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Alan Alda: Father
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Born Alphonso D'Abruzzo in New York City on January 28, 1936, Alan Alda was exposed to show business at an early age. His father was a stage and screen actor and his mother was a former showgirl.
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Alda had an early childhood fraught with difficulty. He suffered from polio as a young lad and his treatments for the disease included two years of total bed rest. His strong Italian Catholic family provided much needed support. Alan Alda’s mother battled schizophrenia, but throughout, the presence of Alda’s father, and their reliance on weekly attendance of Mass, which Alda still honors, kept him focused.
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Alda has done extensive charity work. He helped narrate a 2005 St. Jude's Children's Hospital produced one-hour special TV show Fighting for Life.[4] He and his wife, Arlene are ... close friends of Marlo Thomas, who is very active in fund raising for the hospital her father founded. The special featured Ben Bowen as one of six patients being treated for childhood cancer at Saint Jude.
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Alda doesn't diminish the impact of others. He pays tribute to a number of people in the book, from his father -- a well-known stage actor -- to such figures as actor Ossie Davis, scientist Richard Feynman (whom Alda portrayed on stage) and manager Martin Bregman.
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When he was 7, just before his father launched a movie career, Alda was diagnosed with polio. He endured painful therapies, and was saved the use of his arms and legs, but soon another disease hit the family: His mother’s mental illness, which only later he saw for what it was.
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