Larry Gelbart
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Born	Larry Simon Gelbart (1928-02-25)February 25, 1928 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	September 11, 2009(2009-09-11) (aged 81) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Other names	Francis Burns, Elsig
Occupation	Author, playwright
Years active	1944–2009
Spouse	Patricia Marshall (1956–2009)
Signature

Larry Simon Gelbart (February 25, 1928 – September 11, 2009)^[1] was an American television writer, playwright, screenwriter and author.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Gelbart was born in Chicago to Jewish immigrants Harry Gelbart ("a barber since his half of a childhood in Latvia")^[2] and Frieda Sturner, who migrated to America from Dombrowa,^{[disambiguation needed ]} Poland. Marcia Gelbart Walkenstein was his sister.

Television[link]

Gelbart began as a writer at the age of sixteen for Danny Thomas' radio show after his father, who was Thomas' barber, showed Thomas some jokes Gelbart had written. During the 1940s Gelbart also wrote for Jack Paar and Bob Hope. In the 1950s, his most important work in television involved writing for Red Buttons, Sid Caesar on Caesar's Hour, in Celeste Holm's Honestly, Celeste!, as well as with writers Mel Tolkin, Michael Stewart, Selma Diamond, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and (on two Caesar specials) Woody Allen.^[3]

In 1972, Gelbart was one of the main forces behind the creation of the television series M*A*S*H, writing the pilot (for which he received a "Developed for Television by..." credit) and then producing, often writing and occasionally directing the series for its first four seasons (1972–1976). M*A*S*H earned Gelbart a Peabody Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and went on to considerable commercial and critical success.

Films[link]

Gelbart's best known screen work is perhaps the screenplay for 1982's Tootsie, which he co-wrote with Murray Schisgal. He was nominated for an Academy Award for that script, and also was Oscar-nominated for his original screenplay for 1977's Oh, God! starring George Burns.

He collaborated with Burt Shevelove on the screenplay for the 1966 British film The Wrong Box. Gelbart also co-wrote the golden-era film spoof Movie Movie (1978) starring George C. Scott in dual roles, the racy comedy Blame It on Rio (1984) starring Michael Caine and Demi Moore, and the 2000 remake of Bedazzled with Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser.

His script for Rough Cut (1980), a caper film starring Burt Reynolds and David Niven, was credited under the pseudonym Francis Burns.

Gelbart-scripted films for television included Barbarians at the Gate (1993), a true story about the battle for control of the RJR Nabisco corporation starring James Garner that was based on the best-selling book of that name; Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997) starring Ben Kingsley and Gabriel Byrne as rival media moguls and And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) starring Antonio Banderas as the Mexican revolutionary leader.

Broadway[link]

Gelbart co-wrote the long-running Broadway musical farce A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Burt Shevelove and Stephen Sondheim in 1962. Receiving lousy reviews and box office during its previews in Washington, D.C., rewrites and restaging helped; it was a smash Broadway hit and ran for 964 performances. Its book won a Tony Award. A film version starring Zero Mostel was released in 1966 with Gelbart and Shevelove's libretto largely rewritten. Gelbart was extremely critical of the movie.

Gelbart's other Broadway credits include the musical City of Angels, which won him the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical and an Edgar Award. He also wrote the Iran-contra satire Mastergate, as well as Sly Fox and a musical adaptation of the Preston Sturges movie Hail the Conquering Hero; during that show's troubled development Gelbart uttered the now-classic line, "If Hitler is alive, I hope he's out of town with a musical."

Memoirs[link]

In 1997, Gelbart published his memoir, Laughing Matters: On Writing M*A*S*H (TV series), Tootsie, Oh, God! and a Few Other Funny Things.^[2]

Blogger[link]

Gelbart was a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post, and also was a regular participant on the alt.tv.mash Usenet newsgroup as "Elsig".

