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Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor. He is known for his roles on stage and screen and received nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Albert made his acting debut with the film Brother Rat (1938). He went on to receive two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for his roles in Roman Holiday (1953), and The Heartbreak Kid (1972). His other notable films roles include in Oklahoma! (1955), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), The Longest Yard (1974), and Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the television sitcom Green Acres from 1965 to 1971 and Return to Green Acres (1990). He also played Frank MacBride in the crime drama series Switch from 1975 to 1978. He also acted in Falcon Crest, The Carol Burnett Show and Columbo.
When he was one year old, his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Young Edward secured his first job as a paperboy when he was only six. During World War I, his German surname led to taunts as "the enemy" by his classmates. He studied at Central High School in Minneapolis and joined the drama club. His schoolmate Harriet Lake (later known as actress Ann Sothern) graduated in the same class. Finishing high school in 1926,The 1926 Centralian yearbook for Minneapolis Central High School he entered the University of Minnesota, where he majored in business. When he graduated, Albert embarked on a business career. However, the stock market crash in 1929 left him essentially 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 because it invariably was mispronounced as "Hamburger".
Performing regularly on early television, Albert wrote and performed in the first teleplay, titled 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 (then called the RCA Building) in New York City and was broadcast over NBC's experimental television station W2XBS (now WNBC-TV). Hosted by Betty Goodwin, The Love Nest starred Albert, Hildegarde, The Ink Spots, Ed Wynn, and actress Grace Bradt. Before this time, television productions were adaptations of stage plays. Albert landed the starring role in the 1938 Broadway musical The Boys from Syracuse, and met Burl Ives, who had a small role in the play. The two later briefly shared an apartment in the Beachwood Canyon community of Hollywood after Ives moved west the following year. Also in 1938, Albert 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.
On September 9, 1942, Albert enlisted in the United States Coast Guard 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 coxswain of a US Navy landing craft, he rescued 47 Marines who were stranded offshore (and supervised the rescue of 30 others), while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire. During the war years, Albert returned to films, starring in ones such as The Great Mr. Nobody, Lady Bodyguard, and Ladies' Day, as well as reuniting with Reagan and Wyman for An Angel from Texas and co-starring with Humphrey Bogart in The Wagons Roll at Night. After the war, he resumed appearing in leading roles, including 1947's Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman, with Susan Hayward. From 1948 on, Albert guest-starred in nearly 90 television 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, Suspense, Lights Out, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Studio One, The Philco Television Playhouse, Your Show of Shows, Front Row Center, The Alcoa Hour, and in dramatic series The Eleventh Hour, The Reporter, and General Electric Theater.
The 1950s also had a return to Broadway for Albert, including roles in Miss Liberty (1949–1950) and The Seven Year Itch (1952–1955). In 1959, Albert was cast as businessman Dan Simpson in the episode "The Unwilling" of the series Riverboat. In the story, Dan Simpson attempts to open a general store in the American West despite a raid from pirates on the Mississippi River, who stole from him $20,000 in merchandise. Debra Paget is cast in this episode as Lela Russell; Russell Johnson is Darius, and John M. Picard is uncredited as a river pirate. He guest-starred on various series, including ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and the Westinghouse Studio One series (CBS, 1953–54), playing Winston Smith in the first TV adaptation of 1984, by William Templeton.
In the 1950s, Albert appeared in film roles such as that of Lucille Ball's fiancé in The Fuller Brush Girl (1950), Bill Gorton in The Sun Also Rises (1957), and a traveling salesman in Carrie (1952). He was nominated for his first Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor with Roman Holiday (1953). In Oklahoma! (1955), he played a womanizing Persian 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), with Gregory Peck. Albert acted in the 1956 special Our Mr. Sun opposite Dr. Frank Baxter directed by Frank Capra. Our Mr. Sun, a Bell Telephone TV special starring Eddie Albert
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, Missouri, reprising the Harold Hill role in The Music Man in 1966 and playing Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady in 1968. In 1962, Albert appeared as Cal Kroeger on the TV Western The Virginian in the episode titled "Impasse". In 1964, Albert guest-starred in "Cry of Silence", an episode of the science-fiction television series The Outer Limits. 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 theme 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. Also in 1964, he guest-starred as a government agent in the pilot episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea titled "Eleven Days to Zero". Albert appeared as Taylor Dickson, a western photographer in season seven, episode 11 as “The Photographer” in Rawhide, alongside Clint Eastwood (Rowdy Yates) aired December 11, 1964.
