing live in RCA
's first television broadcast, a promotion for their New York City radio stations.
Performing regularly on early television, Albert wrote and performed in the first teleplay
, "The Love Nest", written for television. Done live (not recorded on film), this production took place November 6, 1936 and originated in Studio 3H (now 3K) in the GE Building
at Rockefeller Center
in New York City. Hosted by Betty Goodwin, The Love Nest starred Albert, Hildegarde, The Ink Spots
, Ed Wynn
, and actress Grace Brandt. Before this time television productions were adaptations of stage plays.
In 1938, he made his feature film
debut in the Hollywood
version of Brother Rat
with Ronald Reagan
and Jane Wyman
, reprising his Broadway role as cadet
"Bing" Edwards. The next year, he starred in On Your Toes
, adapted for the screen from the Broadway
smash by Rodgers and Hart
.
, and before his film career, Albert had toured Mexico as a clown and high-wire artist with the Escalante Brothers Circus, but secretly worked for U.S. Army intelligence, photographing German U-boats in Mexican harbors. On September 9, 1942, Albert enlisted in the United States Navy
and was discharged in 1943 to accept an appointment as a lieutenant
in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was awarded the Bronze Star
with Combat "V" for his actions during the invasion of Tarawa
in November 1943, when, as the pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard landing craft
, he rescued 47 Marines
who were stranded offshore (and supervised the rescue of 30 others), while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.
, Lights Out, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
, Studio One
, Philco Television Playhouse, Your Show of Shows
, Front Row Center
, The Eleventh Hour
, The Reporter
, The Alcoa Hour
, and General Electric Theater
, among others.
(1949–1950) and The Seven Year Itch
(1952–1955). In 1960, Albert replaced Robert Preston
in the lead role of Professor Harold Hill, in the Broadway production of The Music Man
. Albert also performed in regional theater. He created the title role of Marc Blitzstein
's Reuben, Reuben
in 1955 in Boston. He performed at The Muny
Theater in St. Louis
, reprising the Harold Hill role in The Music Man in 1966 and playing Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady
in 1968.
's fiancé in The Fuller Brush Girl
(1950), as Bill Gorton in The Sun Also Rises
(1957) and as a traveling salesman in Carrie
(1952). He was nominated for his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor with Roman Holiday (1953). In Oklahoma! (1955), he played a womanizing peddler, and in Who's Got the Action?
(1962), he portrayed a lawyer helping his partner (Dean Martin
) cope with a gambling addiction. In Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) he played a psychiatrist with an enthusiasm for farming. He appeared in several military roles, including The Longest Day
(1962), about the Normandy Invasion. The film Attack! (1956) provided Albert with a dark role as a cowardly, psychotic Army
captain whose behavior threatens the safety of his company. In a similar vein he played a psychotic United States Army Air Force colonel in Captain Newman, M.D.
(1963), opposite Gregory Peck
.
, a CBS
sitcom
that aired in the 1952-1953 season, with Albert as Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman who lives with his young family in the home of his father-in-law and employer, played by Ed Begley
. He guest starred on various series, including ABC
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
.
In 1964, Albert guest starred in Cry of Silence, an episode of the science fiction television series The Outer Limits
. In it Albert played Andy Thorne who, along with his wife Karen (played by June Havoc), had decided to leave the city and buy a farm (a recurring role in Albert's career). They find themselves lost and in the middle of a deserted valley where they come under attack by a series of tumbleweeds, frogs and rocks.
In 1965, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning
to star in a new sitcom for CBS called Green Acres
. His character, Oliver Wendell Douglas
, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a farmer. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor
as his urbanite, spoiled wife. The show was an immediate hit, achieving fifth place in the ratings in its first season. By 1971, Green Acres was still reasonably popular but was canceled when CBS decided to discontinue their lineup of rural-themed programs due to changing tastes and because they were sensitive to the fact that they had been disparagingly referred to in the press as the "Country Broadcasting System".
, and starred in the popular 1970s adventure/crime drama, Switch
for CBS, as a retired police officer, Frank McBride, who goes to work as a private detective with a former criminal he had once jailed. In its first season, Switch was a hit. By late 1976, the show had become a more serious and traditional crime drama. At the end of its third season in 1978, ratings began to drop, and the show was canceled after 70 episodes.
s. His first was the 1956 made-for-television NBC documentary
Our Mr. Sun
, a Bell Telephone-produced color special. Directed by Frank Capra
, it blends live action and animation. Albert appears with Dr. Frank Baxter
, who appears in several other Bell Telephone science specials.
In 1965, the year that Green Acres premiered, Albert served as host / narrator for the telecast of a German-American made-for-television film version of The Nutcracker
, which was rerun several times and is now available as a Warners Archive DVD. The host sequences and the narration, all included on the DVD, were especially filmed for English-language telecasts of this short film (it was only an hour in length, and cut much from the Tchaikovsky ballet).