Death[link]

Gelbart was diagnosed with cancer in June and died at his Beverly Hills home on September 11, 2009. His wife of 53 years, Pat Gelbart, said that after being married for so long, "we finished each other's sentences." She declined to specify the type of cancer he had.^[1][4]

Writing Credits[link]

• Duffy's Tavern (1941–1951) (Radio)
• The Red Buttons Show (1952) (TV)
• Honestly, Celeste! (1954) (TV)
• Caesar's Hour (1954–1957) (TV)
• The Patrice Munsel Show (1957) (TV)
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1958) (TV)
• The Art Carney Show (1959) (TV)
• Startime (1959) (TV)
• The Best of Anything (1960) (TV)
• Hooray for Love (1960) (TV)
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (with Burt Shevelove) (1962) (Theater)
• The Notorious Landlady (with Blake Edwards) (1962)
• Judy and her guests, Phil Silvers and Robert Goulet (1963) (TV)
• The Thrill of It All (1963) (story only)
• The Danny Kaye Show (1963) (TV)
• The Wrong Box (with Burt Shevelove) (1966)
• Not with My Wife, You Don't! (with Norman Panama and Peter Barnes) (1966)
• A Fine Pair (1967) (uncredited)
• Eddie (1971) (TV)
• The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine (1971) (TV)
• Roll Out (1972) (TV)
• M*A*S*H (1972–1983) (TV) (also Co-Creator, with Gene Reynolds)
• If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? (1974) (TV)
• Karen (1975) (TV)
• Sly Fox (1976) (Theater)
• Three's Company (1976) (TV) (unaired pilot)
• Oh God! (1977)
• Movie, Movie (1978)
• United States (1980) (TV)
• Rough Cut (1980) (as Francis Burns)
• Neighbors (1981)
• Tootsie (with Murray Schisgal) (1982)
• AfterMASH (1983–1984) (TV) (also Creator)
• Blame it on Rio (1984)
• City of Angels (1989) (Theater)
• Master Gate (1990) (Theater)
• Barbarians at the Gate (1993) (TV)
• Weapons of Mass Distraction (1997) (TV)
• Laughing Matters: On writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God! And A Few Other Funny Things (1999) (Autobiography)
• C-Scam (2000) (TV)
• Bedazzled (with Harold Ramis and Peter Tolan) (2000)
• And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) (TV)

M*A*S*H Episodes[link]

The following is a list of M*A*S*H episodes (42 Total) written and/or directed by Gelbart.

Season One (9/17/72-3/25/73)[link]

• Episode 1: The Pilot (Written)
• Episode 4: "Chief Surgeon Who?" (Written)
• Episode 11: "Germ Warfare" (Written)
• Episode 12: "Dear Dad" (Written)
• Episode 18: "Dear Dad...Again" (Written with Sheldon Keller)
• Episode 21: "Sticky Wicket" (Teleplay with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 23: "Ceasefire" (Teleplay with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 24: "Showtime" (Teleplay with Robert Klane; Story)

Season Two (9/15/73-3/2/74)[link]

• Episode 1: "Divided We Stand" (Written)
• Episode 2: "Five O'Clock Charlie" (Written with Laurence Marks & Keith Walker)
• Episode 6: "Kim" (Written with Marc Mandel & Laurence Marks)
• Episode 7: "L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel)" (Written with Carl Kleinschmitt & Laurence Marks)
• Episode 9: "Dear Dad...Three" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 11: "Carry On, Hawkeye" (Written with Bernard Dilbert & Laurence Marks)
• Episode 12: "The Incubator" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 13: "Deal Me Out" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 16: "Henry in Love" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 19: "The Chosen People" (Written Laurence Marks & Sheldon Keller)
• Episode 20: "As You Were" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 21: "Crisis" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 23: "Mail Call" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 24: "A Smattering of Intelligence" (Written with Laurence Marks; Directed)

Season Three (9/10/74-3/18/75)[link]

• Episode 1: "The General Flipped at Dawn" (Directed)
• Episode 2: "Rainbow Bridge" (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 4: "Iron Guts Kelly" (Written with Sid Dorfman)
• Episode 5: "O.R." (Written with Laurence Marks)
• Episode 10: "There's Nothing Like a Nurse" (Written)
• Episode 16: "Bulletin Board" (Written with Simon Muntner)
• Episode 17: "The Consultant" (Story)
• Episode 19: "Aid Station" (Written with Simon Muntner)
• Episode 23: "White Gold" (Written with Simon Muntner)
• Episode 24: "Abyssinia, Henry" (Directed)

Season Four (9/12/75-2/24/76)[link]

• Episode 1: "Welcome to Korea" (Written with Everett Greenbaum & Jim Fritzell)
• Episode 3: "It Happened One Night" (Teleplay with Simon Muntner)
• Episode 9: "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?" (Directed)
• Episode 13: "The Gun" (Written with Gene Reynolds)
• Episode 15: "The Price of Tomato Juice" (Written with Gene Reynolds)
• Episode 18: "Hawkeye" (Written with Simon Muntner; Directed)
• Episode 21: "Smilin' Jack" (Written with Simon Muntner)
• Episode 22: "The More I See You" (Written with Gene Reynolds)
• Episode 23: "Deluge" (Written with Simon Muntner)
• Episode 24: "The Interview" (Written and Directed)