Albert was cast as Charlie O'Rourke in the 1964 episode "Visions of Sugar Plums" of the NBC education drama series, Mr. Novak, starring James Franciscus. Bobby Diamond, formerly of the Fury series, also appeared in this episode. In 1965, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning to star in a sitcom for CBS titled Green Acres. His character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a gentleman farmer. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor as his wife Lisa. The show was an immediate hit, achieving fifth place in the ratings in its first season. The series lasted six seasons with 170 episodes. In 1968, Albert was a guest on The Carol Burnett Show episode six. He played Harvey Korman's boss in an episode of "Carol and Sis", and sang.
In 1971, Albert guest-starred in a season-one Columbo episode titled "Dead Weight" as a highly decorated retired US Marine Corps major general, and combat war hero from the Korean War, who murders his adjutant to cover up an illegal contracting conspiracy scheme. In 1972, Albert resumed his film career and was nominated for an Academy Awards 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 Cost of Living (1980), Yesterday (1981), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Rooster (1982 television film), and Yes, Giorgio (1982), and as the US president in Dreamscape (1984). His final film role was a cameo in The Big Picture (1989). He also appeared in many all-star television miniseries, including Evening in Byzantium (1978), The Word (1978), Peter and Paul (1981), Goliath Awaits (1981), and War and Remembrance (1988). In 1982, Albert sang the character role of the elderly Altoum in the San Francisco Opera staging of Puccini's Turandot. 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 series Falcon Crest. He also guest-starred on an episode of the 1980s television series Highway to Heaven, as well as Murder, She Wrote, and in 1990, he reunited with Eva Gabor for a Return to Green Acres. In 1993, he guest-starred for several episodes on the daytime soap opera General Hospital as Jack Boland, and he made a guest appearance on the Golden Girls spin-off The Golden Palace the same year.
Albert's son spoke of his parents' blacklisting in an interview published in December 1972, crediting Albert's military service during World War II with ultimately saving his career:
Albert later spoke of this period: "Everyone was so full of fear. Many people couldn't support their families, or worse, their lives were ruined and they had to go out and do menial jobs. Some even killed themselves." While Albert's career survived the blacklist, his wife, Margo, had extreme difficulty finding work.
Albert's son, Edward Jr. (1951–2006), was an actor, musician, singer, and linguist/dialectician. "Edward Albert" profile Internet Accuracy Project. "Edward Albert was also a photographer, sculptor, singer/songwriter, musician (guitar), and a linguist/dialectician who was fluent in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese." Edward Jr. died at age 55, one year after his father. He had been suffering from lung cancer for 18 months.
Albert founded the Eddie Albert World Trees Foundation and was national chairman for the Boy Scouts of America's conservation program. 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".
He was special envoy for Meals for Millions and consultant for the World Hunger Conference.Congressional Record, July 18, 2005, Section 22 He joined Albert Schweitzer in a documentary about African malnutrition. Excerpts of documentary about African malnutrition at Google Video and fought agricultural and industrial pollution, particularly DDT. Albert promoted organic gardening, and founded City Children's Farms for inner-city children, Pacific Palisades Post, June 2, 2005 while supporting eco-farming and tree planting.Walters, Charles. "The Last Word", Acres USA, July 2005, Vol. 35, No. 7
Albert was also a director of the U.S. Council on Refugees.
Beginning in the 1940s, 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.
In 1971 he starred in an industrial film sponsored and promoted by a major logging and forest products concern called Weyerhaeuser Company. which emphasized the Pacific Northwest. Shot partly amid old growth timber and narrated solely by Albert, the film documented industrial methods of handling such trees for market. It also shows re-planted clear cuts and emphasized "the need for advanced lumber production in response to rapidly increasing population," according to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. To Touch the Sky (1971) Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Personal life
Marriage and family
Albert married Mexican actress Margo (née María Margarita Guadalupe Teresa Estela Bolado Castilla y O'Donnell) in 1945. Albert and Margo had a son, Edward Albert, also an actor, and adopted a daughter, Maria, who became her father's business manager. Margo Albert died from brain cancer on July 17, 1985. The Alberts lived in Pacific Palisades, California, in a Spanish-style house on an acre of land with a cornfield in front. Albert grew organic vegetables in a greenhouse and recalled how his parents had a Victory garden at home during World War I.
