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Robert Alda: Alan Alda
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Alan Alda, son of showbiz veteran Robert Alda, managed to eclipse his father's career. When Alan was born in 1936, his father performed comedy on vaudeville. Nearly ten years later Robert signed with Warner Brothers to play songwriter George Gershwin in Rhapsody in Blue (1945). After a succession of formula pictures he starred in the hit Broadway musical Guys and Dolls and later in European movies.
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Barely twenty-one years old himself, [Robert] Alda had very little to offer his new son [Alan Alda] other than love and a roof over his head. He continued to work in the Catskills and around New York City, but nothing sensational was happening, although he never missed a chance to better himself. He wanted more than burlesque. During the summertime when work was slow, he would play in stock--which was becoming more important on the Borscht Circuit. In 1937, he [Robert Alda] had the distinction of being one of the first performers on television.
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After 20 years of marriage, Steve Giardino (Alan Alda) and his wife Jackie (Ann-Margret) agree to a divorce in this situation comedy. The focus is on both of them as they suffer through matchmaking, blind dates, and their new life as eligible singles. Donna (Mary Kay Place) is Jackie's friend, while Mel Arons (Hal Linden) is the confidante of the vain but likeable Steve. Steven worries that he will never find anyone decent to date until he meets the pretty Dr. Kay Hutton (Veronica Hamel). Jackie is enamored with a sculptor (John Shea) before his glaring faults become too much for her. While Jackie's new relationship is on the outs, Steve prepares for a new life with Kay.
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In early 1972 Alda auditioned for and was selected to play the role of "Hawkeye Pierce" in the TV adaptation of the 1970 film M*A*S*H, for which would later be nominated for 21 Emmy Awards, winning five. He took part in writing 13 episodes, and directed 32. When he won his first Emmy Award for writing, he was so happy that he performed a cartwheel before running up to the stage to accept the award. He ... was the first person to win Emmy Awards for acting, writing, and directing for the same series. Richard Hooker, who wrote the novel on which M*A*S*H was based, did not like Alan Alda's portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce (Hooker, a Republican, had based Hawkeye on himself, whereas Alda took the character in a more left-wing direction). Alda also directed the show's 1983 2½ hour series finale "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen" which remains the single most watched episode of a TV series.
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Alan Alda was raised in the vibrant world of burlesque, Broadway, and the movies, the son of singer Robert Alda and a loving but mentally ill mother, Joan. He admits his journey to adulthood began in the dressing rooms of the strippers and ribald comics who became his extended family while on the road with his mom and dad.
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Among Alan Alda's screen credits are Same Time, Next Year, The Four Seasons, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Betsy's Wedding. He has hosted PBS-TV's Scientific American Frontiers and is pleased about his participation in The West Wing, remarking, "I'm amazed that they can deal with such complex issues and have an avid audience keep up with them. Look at what TV entertainment has become! Cable stations have shows where you can watch an operation for hours; you can watch people being cut open, or you can watch them eat bugs. That's really a strange comment. It's surprising that The West Wing can get away with treating the audience with respect.'"
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Alan Alda