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Isenberg, Barbara. State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work. 2005

External links[link]

• Larry Gelbart at the Internet Broadway Database
• Larry Gelbart at the Internet Movie Database
• Larry Gelbart - Daily Telegraph obituary
• Abrogate-Larry Gelbart play, online @ BBC Radio 4
• Old Time Radio Researchers Database of People and Programs
• Larry Gelbart Archive of American Television Interview
• Nonstop Laughs Larry Gelbart, TIME Magazine
• Larry Gelbart at Find a Grave

Alan Alda
Alda in December 2008
Born	Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo (1936-01-28) January 28, 1936 (age 76) Bronx, New York, U.S.
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Fordham University
Occupation	Actor, author, activist, director, screenwriter
Years active	1958–present
Home town	Chicago, Illinois
Television	M*A*S*H
Spouse	Arlene Alda (1957–present)
Children	3
Parents	Robert Alda, Joan Browne
Awards	Six Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Award

Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo (born January 28, 1936), better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Journalism and a member of the advisory board of The Center for Communicating Science.^[1]

In 1996, Alda was ranked #41 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.^[2]

Family and early life[link]

Alda was born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo in The Bronx, New York City. His father, Robert Alda (born Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo), was an actor and singer, and his mother, Joan Browne, was a former showgirl. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Irish ancestry.^[3] His adopted surname, "Alda," is a portmanteau of ALphonso and D'Abruzzo. When Alda was seven years old, he contracted Poliomyelitis. To combat the disease, his parents administered a painful treatment regimen developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny that consisted of applying hot woolen blankets to his limbs and stretching his muscles.^[4] Alda attended Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York.^[5] In 1956, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in English from Fordham College of Fordham University in the Bronx, where he was a student staff member of its FM radio station, WFUV. Alda's half-brother, Antony Alda, was born the same year and would also become an actor.

During Alan Alda's junior year, he studied in Paris, acted in a play in Rome, and performed with his father on television in Amsterdam. After graduation, he joined the U.S. Army Reserve, and served a six-month tour of duty as a gunnery officer.^[6] A year after graduation, he married Arlene Weiss, with whom he has three daughters, Eve, Elizabeth Alda, and Beatrice Alda. He also has seven grandchildren, two of whom are aspiring actors. The Aldas have been longtime residents of Leonia, New Jersey.^[7] Alda frequented Sol & Sol Deli on Palisade Avenue in the nearby town of Englewood, New Jersey—a fact mirrored in his character's daydream about eating whitefish from the establishment, in an episode of M*A*S*H in which Hawkeye sustains a head injury.^[8]

Career[link]

Early acting[link]

Alda began his career in the 1950s, as a member of the Compass Players comedy revue. In 1966, he starred in the musical The Apple Tree on Broadway; he was nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor in a Musical for that role.

Alda made his Hollywood acting debut as a supporting player in Gone are the Days! – a film version of the highly successful Broadway play Purlie Victorious, which co-starred veteran actors Ruby Dee and her husband, Ossie Davis. Other film roles would follow, such as his portrayal of author, humorist, and actor George Plimpton in the film Paper Lion (1968),^[5] as well as The Extraordinary Seaman (1969), and the occult-murder-suspense thriller The Mephisto Waltz, with actress Jacqueline Bisset. During this time, Alda frequently appeared as a panelist on the 1968 revival of What's My Line?. He also appeared as a panelist on I've Got a Secret during its 1972 syndication revival.

[edit] M*A*S*H Series (1972–83)

Alda (left of center) as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H, 1972

In early 1972, Alda auditioned for and was selected to play the role of "Hawkeye Pierce" in the TV adaptation of the 1970 film MASH.^[5] He was nominated for 21 Emmy Awards, and won five. He took part in writing 19 episodes, including the finale, 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 also the first person to win Emmy Awards for acting, writing, and directing for the same series.^{[citation needed]} Richard Hooker, who wrote the novel on which M*A*S*H was based, did not like Alda's portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce (Hooker, a Republican, had based Hawkeye on himself, whereas Alda and the show's writers took the character in a more liberal direction).^{[citation needed]} Alda also directed the show's 1983 2½-hour series finale "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen", which remains the single most-watched episode of any television series.^[5] Alda is the only series regular to appear in all 251 episodes.^[9]

Alda commuted from Los Angeles to his home in New Jersey every weekend for 11 years while starring in M*A*S*H.^[10] His wife and daughters lived in New Jersey, and he did not want to uproot his family to L.A., especially because he did not know how long the show would last.