In 1968 he voiced Myles Standish
in the Rankin/Bass
Animated TV special
"The Mouse on the Mayflower
".
for Best Supporting Actor
for his performance as an overprotective father, in The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and delivered a memorable performance as an evil prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. In a lighter vein, Albert portrayed the gruff though soft-hearted Jason O'Day in the successful Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain
in 1975.
Albert appeared in such 1980s films as How to Beat the High Co$t of Living
(1980), Yesterday
(1981), Take This Job and Shove It
(1981), Goliath Awaits
(1981 television film), Rooster (1982 television film), Yes, Giorgio
(1982), and as the US President in Dreamscape
(1984). His final feature film role was a cameo appearance in The Big Picture
(1989).
In the mid-1980s, Albert was reunited with longtime friend and co-star of the Brother Rat and An Angel from Texas films Jane Wyman
in a recurring role as the villainous Carlton Travis in the popular 1980s soap opera
Falcon Crest
. He also guest-starred on an episode of the '80s television series Highway to Heaven
, as well as Murder She Wrote and Columbo, and in 1990 he reunited with Eva Gabor
for a Return To Green Acres. In 1993, he guest-starred for several episodes on the popular ABC daytime soap opera
General Hospital
as Jack Boland, and also made a guest appearance on the Golden Girls
spin-off, The Golden Palace
the same year.
company, a major international logging concern.
He was special envoy for Meals for Millions and consultant for the World Hunger Conference. He joined Albert Schweitzer
in a documentary about African malnutrition and fought agricultural and industrial pollution, particularly DDT
. Albert promoted organic gardening, and founded City Children's Farms for inner city children, while supporting eco-farming and tree planting.
Albert was national chairman for the Boy Scouts of America
's conservation program and founded the Eddie Albert World Trees Foundation. He was a trustee of the National Recreation and Park Association
and a member of the U.S. Department of Energy
's advisory board. TV Guide
called him "an ecological Paul Revere
".
Albert was also a director of the U.S. Council on Refugees and participated in the creation of Earth Day
and spoke at its inaugural ceremony in 1970.
. Albert and his wife had a son, Edward Jr.
, also an actor. Eddie and Margo also adopted a daughter, Maria, who became her father's business manager. Margo Albert died from brain cancer on July 17, 1985.
in his last years. His son put his acting career aside to care for his father. Despite his illness, Albert exercised regularly until shortly before his death. Eddie Albert died of pneumonia
in 2005 at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles
, California
, next to his wife Margo and his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor.
Albert's son, Edward Jr. (1951–2006) was an actor, musician, singer, and linguist/dialectician. He died at age 55, one year after his father. He had been suffering from lung cancer
for 18 months.
For contributions to the television industry, Eddie Albert was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard
.
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid
The Heartbreak Kid (1972 film)
The Heartbreak Kid is a 1972 dark romantic comedy film directed by Elaine May, written by Neil Simon, and starring Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin, and Cybill Shepherd...
.
Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat
Brother Rat
Brother Rat is a 1938 film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
films, traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
, and the corrupt prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas was the major character in the 1960s CBS situation comedy Green Acres. The character's name was inspired by famed Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and possibly also by then-Supreme Court justice William Orville Douglas....
in the 1960s television situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama Switch
Switch (TV series)
Switch is an American action-adventure, tongue-in-cheek detective series starring Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner, who worked as private eyes, for a deceptive sting operation...
. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
, opposite Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
.
Early life
Edward Albert Heimberger was born in Rock IslandRock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, the oldest of the five children of Frank Daniel Heimberger (1874–1970), a realtor, and his wife Julia (née Jones). His year of birth is often given as 1908, but this is incorrect. His parents were unmarried when Albert was born and his mother altered his birth certificate after her marriage.
When he was one year old, his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. Young Edward secured his first job as a newspaper boy when he was only six. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, his German name led to taunts as "the enemy" by his classmates. He studied at Central High School in Minneapolis and joined the drama club. His schoolmate Harriette Lake (later known as actress Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern
Ann Sothern was an American film and television actress whose career spanned six decades.-Early life and career:...
) was a few years his junior. Finishing high school in 1924, he entered the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, where he majored in business.
Career
When he graduated, he embarked on a business career. However, the stock market crash in 1929Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
left him substantially unemployed. He then took odd jobs, working as a trapeze
Trapeze
A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...
performer, an insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
salesman, and a nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
singer. Albert stopped using his last name professionally, since it invariably was mispronounced as Hamburger. He moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1933, where he co-hosted a radio show, The Honeymooners - Grace and Eddie Show, which ran for three years. At the show's end, he was offered a film contract by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
In the 1930s, Albert performed in Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage productions, including Brother Rat, which opened in 1936. He had lead roles in Room Service
Room Service (play)
Room Service is a play written by Allen Boretz and John Murray. It was originally produced by George Abbott and debuted at the Cort Theatre in New York on May 19, 1937. Its initial production ran for 500 performances, closing on July 16, 1938. The play was revived for a short run of 16...
(1937–1938) and The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse
The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical...
(1938–1939). In 1936, Albert had also become one of the earliest television actors, performing live in RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
's first television broadcast, a promotion for their New York City radio stations.