Activism and interests
Albert was active in social and environmental causes, especially from the 1970s onward.
In 1970, Albert participated in the creation of Earth Day and spoke at one of its events in that year.
Illness and death
Albert was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995. His son put aside his acting career to care for his father. Albert exercised regularly until shortly before his death. Eddie Albert died of pneumonia on May 26, 2005, at the age of 99 in his home in Pacific Palisades, California. He is interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, next to his late wife and near his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor. For contributions to the television industry, Eddie Albert was honored on February 8, 1960, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard.
Acting credits
Film
+ Film appearances of Eddie Albert 1938 Brother Rat "Bing" Edwards Film debut 1939 On Your Toes Phil Dolan Jr. 1939 Four Wives Dr. Clinton Forrest Jr. 1940 Brother Rat and a Baby "Bing" Edwards 1940 An Angel from Texas Peter Coleman 1940 My Love Came Back Dusty Rhodes 1940 A Dispatch from Reuter's Max Wagner 1941 Four Mothers Clinton Forrest Jr. 1941 The Great Mr. Nobody Robert "Dreamy" Smith 1941 The Wagons Roll at Night Matt Varney 1941 Thieves Fall Out Eddie Barnes 1941 Out of the Fog George Watkins 1942 Treat 'Em Rough Bill Kingsford / The Panama Kid 1942 Eagle Squadron Leckie 1943 Lady Bodyguard Terry Moore 1943 Ladies' Day Wacky Waters 1943 Bombardier Tom Hughes 1946 Strange Voyage Chris Thompson 1946 Rendezvous with Annie Cpl. Jeffrey Dolan 1947 The Perfect Marriage Gil Cummins 1947 Steve Nelson 1947 Hit Parade of 1947 Kip Walker 1947 Time Out of Mind Jake Bullard 1947 Unconquered Barker Scenes deleted 1948 The Dude Goes West Daniel Bone 1948 You Gotta Stay Happy Bullets Baker 1948 Every Girl Should Be Married Harry Proctor/"Old" Joe Cameo; uncredited 1950 The Fuller Brush Girl Humphrey Briggs 1951 You're in the Navy Now Lt. Bill Baron 1951 Meet Me After the Show Chris Leeds 1952 Actors and Sin Orlando Higgens 1952 Carrie Charles Drouet 1953 Roman Holiday Irving Radovich 1955 The Girl Rush Elliot Atterbury 1955 Oklahoma! Ali Hakim 1955 I'll Cry Tomorrow Burt McGuire 1956 Attack! Capt. Erskine Cooney 1956 The Teahouse of the August Moon Capt. McLean 1957 The Sun Also Rises Bill Gorton 1957 The Joker Is Wild Austin Mack 1958 Orders to Kill Major MacMahon 1958 The Gun Runners Hanagan 1958 The Roots of Heaven Abe Fields 1959 Beloved Infidel Bob Carter 1961 Madison Avenue Harvey Holt Ames 1961 The Young Doctors Dr. Charles Dornberger 1962 The Two Little Bears Harry Davis 1962 The Longest Day Col. Thompson 1962 Who's Got the Action? Clint Morgan 1963 Miracle of the White Stallions Rider Otto 1963 Captain Newman, M.D. Col. Norval Algate Bliss 1965 The Party's Over Ben 1966 7 Women Charles Pether 1972 The Heartbreak Kid Mr. Corcoran 1973 The Borrowers Pod Clock 1974 McQ Kosterman 1974 The Take Chief Berrigan 1974 The Longest Yard Warden Hazen 1975 Escape to Witch Mountain Jason O'Day 1975 The Devil's Rain Dr. Sam Richards 1975 Whiffs Colonel Lockyer 1975 Hustle Leo Sellers 1976 Birch Interval Pa Strawacher 1976 Moving Violation Alex Warren 1979 The Concorde... Airport '79 Eli Sands 1979 Border Cop Moffat 1980 How to Beat the High Co$t of Living Max 1980 Foolin' Around Daggett 1981 Yesterday Bart Kramer 1981 Take This Job and Shove It Samuel Ellison 1982 Yes, Giorgio Henry Pollack 1984 The Act Harry Kruger 1984 Dreamscape The President 1985 Stitches Dean Bradley 1985 Head Office Pete Helmes 1987 Turnaround Theo 1989 The Big Picture M.C. Cameo 1989 Brenda Starr Police Chief Maloney 1994 Death Valley Memories Narrator Documentary 1994 Headless! Sheriff George Short film
Television