Alan Alda, father Robert Alda, and half-brother Antony Alda appeared together in an episode of M*A*S*H, "Lend a Hand", during Season 8. Robert had previously appeared in "The Consultant" in Season 3.

During the first five seasons of the series, the tone of "M*A*S*H" was largely that of a traditional "service comedy", in the vein of shows like "McHale's Navy". However, as the original writers gradually left the series, Alda gained increasing control, and by the final seasons had become a producer and creative consultant. Under his watch, M*A*S*H retained its comedic foundation, but gradually assumed a somewhat more serious tone, openly addressing political issues. As a result, the 11 years of M*A*S*H are generally split into two eras: the Larry Gelbart/Gene Reynolds "comedy" years (1972–1977), and the Alan Alda "dramatic" years (1977–1983).

In his 1981 autobiography, Jackie Cooper (who directed several early episodes) wrote that Alda concealed a lot of hostility beneath the surface, and that the two of them barely spoke to each other by the time Cooper’s directing of M*A*S*H ended.^[11]

During his M*A*S*H years, Alda made several game-show appearances, most notably in The $10,000 Pyramid and as a frequent panelist on To Tell the Truth.

His favorite episodes of M*A*S*H are "Dear Sigmund" and "In Love and War".^[12]

Writing and Directing Credits[link]

The following is a list of M*A*S*H episodes written and/or directed by Alda.

Season One

• Episode 19: "The Long John Flap" (Written)

Season Two

• Episode 5: "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde" (Written with Robert Klane)
• Episode 23: "Mail Call" (Directed)

Season Three

• Episode 16: "Bulletin Board" (Directed)

Season Four

• Episode 4: "The Late Captain Pierce" (Directed)
• Episode 7: "Dear Mildred" (Directed)
• Episode 8: "The Kids" (Directed)
• Episode 16: "Dear Ma" (Directed)

Season Five

• Episode 2: "Margaret's Engagement" (Directed)
• Episode 7: "Dear Sigmund (Written and Directed)
• Episode 12: "Exorcism" (Directed)
• Episode 19: "Hepatitis" (Written and Directed)

Season Six

• Episode 2: "Fallen Idol" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 4: "War of Nerves" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 7: "In Love and War" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 12: "Comrades in Arms, Part 1" (Written; Directed with Burt Metcalfe)
• Episode 13: "Comrades in Arms, Part 2" (Written; Directed with Burt Metcalfe)

Season Seven

• Episode 5: "The Billfold Syndrome" (Directed)
• Episode 8: "Major Ego" (Directed)
• Episode 14: "Dear Sis" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 16: "Inga" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 25: "The Party" (Written with Burt Metcalfe)

Season Eight

• Episode 3: "Guerilla My Dreams" (Directed)
• Episode 11: "Life Time" (Written with Walter D. Dishell, M.D.; Directed)
• Episode 15: "Yessir, That's Our Baby" (Directed)
• Episode 20: "Lend a Hand" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 22: "Dreams" (Teleplay; Story with James Jay Rubinfier; Directed)

Season Nine

• Episode 4: "Father's Day" (Directed)
• Episode 12: "Depressing News" (Directed)
• Episode 15: "Bottoms Up" (Directed)
• Episode 20: "The Life You Save" (Written with John Rappaport; Directed)

Season Ten

• Episode 6: "Communication Breakdown" (Directed)
• Episode 10: "Follies of the Living—Concerns of the Dead" (Written and Directed)
• Episode 16: "Where There's a Will, There's a War" (Directed)

Season Eleven

• Episode 1: "Hey, Look Me Over" (Written with Karen Hall)
• Episode 16: "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" (Written with Burt Metcalfe, John Rappaport, Dan Wilcox, Thad Mumford, Elias Davis, David Pollock and Karen Hall; Directed)

[edit] Post-M*A*S*H

Alda's prominence in the enormously successful M*A*S*H gave him a platform to speak out on political topics, and he has been a strong and vocal supporter of women's rights and the feminist movement.^[5] He co-chaired, with former First Lady Betty Ford, the ERA Countdown campaign. In 1976, The Boston Globe dubbed him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon" for his activism on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment. As a liberal and often progressive activist, he has been a target for some political and social conservatives.

