Eddie Albert
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Eddie Albert (April 22, 1906 - May 26, 2005) was an American stage, film, character actor and gardener, perhaps best known for starring as Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films. He was also best known for his starring roles as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the popular 1960s sitcom Green Acres, and as Frank MacBride in the semi-popular 1970s crime drama, Switch. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest with Jane Wyman.
Early life
He was the oldest of five children born to Christian German immigrants, Frank Heimberger, who was a restaurant owner and Julia Heimberger, a stay at home mother as Edward Albert Heimberger in Rock Island, Illinois. He spent his early years in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1912, when Eddie was 6, he had to work as a newspaper boy, at the same time, while he was in the third grade, World War I, took a toll on him labeling as the enemy by classmates who taught him worthlessly; however, he joked in-front of his classmates. At age 14, he was already a singer, and was enrolled at Central High School where he joined the school's Drama Department. His talents were restricted to the stage, but he had a strong appetite he was reading from philosophy to science. He graduated from high school in 1924, and he entered University of Minnesota where he majored in business, and after he graduated, he was looking for a similar job relating to business, however, all that change in late 1929, when the Stock marked crashed, and he was determined to find work as best as he could, so he started out as an amateur singer. He was also a trapeze performer and a nightclub singer, during the early peaks of his life.
Albert's year of birth was frequently given as 1908, but this is incorrect. While many Hollywood figures have often given years of birth later than their true ones (in order to present themselves as being younger than they are), the motivation in this case was provided by Albert's mother, who began the practice because she was unmarried when Albert was born, but was married by 1908. Albert also stated that he dropped his last name, "Heimberger", not so much out of a desire to have a stage name, but rather because it was almost invariably mangled into "Hamburger".
Career
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. In 1938, he made his feature film debut in the Hollywood version of Brother Rat, reprising his Broadway role as cadet "Bing" Edwards. His contract with Warner Bros. was abruptly terminated in 1941, purportedly because of an affair he was having with studio head Jack L. Warner's wife. (Warner had previously pulled him off a picture as it was being shot and kept him under contract for a period afterwards primarily as a way of preventing him from getting other work).
World War II
Albert served in the United States Navy during World War II as a lieutenant. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, when he rescued a group of wounded Marines under enemy fire. He later described some of these events during a short interview, in a segment of a show about the war, which appeared on the History Channel. Albert returned from the war a different actor with a darker screen persona, although it would take another ten years before he became better-known to audiences. The film Attack! (1956) provided Albert with his most serious role as a cowardly, psychotic Army captain whose behavior threatens the safety of his company, including a wounded lieutenant played by Jack Palance. In a simlar vein he played a psychotic United States Army Air Force colonel in Captain Newman, MD against Gregory Peck.
Profound character actor
Since 1948, Albert enjoyed being both a popular and beloved character actor, having to guest-star in more than over 90 TV series. He made his guest-starring debut on an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour. His part led to other roles such as, The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre, Suspense, Lights Out, Somerset Maugham TV Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Studio One, Danger, The Revlon Mirror Theatre, The Philco Television Playhouse, The Phillip Morris Playhouse, Your Show of Shows, The Loretta Young Show, General Electric Theater, Front Row Center, The Alcoa Hour, among many others. He also had a recurring role as lawyer, Oliver Wendell Douglas, on Petticoat Junction, a parent show of Green Acres, in 1965.
Stage actor
The 1950s also saw a return to Broadway for Albert, including roles in Miss Liberty (1949-1950) and The Seven Year Itch (ran 1952-1955). In 1960, Albert replaced Robert Preston in the lead role of Professor Harold Hill, in the Broadway production of The Music Man.
Hugely popular 1950's and 1960's movie career
The 1950s saw Albert being popular as he was played a majority of roles, such as Lucille Ball's husband in The Fuller Brush Girl (1950}, a traveling salesman in Carrie (1952), then he was nominated for his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor with Roman Holiday (1953), in Oklahoma! (1955), he played a man-stealer who wanted to use a beautiful young lady. Also he starred in many more movies, such as yet another World War II captain in Orders to Kill (1958), he appeared in The Young Doctors (1961), he played another World War II captain in The Longest Day (1962), and his final World War II movie was that of an ill captain in Captain Newman, M.D., where the movie was very successful.