Performing regularly on early television, Albert wrote and performed in the first teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
, "The Love Nest", written for television. Done live (not recorded on film), this production took place November 6, 1936 and originated in Studio 3H (now 3K) in the GE Building
GE Building
The GE Building is an Art Deco skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the midtown Manhattan section of New York City. Known as the RCA Building until 1988, it is most famous for housing the headquarters of the television network NBC...
at Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
in New York City. Hosted by Betty Goodwin, The Love Nest starred Albert, Hildegarde, The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were a popular vocal group in the 1930s and 1940s that helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop...
, Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
, and actress Grace Brandt. Before this time television productions were adaptations of stage plays.
In 1938, he made his feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
debut in the Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
version of Brother Rat
Brother Rat
Brother Rat is a 1938 film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
with Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
, reprising his Broadway role as cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
"Bing" Edwards. The next year, he starred in On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
, adapted for the screen from the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
smash by Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership of composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Lorenz Hart...
.
Military
Prior to World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and before his film career, Albert had toured Mexico as a clown and high-wire artist with the Escalante Brothers Circus, but secretly worked for U.S. Army intelligence, photographing German U-boats in Mexican harbors. On September 9, 1942, Albert enlisted in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and was discharged in 1943 to accept an appointment as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was awarded the Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
with Combat "V" for his actions during the invasion of Tarawa
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....
in November 1943, when, as the pilot of a U.S. Coast Guard landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
, he rescued 47 Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
who were stranded offshore (and supervised the rescue of 30 others), while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.
As character actor
Since 1948, Albert enjoyed being character actor and guest-starred in nearly 90 TV series. He made his guest-starring debut on an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour. This part led to other roles such as Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, SuspenseSuspense (US TV series)
Suspense is an American television anthology series that ran on CBS Television from 1949 to 1954. It was adapted from the radio program of the same name which ran from 1942 to 1962. Like many early television programs, the show was broadcast live from New York City...
, Lights Out, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, is a weekly CBS anthology television series, was telecast on Friday nights from 1951 until 1959. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by Schlitz beer...
, Studio One
Studio One (TV series)
Studio One is a long-running American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by the 26-year-old Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC.-Radio:...
, Philco Television Playhouse, Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows
Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that appeared weekly in the United States on NBC , from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca....
, Front Row Center
Front Row Center
Front Row Center is an American variety show that aired on the DuMont Television Network from March 25, 1949 to April 2, 1950. The show was originally 30 minutes then expanded to 60 minutes. It was one of several DuMont network programs to originally start as a local show on one of its affiliates...
, The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
, The Reporter
The Reporter (TV series)
The Reporter is an American drama series that aired on CBS from September 25 to December 18, 1964. The series was created by Jerome Weidman and developed by executive producers Keefe Brasselle and John Simon.-Synopsis:...
, The Alcoa Hour
The Alcoa Hour
The Alcoa Hour is a live anthology television series sponsored by Alcoa and telecast in the United States from 1955 to 1957. The series was seen Sundays on NBC at 9pm.-Overview:...
, and General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:...
, among others.
On stage
The 1950s also saw a return to Broadway for Albert, including roles in Miss LibertyMiss Liberty
Miss Liberty is a musical with a book by Robert E. Sherwood and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. It is based on the sculpting of the Statue of Liberty in 1886...
(1949–1950) and The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch
The Seven Year Itch is a 1955 American film based on a three-act play with the same name by George Axelrod. The film was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, and starred Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, reprising his Broadway role...
(1952–1955). In 1960, Albert replaced Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
in the lead role of Professor Harold Hill, in the Broadway production of The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
. Albert also performed in regional theater. He created the title role of Marc Blitzstein
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein, better known as Marc Blitzstein , was an American composer. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical The Cradle Will Rock, directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Works Progress Administration...
's Reuben, Reuben
Reuben, Reuben (opera)
Reuben, Reuben is a 1955 "urban folk opera" by Marc Blitzstein. Set in New York's Little Italy and inspired by the Faust legend, it concerns Reuben, a suicidal veteran who has received a medical discharge because he cannot speak...
in 1955 in Boston. He performed at The Muny
The Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
Theater in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, reprising the Harold Hill role in The Music Man in 1966 and playing Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
in 1968.
1950s and 1960s film career
In the 1950s, Albert appeared in film roles such as that of Lucille BallLucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
's fiancé in The Fuller Brush Girl
The Fuller Brush Girl
The Fuller Brush Girl is a 1950 slapstick comedy starring Lucille Ball and directed by Lloyd Bacon. Animator Frank Tashlin wrote the script. Ball plays a quirky door-to-door cosmetics salesperson for the Fuller Brush Company...
(1950), as Bill Gorton in The Sun Also Rises
The Sun Also Rises (1957 film)
The Sun Also Rises is a 1957 film adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name, with the screenplay written by Peter Viertel. It starred Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer and Errol Flynn. Much of it was filmed on location in France and Spain in Cinemascope and color by Deluxe...