+ Television appearances of Eddie Albert 1952 Leave It to Larry Larry Tucker TV series 1953 Westinghouse Studio One Winston Episode: "1984" 1955 A Connecticut Yankee Martin Barret Teleplay (live) 1955 The Chocolate Soldier Bumerli Teleplay (live) 1957–1962 Wagon Train Kurt Davos / Frank Elgin 2 episodes 1959 The Ballad of Louie the Louse Paul Hughes Television film 1961 Wells Fargo Bonzo TV series 1963 General Hospital Jack Boland TV series 1963 Combat! Phil Episode: "Doughboy" 1964 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Dr. Fred Wilson Episode: “11 Days to Zero” 1965–1971 Green Acres Oliver Wendell Douglas Main role; 170 episodes 1968 The Mouse on the Mayflower Capt. Standish Television film 1971 Columbo Major General Martin Hollister Episode: "Dead Weight" 1971 See the Man Run Dr. Thomas Spencer Television film 1972 The Lorax Narrator Animated television special 1975 Promise Him Anything Pop Television film 1975–1978 Switch Frank MacBride Main role; 71 episodes 1978 Evening in Byzantium Brian Murphy Television film 1978 Crash Capt. Dunn Television film 1978 The Word Ogden Towery TV miniseries 1981 The Oklahoma City Dolls Coach Homer Sixx Television film 1981 Peter and Paul Porcius Festus TV miniseries 1981 Goliath Awaits Adm. Wiley Sloan Television film 1982 Beyond Witch Mountain Jason O'Day Television film 1982 Rooster Rev. Harlan Barnum Television film 1983 The Demon Murder Case Father Dietrich Television film 1984 Burning Rage Will Larson Television film 1986 Dress Gray Judge Hand TV miniseries 1986 Highway to Heaven Corky McCorkindale Episode: "Jonathan Smith Goes to Washington" 1987 Mercy or Murder? Joe Varon Television film Falcon Crest Carlton Travis 4 episodes 1988 War and Remembrance Breckinridge Long TV miniseries; Part VI The Twilight Zone Roger Leeds Episode: "Dream Me a Life" Murder, She Wrote Jackson Lane Episode: "The Body Politic" 1989 Thirtysomething Charlie Weston Episode: "Elliot's Dad" 1990 Return to Green Acres Oliver Wendell Douglas Television film 1991 The Girl from Mars Dr. Charles Favender Television film 1993 Time Trax Noah Episode: "Treasure of the Ages" 1993 General Hospital Jack Boland 2 episodes The Jackie Thomas Show Eddie Albert Episode: "One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest" The Golden Palace Bill Douglas Episode: "Say Goodbye Rose" Okavango: The Wild Frontier Uncle Bill 13 episodes 1995 The Barefoot Executive Herbert Gower Television film 1996–1997 Elderly Adrian Toomes/Vulture Voice; 3 episodes 1997 Extreme Ghostbusters Old Ben Voice; Episode: "The Jersey Devil"
Theater
+ Theatre credits
Awards and nominations
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1906 Births, 2005 Deaths, 20th-century American Male Actors, American Male Film Actors, People From Rock Island, Illinois, Male Actors From Los Angeles, Male Actors From Minnesota, American People Of German Descent, American Gardeners, United States Navy Personnel Of World War Ii, American Male Musical Theatre Actors, American Male Radio Actors, American Male Soap Opera Actors, American Male Stage Actors, American Male Television Actors, American Male Voice Actors, Television Personalities From Los Angeles, American Beekeepers, Bell Records Artists, Burials At Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Deaths From Alzheimer's Disease In California, Deaths From Pneumonia In California, Male Actors From Minneapolis, Military Personnel From Illinois, People From Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, United States Navy Officers, Carlson School Of Management Alumni, Warner Bros. Contract Players, Activists From California, 20th-century American Singers, 20th-century American Male Singers, United States Coast Guard Personnel Of World War Ii, Central High School Alumni, United States Coast Guard Enlisted, United States Navy Reservists, Pseudonymous Actors
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