Green Acres
In 1965, after years of turning down lead roles in Mister Ed and My Three Sons, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning to star in a sitcom for CBS called, Green Acres, which was the successful spinoff of Petticoat Junction. His character Oliver Wendell Douglas was a lawyer who wanted folks to come to the city and got help on the farm. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor which sparkled a wonderful chemistry together, playing his wife. Off the set, both Albert & Gabor adored each other like TV's gigantic couple of the 1960s. Also starring was Tom Lester as Oliver's ranch hand, Eb Dawson, and they also got along real well. During its first season, it was an immediate hit, in fact, the show ranked #5 in the ratings, and Albert even created his own fine line of comedic acting. Co-star (Tom Lester) said in 2001, that Albert was very angry with the cast when sentences were incomplete, and would use more phrases to get the audience rolling. That was what Albert wanted in the first place. By 1969, Albert had started speaking all around the world. He also got the chance to do motivational speaking in colleges and in auditoriums about the environment, pollution and the pesticide DTT. That same year, while he enjoyed playing the same character, he and his son (Edward Albert, Jr.), sailed to Anacapa Island of the coast of California, to examine the effects of DDT on the pelican population. By 1971, Green Acres still had good ratings, but CBS had decided that with the few other rural programs, the network suggested that it should be canceled to, after a run of six seasons, and Albert was very discouraged for the show's cancellation.
1970's & 1980's film work
In 1972, Albert resumed his film career for the second time. That same year, he was nominated for the second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as an overprotective father, in The Longest Day (1972), and was nominated for a third Oscar as a sports buff in The Longest Yard (1974). He was reunited with former Switch co-star (Robert Wagner), to appear in the movie The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979), he also starred in low-budget films of the early 1980s, such as, How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980), Yesterday (1981), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Yes, Giorgio (1982), he was the president in Dreamscape (1984), and his final movie role was the chairman in Head Office (1985). He retired from movie roles, but continued to act in guest-starring roles.
Switch
After a four-year-absence from the small screen, and upon reaching 70 in 1975, Albert starred in the popular 1970s, crime drama, Switch for CBS, about a retired police officer who chose to open up his own office where he played Frank MacBride. Co-starring on the show was a very young actress Sharon Gless as Frank's & Pete's classy & charismatic receptionist, Maggie, where she helped out the two guys in each of the cases, and veteran actor, Robert Wagner, where he played Albert's TV ex-con man and friendly detective, Pete Ryan, and the chemistry finally clicked and Albert would often add all the glitz, glamour, plus a lot of humor to the series, and a lot of fun, too. Co-star (Robert Wagner) had the distinct pleasure of watching his mentor in the 1938 classic movie, Brother Rat, when Wagner was only eight-years-old. He also had the impression of Albert of becoming a seasoned actor, like Wagner, himself. During its first season, compared to Albert's Green Acres, it was also a hit, and Albert had a knack of crime solving, just as much as his partner did. By the end of its third season in 1978, ratings were beginning to drop, and Switch was cancelled that same year, and unlike the previous situation, Albert wasn't very discouraged about the series's cancellation, the following year, he alongside Wagner would later star in the thriller movie, The Concorde: Airport '79.
1980s work
In the mid-1980s, Albert was also best known for endorsing the popular public service message, the National Arbor Day Foundation, and was reunited with co-star of the Brother Rat and An Angel from Texas movies, Jane Wyman, in a recurring role as Carlton Travis in the popular 1980s soap opera, Falcon Crest. He also guest starred on a popular episode of the 80s television series, Highway to Heaven. In 1990, he reunited with Eva Gabor for a Return To Green Acres television movie, and his final starring role was Jack Boland on the popular daytime soap opera, General Hospital.
Private life
Albert married actress María Marguerita Guadalupe Boldao y Castilla O'Donnell (better known by her stage name Margo) on December 5, 1945, and they remained together until her death on July 17, 1985. The couple had two children: Edward Albert, an actor like his parents, and Maria, a businesswoman.
Albert was active in a number of causes. He and his family helped support Plaza de la Raza, a center for Hispanic arts and education. Albert produced a number of educational films for children and also organized City Children's Farms, a program for creating gardens in inner cities. Albert was also very active in environmental concerns. He was one of the first people who called for a ban on DDT. International Earth Day was designated on April 22, partly in honor of his birthday.
Eddie Albert suffered from Alzheimer's disease, but he was reported to have been doing regular exercise almost until the day he died, which Alzheimer's patients are usually not able to do.
On May 26, 2005, he died at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, of pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, just one month after his birthday. His death coincided with the release of the remake of The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler and Burt Reynolds.
For his contribution to the television industry, Eddie Albert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard.
The centennial of his birth is scheduled for April 22, 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Albert