(1957) and as a traveling salesman in Carrie
Carrie (1952 film)
Carrie is a 1952 feature film based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.Directed by William Wyler, the film stars Jennifer Jones in the title role and Laurence Olivier as Hurstwood. Carrie received two Academy Award Nominations: Costume Design, and Best Art Direction...
(1952). He was nominated for his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor with Roman Holiday (1953). In Oklahoma! (1955), he played a womanizing peddler, and in Who's Got the Action?
Who's Got the Action?
Who's Got the Action? is a comedy film about a man suffering from an addiction to gambling starring Dean Martin, Lana Turner, Eddie Albert, and Walter Matthau...
(1962), he portrayed a lawyer helping his partner (Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
) cope with a gambling addiction. In Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) he played a psychiatrist with an enthusiasm for farming. He appeared in several military roles, including The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
(1962), about the Normandy Invasion. The film Attack! (1956) provided Albert with a dark role as a cowardly, psychotic Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
captain whose behavior threatens the safety of his company. In a similar vein he played a psychotic United States Army Air Force colonel in Captain Newman, M.D.
Captain Newman, M.D.
Captain Newman, M.D. is a 1963 film starring Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Eddie Albert and Bobby Darin. It was directed by David Miller and filmed on location at Fort Huachuca, Arizona....
(1963), opposite Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
.
Green Acres
Albert's first television series was Leave It to LarryLeave It to Larry
Leave It to Larry is a 1952-1953 CBS sitcom starring Eddie Albert as Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman who lives with his own family in the residence of his employer and father-in-law, played by Ed Begley, Sr. , in the role of Mr...
, a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
that aired in the 1952-1953 season, with Albert as Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman who lives with his young family in the home of his father-in-law and employer, played by Ed Begley
Ed Begley
Edward James Begley, Sr. was an Academy Award-winning American actor.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Begley began his career as a Broadway and radio actor while in his teens. He appeared in the hit musical Going Up on Broadway in 1917 and in London the next year. He later acted in...
. He guest starred on various series, including ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom
The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom is a half-hour variety show that aired on ABC from October 3, 1957 to June 23, 1960, starring the young singer Pat Boone and a host of top-name guest stars. The program was of course sponsored by Chevrolet...
.
In 1964, Albert guest starred in Cry of Silence, an episode of the science fiction television series The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
. In it Albert played Andy Thorne who, along with his wife Karen (played by June Havoc), had decided to leave the city and buy a farm (a recurring role in Albert's career). They find themselves lost and in the middle of a deserted valley where they come under attack by a series of tumbleweeds, frogs and rocks.
In 1965, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning
Paul Henning
Paul William Henning was an American producer and writer. Most famous for the successful TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, he was crucial in the development of several "rural" comedies for CBS.-Early life:...
to star in a new sitcom for CBS called Green Acres
Green Acres
Green Acres is an American television series starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm...
. His character, Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas
Oliver Wendell Douglas was the major character in the 1960s CBS situation comedy Green Acres. The character's name was inspired by famed Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and possibly also by then-Supreme Court justice William Orville Douglas....
, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a farmer. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
as his urbanite, spoiled wife. The show was an immediate hit, achieving fifth place in the ratings in its first season. By 1971, Green Acres was still reasonably popular but was canceled when CBS decided to discontinue their lineup of rural-themed programs due to changing tastes and because they were sensitive to the fact that they had been disparagingly referred to in the press as the "Country Broadcasting System".
Switch
After a four-year-absence from the small screen, and upon reaching age 69 in 1975, Albert signed a new contract with Universal TelevisionUniversal Television
Universal Television is the television production arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group, and by extension, the NBC television network...
, and starred in the popular 1970s adventure/crime drama, Switch
Switch (TV series)
Switch is an American action-adventure, tongue-in-cheek detective series starring Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner, who worked as private eyes, for a deceptive sting operation...
for CBS, as a retired police officer, Frank McBride, who goes to work as a private detective with a former criminal he had once jailed. In its first season, Switch was a hit. By late 1976, the show had become a more serious and traditional crime drama. At the end of its third season in 1978, ratings began to drop, and the show was canceled after 70 episodes.
Television specials
Eddie Albert appears in a number of television specialTelevision special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
s. His first was the 1956 made-for-television NBC documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
Our Mr. Sun
Our Mr. Sun
Our Mr. Sun is a one-hour American 1956 television film in Technicolor written, produced, and directed by Frank Capra. It is a documentary that explains how the Sun works and how it also plays a huge part in human life. It was first televised by CBS in 1956.The film starred Frank Baxter as "Dr...
, a Bell Telephone-produced color special. Directed by Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
, it blends live action and animation. Albert appears with Dr. Frank Baxter
Frank C. Baxter
Francis Condie Baxter was an American TV personality and educator. He was a professor of English at the University of Southern California. Baxter hosted Telephone Time in 1957 and 1958 when ABC picked up the program and ended the tenure of John Nesbitt...
, who appears in several other Bell Telephone science specials.