Alda played Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman in the play QED, which had only one other character. Although Peter Parnell wrote the play, Alda both produced and inspired it. Alda has also appeared frequently in the films of Woody Allen, and was a guest star five times on ER, playing Dr. Kerry Weaver's mentor, Gabriel Lawrence. During the later episodes, it was revealed that Dr. Lawrence was suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Alda also had a co-starring role as Dr. Robert Gallo in the 1993 TV movie And the Band Played On.

During M*A*S*H's run and continuing through the 1980s, Alda embarked on a successful career as a writer and director, with the ensemble dramedy The Four Seasons being perhaps his most notable hit. Betsy's Wedding was his last directing credit to date. After M*A*S*H, Alda took on a series of roles that either parodied or directly contradicted his "nice guy" image.^[5] His role as a pompous celebrity television producer in Crimes and Misdemeanors was widely seen as a self-parody, although Alda has denied this.

Recent work[link]

Alda at the 1994 Emmys.

In 1993 he co-starred with Woody Allen (also the director), Diane Keaton, and Anjelica Huston in the comedy/mystery Manhattan Murder Mystery. The four play a quartet of amateur crime solvers who become entangled in a murder plot possibly perpetrated by Keaton and Allen's neighbor. Alda's character is Ted, a playwright secretly in love with Keaton's character Carol, but who eventually falls for Huston's character Marcia.

In 1995, he starred as the President in Michael Moore's political satire/comedy film Canadian Bacon. Around this time, rumors circulated that Alda was considering running for the United States Senate in New Jersey, but he denied this. In 1996, Alda played Henry Ford in Camping With Henry and Tom, based on the book by Mark St. Germain.

Beginning in 2004, Alda was a regular cast member on the NBC program The West Wing, portraying Republican U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Arnold Vinick, until the show's conclusion in May 2006. He made his premiere in the sixth season's eighth episode, "In The Room," and was added to the opening credits with the thirteenth episode, "King Corn." In August 2006, Alda won an Emmy for his portrayal of Arnold Vinick in the final season of The West Wing.

In 2004, Alda portrayed conservative Maine Senator Owen Brewster in Martin Scorsese's Academy-Award winning film The Aviator, in which he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio.

Throughout his career, Alda has received 31 Emmy Award nominations and two Tony Award nominations, and has won seven People's Choice Awards, six Golden Globe Awards, and three Directors Guild of America awards. However, it was not until 2005, after a long distinguished acting career, that Alda received his first Academy Award nomination, for his role in The Aviator.

Alda also wrote several of the stories and poems that appeared in Marlo Thomas's Free to Be... You and Me television show.

Alda starred in the original Broadway production of the play Art, which opened on March 1, 1998, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The play won the Tony Award for best original play.

Alda also had a part in the 2000 romantic comedy What Women Want, as the CEO of the advertising firm where the main characters worked.

In the spring of 2005, Alda starred as Shelly Levene in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Throughout 2009 and 2010, he appeared in three episodes of 30 Rock as Milton Greene, the biological father of Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).

In 2011, Alda was scheduled to guest star on Law & Order: LA, portraying former police and naval officer John Winters, the father of the former main character Rex Winters. It is unknown if he filmed his role before the series was redesigned and Rex Winters written off.

After the release of the movie Tower Heist, Alda was devastated, when on December 7, 2011, he lost his idol and decades-long friend Harry Morgan, who played opposite Alda as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H. Upon Morgan's death, Alda released a statement: "We had just a wonderful time reminiscing. That was the last time I saw Harry."^[13]

Charitable work and other interests[link]

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.^[14] He and his wife, Arlene, are also 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. Alda and Marlo Thomas had also worked together in the early 70s on a critically acclaimed children's album entitled Free to Be You and Me, which featured Alda, Thomas and a number of other well-known character actors. This project remains one of the earliest public signs of his support of women's rights.

In 2005, Alda published his first round of memoirs, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: and Other Things I've Learned.^[10] Among other stories, he recalls his intestines becoming strangulated while on location in Chile for his PBS show Scientific American Frontiers, during which he mildly surprised a young doctor with his understanding of medical procedures, which he had learned from M*A*S*H. He also talks about his mother's battle with schizophrenia. The title comes from an incident in his childhood, when Alda was distraught about his dog dying and his well-meaning father had the animal stuffed. Alda was horrified by the results, and took from this that sometimes we have to accept things as they are, rather than desperately and fruitlessly trying to change them.

