LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Robert Alda
built 176 days ago
Robert Alda's first picture was a giant hit. He played George Gershwin in the film biography called "Rhapsody In Blue." Then he played Sky Masterson in the original Broadway production of "Guys And Dolls." After that, Alana Alda says with a laugh, his father never made money again.
Source:
Robert Alda is a man who falls in love with a voodoo doll, the image of his ideal woman, and through it becomes an initiate in the Gamba, a cult with a hankering for human sacrifices. AKA: "The Naked Goddess." 71 min. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions. Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Actor Robert Alda studied architecture at NYU, briefly working in this field until choosing show business. He started performing in vaudeville, and in burlesque as a tenor and straight man; by 1934, he was well established on radio. He made a spectacular film debut in Warner Bros.' 1945 biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945), essaying the role of George Gershwin over the objections of director Irving Rapper, who'd wanted to hold off production until Tyrone Power was available. Alda did as good a job as possible, given the banalities of the scripts, though his piano-playing sequences are obviously faked and tricked up. Alda's starring career faded out rather quickly; he was more successful with second leads and villainous roles, and in the early 1960s became a fixture of Italian sword-and-sandal and spy films. Returning to Broadway in 1950, Alda created the role of Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, winning a Tony Award in the process.
Source:
Robert Alda's career began in vaudeville, as a singer-dancer. Graduating to performing on radio and in burlesque, he made a splashy film debut as Gerge Gershwin in "Rhapsody in Blue." His film career faltered somewhat after that, but he had much greater success on the Broadway stage in such productions as "Guys and Dolls" and "What Makes Sammy Run." Settling in Rome in the early 1960s, he appeared in many Italian and European films over the next 15 years. While many of them were quite successful in Europe, few made it to the United States. Alda is the father of actor Alan Alda.
Source:
The mother (Jeanette Nolan) of teenager Sharon Trotter (Dorothy Provine) is appalled by the fact that Sharon is having an affair with a much older married man, Ben Nelson (Robert Alda). Worse still, Ben has been stringing Sharon along, promising that he will get a divorce from his wife (Fay Wray), but refusing to do so. This sordid state of affairs inevitably results in a murder -- giving Mrs. Trotter ample opportunity to avenge her daughter's honor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Source:
A dedicated feminist, Alda was appointed in 1976 to serve on the National Commission for the Observance of International Women's Year, where he co-chaired the Equal Rights Amendment Committee. In 1982, he was co-chair with Betty Ford of the National ERA Countdown Campaign.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Robert Alda