In 1965, the year that Green Acres premiered, Albert served as host / narrator for the telecast of a German-American made-for-television film version of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, which was rerun several times and is now available as a Warners Archive DVD. The host sequences and the narration, all included on the DVD, were especially filmed for English-language telecasts of this short film (it was only an hour in length, and cut much from the Tchaikovsky ballet).
In 1968 he voiced Myles Standish
Myles Standish
Myles Standish was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military advisor for Plymouth Colony. One of the Mayflower passengers, Standish played a leading role in the administration and defense of Plymouth Colony from its inception...
in the Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
Animated TV special
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
"The Mouse on the Mayflower
The Mouse on the Mayflower
The Mouse on the Mayflower is a 1968 animated Thanksgiving television special created by Rankin/Bass. It debuted on NBC on November 23, 1968. The special is about a mouse named Willum, who is discovered on the Mayflower. Tennessee Ernie Ford voices Willum and narrates.-External links:* at IMDb...
".
Later work
In 1972, Albert resumed his film career and was nominated for an OscarAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for his performance as an overprotective father, in The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and delivered a memorable performance as an evil prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. In a lighter vein, Albert portrayed the gruff though soft-hearted Jason O'Day in the successful Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain
Escape to Witch Mountain
Escape to Witch Mountain is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted into a film of the same name by Walt Disney Productions in 1975, directed by John Hough. A remake directed by Peter Rader was released in 1995...
in 1975.
Albert appeared in such 1980s films as How to Beat the High Co$t of Living
How to Beat the High Co$t of Living
How to Beat the High Co$t of Living is a 1980 comedy film, starring Jane Curtin, Susan Saint James and Jessica Lange. Also in the cast are Dabney Coleman, Fred Willard, Richard Benjamin, Eddie Albert, Cathryn Damon, and a cameo by Jane Curtin's fellow Saturday Night Live co-star Garrett Morris...
(1980), Yesterday
Yesterday (1981 film)
Yesterday is a 1981 film directed by Lawrence Kent, starring Vincent Van Patten and Claire Pimparé. It is a love story of a young soldier maimed in Vietnam, who allows his former girlfriend to believe he's dead to spare her anguish.-Cast:...
(1981), Take This Job and Shove It
Take This Job and Shove It (film)
Take This Job and Shove It is a 1981 film starring Robert Hays, Barbara Hershey, Art Carney, and David Keith, and directed by Gus Trikonis....
(1981), Goliath Awaits
Goliath Awaits
Goliath Awaits is a 1981 American television movie originally broadcast in two parts in November 1981 on various stations as a part of Operation Prime Time's syndicated programming...
(1981 television film), Rooster (1982 television film), Yes, Giorgio
Yes, Giorgio
Yes, Giorgio is a 1982 musical/comedy film starring Luciano Pavarotti, his only venture in film acting. Michael J. Lewis provided the original music for the film with cinematography by Fred J. Koenekamp...
(1982), and as the US President in Dreamscape
Dreamscape (film)
Dreamscape is a 1984 science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by David Loughery, with Chuck Russell and Ruben co-writing...
(1984). His final feature film role was a cameo appearance in The Big Picture
The Big Picture (film)
The Big Picture is a 1989 comedy film starring Kevin Bacon and directed by Christopher Guest.-Plot:In a fictionalized version of Tinseltown itself, Nick Chapman is an up and coming film director hot off the win of a student academy award for his short film. No sooner does the award bring him into...
(1989).
In the mid-1980s, Albert was reunited with longtime friend and co-star of the Brother Rat and An Angel from Texas films Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...
in a recurring role as the villainous Carlton Travis in the popular 1980s soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
. He also guest-starred on an episode of the '80s television series Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...
, as well as Murder She Wrote and Columbo, and in 1990 he reunited with Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-born socialite and actress. She was widely known for her role on Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, Duchess in the 1970 Disney film The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in Disney's The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under...
for a Return To Green Acres. In 1993, he guest-starred for several episodes on the popular ABC daytime soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
as Jack Boland, and also made a guest appearance on the Golden Girls
The Golden Girls
The Golden Girls is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris, which originally aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992. Starring Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty, the show centers on four older women sharing a home in Miami, Florida...
spin-off, The Golden Palace
The Golden Palace
The Golden Palace is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1992, to May 14, 1993. The show was a spin-off and continuation of the sitcom The Golden Girls....
the same year.
Activism and interests
Albert was active in social and environmental causes especially from 1970s onward. Beginning in the 1940s, his Eddie Albert Productions produced films for various US corporations, as well as documentaries such as Human Beginnings (a for-its-time controversial sex education film) and Human Growth. He narrated and starred in a 1970 film promoting views of the WeyerhaeuserWeyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector owner of softwood timberland; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber...
company, a major international logging concern.
He was special envoy for Meals for Millions and consultant for the World Hunger Conference. He joined Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer OM was a German theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. He was born in Kaysersberg in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, at that time part of the German Empire...
in a documentary about African malnutrition and fought agricultural and industrial pollution, particularly DDT
DDT
DDT is one of the most well-known synthetic insecticides. It is a chemical with a long, unique, and controversial history....