In 2006, Alda contributed his voice to a part in the audio book of Max Brooks' World War Z. In this book, he voiced Arthur Sinclair Jr., the director of the United States Government's fictional "Department of Strategic Resources (DeStRes)".

His second memoir, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, weaves together advice from public speeches he has given with personal recollections about his life and beliefs.

Alda also has an avid interest in cosmology, and participated in BBC coverage of the opening of the Large Hadron Collider, at CERN, Geneva, in September 2008.^[15]

After years of interviews, Alda helped inspire the creation of the The Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in 2009. He remains on the advisory board as of 2012.^[16]

Alda has been an activist for feminism for many years.^[17]

Religious views[link]

In the mentioned memoir, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, Alda candidly describes how briefly, at one time in his life he realized that he had begun thinking like an agnostic or atheist, although he had been raised as a Roman Catholic:

For a while in my teens, I was sure I had it. It was about getting to heaven. If heaven existed and lasted forever, then a mere lifetime spent scrupulously following orders was a small investment for an infinite payoff. One day, though, I realized I was no longer a believer, and realizing that, I couldn’t go back. Not that I lost the urge to pray. Occasionally, even after I stopped believing, I might send off a quick memo to the Master of the Universe, usually on a matter needing urgent attention, like Oh, God, don’t let us crash. These were automatic expulsions of words, brief SOS messages from the base of my brain. They were similar to the short prayers that were admired by the church in my Catholic boyhood, which they called “ejaculations.” I always liked the idea that you could shorten your time in purgatory with each ejaculation; what boy wouldn’t find that a comforting idea? But my effort to keep the plane in the air by talking to God didn’t mean I suddenly was overcome with belief, only that I was scared. Whether I’d wake up in heaven someday or not, whatever meaning I found would have to occur first on this end of eternity.

Speaking further on agnosticism, Alda goes on to say:

I still don't like the word agnostic. It's too fancy. I'm simply not a believer. But, as simple as this notion is, it confuses some people. Someone wrote a Wikipedia entry about me, identifying me as an atheist because I'd said in a book I wrote that I wasn't a believer. I guess in a world uncomfortable with uncertainty, an unbeliever must be an atheist, and possibly an infidel. This gets us back to that most pressing of human questions: why do people worry so much about other people's holding beliefs other than their own?

Alda made these comments in an interview for the 2008 question section of the Edge Foundation website.^[18]

Awards and nominations[link]

Awards

• Emmy Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" in 2006, for his portrayal of Senator & Presidential candidate Arnold Vinick in The West Wing
• Emmy Award for "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" in 1980
• Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy or Comedy-Variety or Music Series" in 1979
• Emmy Award for "Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series" in 1977
• Emmy Award for "Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" in 1972
• Emmy Award for "Actor of the Year – Series" in 1972
• Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical/Comedy" in 1983
• Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical/Comedy" in 1982
• Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Musical/Comedy" in 1981
• Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor – Musical/Comedy" in 1980
• Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor – Musical/Comedy" in 1976
• Golden Globe for "Best TV Actor – Musical/Comedy" in 1975
• DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series" in 1983
• DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series" in 1982
• DGA Award for "Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series" in 1977
• Drama Desk Award for "Outstanding Ensemble Performance" in 2005 for Glengarry Glen Ross.
• Became Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2006^[19]

Nominations

• The audiobook version of Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album.

• Alda received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster in Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator.

Filmography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Alda, Alan (2006). Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-179652-5. OCLC 64931144. 
•   (2007). Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6617-9. OCLC 122309367. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alan Alda

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alan Alda

• Alan Alda at AllRovi
• Alan Alda at the Internet Movie Database
• Alan Alda at the Internet Broadway Database
• Alan Alda at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Things I Learned While Talking To Myself - Alan Alda books Website
• Bio on Scientific American Frontiers
• Military Service
• Alan Alda Discusses Science, Improv and Richard Feynman at USC's Annenberg School]
• A film clip "The Open Mind - Alan Alda . . . on Celebrity and Its Discontents (2007)" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Interview with Alda on NPR's Fresh Air (September 21, 2005)
• Alan Alda's Charity Work
• Performance Working in the Theatre seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 1992
• Alan Alda Interview at Archive of American Television