. Albert promoted organic gardening, and founded City Children's Farms for inner city children, while supporting eco-farming and tree planting.
Albert was national chairman for the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
's conservation program and founded the Eddie Albert World Trees Foundation. He was a trustee of the National Recreation and Park Association
National Recreation and Park Association
The National Recreation and Park Association provides information and services to communities in the United States attempting to make them conscious of the environment around them. It supports the construction of parks and recreational facilities around the United States...
and a member of the U.S. Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
's advisory board. TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
called him "an ecological Paul Revere
Paul Revere
Paul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
".
Albert was also a director of the U.S. Council on Refugees and participated in the creation of Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
and spoke at its inaugural ceremony in 1970.
Personal life
In 1945, Albert married Mexican actress María Margarita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado Castilla y O'Donnell (better known by her stage name Margo). They lived in Pacific Palisades, California, in a Spanish-style house on 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) of land with a cornfield in front. Albert grew organic vegetables in a greenhouse and recalled how his parents had a liberty garden at home during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Albert and his wife had a son, Edward Jr.
Edward Albert
Edward Albert was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert, Laurence Edward Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.-Early life:Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie...
, also an actor. Eddie and Margo also adopted a daughter, Maria, who became her father's business manager. Margo Albert died from brain cancer on July 17, 1985.
Last years and death
Albert suffered from Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
in his last years. His son put his acting career aside to care for his father. Despite his illness, Albert exercised regularly until shortly before his death. Eddie Albert died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 2005 at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, next to his wife Margo and his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor.
Albert's son, Edward Jr. (1951–2006) was an actor, musician, singer, and linguist/dialectician. He died at age 55, one year after his father. He had been suffering from lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
for 18 months.
For contributions to the television industry, Eddie Albert was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
.
Filmography
- Brother RatBrother RatBrother Rat is a 1938 film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane and Wayne Morris....
(1938) - On Your ToesOn Your ToesOn Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
(1939) - Four Wives (1939)
- Brother Rat and a Baby (1940)
- An Angel from Texas (1940)
- My Love Came Back (1940)
- A Dispatch from Reuter's (1940)
- The Great Mr. Nobody (1941)
- Four Mothers (1941)
- The Wagons Roll at NightThe Wagons Roll at NightThe Wagons Roll at Night is a 1941 circus film, starring Humphrey Bogart as travelling carnival owner Nick Coster, Sylvia Sidney as his girlfriend and Eddie Albert as a newcomer who falls in love with Nick's sister.-Plot:...
(1941) - Thieves Fall Out (1941)
- Out of the FogOut of the Fog (film)Out of the Fog is a 1941 film noir directed by Anatole Litvak, starring John Garfield, Ida Lupino and Thomas Mitchell. A gangster falls in love with the daughter of one of the fisherman from whom he extorts "protection" money...
(1941) - Treat 'Em RoughTreat 'Em RoughTreat 'Em Rough is a film about a boxer called the Panama Kid who returns to his hometown with his trainer Hotfoot and valet Snake Eyes when his father is accused of embezzling, and becomes involved with his father's ravishing secretary...
(1942) - Eagle SquadronEagle squadronThe Eagle Squadrons were 3 fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force formed during World War II with volunteer pilots from the United States...
(1942) - Lady Bodyguard (1943)
- Ladies' Day (1943)
- BombardierBombardier (film)Bombardier is a 1943 film war drama about the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film stars Pat O'Brien and Randolph Scott. Bombardier was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944 for the special effects used in the film...
(1943) - Screen Snapshots: Hollywood in Uniform (1943) (short subject)
- Strange Voyage (1946)
- Rendezvous with Annie (1946)
- The Perfect Marriage (1947)
- Hit Parade of 1947 (1947)
- Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)
- Time Out of MindTime out of MindTime Out of Mind is the 30th studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on September 30, 1997 on Columbia Records. It is his first double studio album since 1970's Self Portrait...
(1947) - UnconqueredUnconqueredUnconquered is a 1947 adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and released by Paramount. The film depicts the violent struggles between American colonists and Native Americans on the western frontier in the mid-18th century during the time of Pontiac's Rebellion, primarily around...
(1947) (scenes deleted) - The Dude Goes West (1948)
- You Gotta Stay HappyYou Gotta Stay HappyYou Gotta Stay Happy is a 1948 Universal-International romantic-comedy starring James Stewart, Joan Fontaine and Eddie Albert.-Plot:Marvin Payne is a World War II army air force veteran trying to make it on a shoe-string with a startup air-freight business...
(1948) - Every Girl Should Be MarriedEvery Girl Should Be MarriedEvery Girl Should Be Married is a 1948 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant and Betsy Drake. -Plot summary:...
(1948) (cameo) - The Fuller Brush GirlThe Fuller Brush GirlThe Fuller Brush Girl is a 1950 slapstick comedy starring Lucille Ball and directed by Lloyd Bacon. Animator Frank Tashlin wrote the script. Ball plays a quirky door-to-door cosmetics salesperson for the Fuller Brush Company...
(1950) - You're in the Navy NowYou're in the Navy NowYou're in the Navy Now is a Hollywood film released in 1951 by Twentieth Century Fox about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. Its initial release was titled USS Teakettle...
(1951) - Meet Me After the Show (1951)
- Actors and Sin (1952)
- CarrieCarrie (1952 film)Carrie is a 1952 feature film based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.Directed by William Wyler, the film stars Jennifer Jones in the title role and Laurence Olivier as Hurstwood. Carrie received two Academy Award Nominations: Costume Design, and Best Art Direction...
(1952) - Roman Holiday (1953)
- The Girl Rush (1955)
- Oklahoma! (1955)
- I'll Cry TomorrowI'll Cry TomorrowI'll Cry Tomorrow is a biopic which tells the story of Lillian Roth, a Broadway star who rebels against the pressure of her domineering mother and reacts to the death of her fiancé by becoming an alcoholic...
(1955) - Operation Teahouse (1956) (short subject)
- Attack! (1956)
- The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
- The Sun Also RisesThe Sun Also Rises (1957 film)The Sun Also Rises is a 1957 film adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel of the same name, with the screenplay written by Peter Viertel. It starred Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer and Errol Flynn. Much of it was filmed on location in France and Spain in Cinemascope and color by Deluxe...
(1957) - The Joker Is WildThe Joker Is WildThe Joker Is Wild is a film starring Frank Sinatra, Jeanne Crain, and Mitzi Gaynor, and Eddie Albert which tells the story of Joe E. Lewis, the popular singer and comedian who was a major attraction in nightclubs during 1920s to early 1950s....
(1957) - Orders to KillOrders to KillOrders to Kill was a 1958 British wartime drama film. It starred Paul Massie, Eddie Albert and Lillian Gish. It was directed by Anthony Asquith based on a story by Donald C. Downes.-Plot summary:...
(1958)
- The Roots of HeavenThe Roots of HeavenThe Roots of Heaven is a 1958 adventure film made by 20th Century Fox, directed by John Huston and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay by Romain Gary and Patrick Leigh Fermor is based on Romain Gary's 1956 Prix Goncourt winning novel The Roots of Heaven .The film starred Errol Flynn,...
(1958) - The Gun RunnersThe Gun RunnersThe Gun Runners, a 1958 film directed by Don Siegel, is the third adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel To Have and Have Not, starring Audie Murphy and Patricia Owens. Everett Sloane essays the part of the alcoholic sidekick originally played by Walter Brennan in the film's first adaptation,...
(1958) - Beloved Infidel (1959)
- The Young DoctorsThe Young Doctors (film)The Young Doctors is a 1961 film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Ben Gazzara, Fredric March, Dick Clark, Ina Balin, Eddie Albert, Phyllis Love, Aline MacMahon, George Segal and Dolph Sweet. The film is based on the 1959 novel "The Final Diagnosis" by Arthur Hailey...
(1961) - Madison Avenue (1962)
- The Longest DayThe Longest Day (film)The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
(1962) - Who's Got the Action?Who's Got the Action?Who's Got the Action? is a comedy film about a man suffering from an addiction to gambling starring Dean Martin, Lana Turner, Eddie Albert, and Walter Matthau...
(1962) - The Two Little Bears (1963)
- Miracle of the White StallionsMiracle of the White StallionsMiracle of the White Stallions is a 1963 film released by Walt Disney starring Robert Taylor , Lilli Palmer, and Eddie Albert. It is the story of the evacuation of the Lipizzaner horses from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna during World War II.Major parts of the movie were shot in the...
(1963) - Captain Newman, M.D.Captain Newman, M.D.Captain Newman, M.D. is a 1963 film starring Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall, Eddie Albert and Bobby Darin. It was directed by David Miller and filmed on location at Fort Huachuca, Arizona....
(1963) - The Party's Over (1965)
- 7 Women7 Women7 Women, also known as Seven Women, is a 1966 film drama made by MGM. It was directed by John Ford, produced by Bernard Smith and John Ford, from a screenplay by Janet Green and John McCormick, based on the story Chinese Finale by Norah Lofts. The music score was by Elmer Bernstein and the...
(1966) - The Mouse on the MayflowerThe Mouse on the MayflowerThe Mouse on the Mayflower is a 1968 animated Thanksgiving television special created by Rankin/Bass. It debuted on NBC on November 23, 1968. The special is about a mouse named Willum, who is discovered on the Mayflower. Tennessee Ernie Ford voices Willum and narrates.-External links:* at IMDb...
(1968) - Columbo (TV) (1971)
- The Lorax (1972) (TV) – Narrator (voice)
- The Heartbreak KidThe Heartbreak Kid (1972 film)The Heartbreak Kid is a 1972 dark romantic comedy film directed by Elaine May, written by Neil Simon, and starring Charles Grodin, Jeannie Berlin, and Cybill Shepherd...
(1972) - The Borrowers (1973) (TV)
- The Longest Yard (1974)
- McQMcQMcQ is a 1974 crime drama starring John Wayne, Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, and Colleen Dewhurst. The film made extensive use of actual Seattle locations. The beach scenes were filmed on the Pacific coast at Moclips.The film features a young Roger E...
(1974) - The Take (1974)
- Escape to Witch MountainEscape to Witch Mountain (1975 film)Escape to Witch Mountain is a 1975 film based on the novel Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key. It was produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by Buena Vista Distribution Company and directed by John Hough.- Plot :...
(1975) - The Devil's RainThe Devil's RainThe Devil's Rain is a 1975 low-budget horror film, directed by Robert Fuest. The film is remembered primarily for its ending, in which most of the cast melts. It was one of several B-films in which William Shatner starred in the hiatus between the original Star Trek television series and Star Trek:...
(1975) - Whiffs (1975)
- HustleHustle (1975 film)Hustle is a 1975 American neo-noir crime film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Burt Reynolds, Catherine Deneuve, Ben Johnson, Paul Winfield, Eileen Brennan, Eddie Albert and Ernest Borgnine, which was released in 1975.-Cast:...
(1975) - Moving ViolationMoving ViolationMoving Violation is the ninth and final official studio album released on Motown Records by The Jackson 5.By the end of their six-year run in Motown, all five Jackson brothers had matured dramatically in both age and vocals: youngest member Michael was, at 16, the only non-adult in the group...
(1976) - Birch Interval (1977)
- Border CopBorder CopBorder Cop is a 1979 action film starring Telly Savalas. Savalas plays a U.S. Immigration officer who has a close run-in with a dangerous organized crime boss. The film is distributed by Troma Entertainment....
(1979) - The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)
- How to Beat the High Co$t of LivingHow to Beat the High Co$t of LivingHow to Beat the High Co$t of Living is a 1980 comedy film, starring Jane Curtin, Susan Saint James and Jessica Lange. Also in the cast are Dabney Coleman, Fred Willard, Richard Benjamin, Eddie Albert, Cathryn Damon, and a cameo by Jane Curtin's fellow Saturday Night Live co-star Garrett Morris...
(1980) - Foolin' AroundFoolin' AroundFoolin' Around is a 1980 film directed by Richard T. Heffron and starring Gary Busey and Annette O'Toole. The film was shot on location in Minnesota.-Plot:...
(1980) - YesterdayYesterday (1981 film)Yesterday is a 1981 film directed by Lawrence Kent, starring Vincent Van Patten and Claire Pimparé. It is a love story of a young soldier maimed in Vietnam, who allows his former girlfriend to believe he's dead to spare her anguish.-Cast:...
(1981) - Take This Job and Shove ItTake This Job and Shove It (film)Take This Job and Shove It is a 1981 film starring Robert Hays, Barbara Hershey, Art Carney, and David Keith, and directed by Gus Trikonis....
(1981) - Goliath AwaitsGoliath AwaitsGoliath Awaits is a 1981 American television movie originally broadcast in two parts in November 1981 on various stations as a part of Operation Prime Time's syndicated programming...
(1981 television film) - The ActThe ActThe Act was a popular and critically acclaimed Norwegian rock band in the mid 1980s. They toured extensively and released the album September Field.-Band members:*Bjørn Kulseth – vocals, guitars*Rune Krogseth – vocals, guitars...
(1982) - Yes, GiorgioYes, GiorgioYes, Giorgio is a 1982 musical/comedy film starring Luciano Pavarotti, his only venture in film acting. Michael J. Lewis provided the original music for the film with cinematography by Fred J. Koenekamp...
(1982) - DreamscapeDreamscape (film)Dreamscape is a 1984 science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by David Loughery, with Chuck Russell and Ruben co-writing...
(1984) - Stitches (1985)
- Head OfficeHead OfficeHead Office is a 1985 American comedy film, produced by HBO Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners. It stars Judge Reinhold, Eddie Albert, Lori-Nan Engler, Jane Seymour, Richard Masur, Michael O'Donoghue, Ron Frazier, Merritt Butrick and was directed and written by Ken...
(1985) - Turnaround (1987)
- Brenda StarrBrenda Starr (film)Brenda Starr is a 1989 adventure film, based on Dale Messick's Brenda Starr comic strip. The film was directed by Robert Ellis Miller, and stars Brooke Shields, Timothy Dalton, and Diana Scarwid.-Plot:...
(1989) - The Big PictureThe Big Picture (film)The Big Picture is a 1989 comedy film starring Kevin Bacon and directed by Christopher Guest.-Plot:In a fictionalized version of Tinseltown itself, Nick Chapman is an up and coming film director hot off the win of a student academy award for his short film. No sooner does the award bring him into...
(1989) (Cameo) - thirtysomething (1989)
- Return to Green Acres (1990)
- General HospitalGeneral HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
(1993) - Headless! (1994) (short subject)
- Death Valley Memories (1994) (documentary) (narrator)
External links
- A 1996 Interview
- Obituary in the Los Angeles Daily NewsLos Angeles Daily NewsThe Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....