58 Facts About Eddie Albert

Edward Albert Heimberger was an American actor and activist.

Eddie Albert was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday, and the second in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.

Eddie Albert starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the 1960s television sitcom Green Acres and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama Switch.

Eddie Albert had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest, opposite Jane Wyman.

Edward Eddie Albert Heimberger was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on April 22,1906, the eldest of the five children of Frank Daniel Heimberger, a real estate agent, and his wife, Julia Jones.

Eddie Albert's parents were not married when Albert was born, and his mother altered his birth certificate after her marriage.

Eddie Albert studied at Central High School in Minneapolis and joined the drama club.

Eddie Albert stopped using his last name professionally, since it invariably was mispronounced as "Hamburger".

Eddie Albert had lead roles in Room Service and The Boys from Syracuse.

In 1936, Eddie Albert had become one of the earliest television actors, performing live in one of RCA's first television broadcasts in association with NBC, a promotion for their New York City radio stations.

Eddie Albert landed the starring role in the 1938 Broadway musical The Boys from Syracuse, and met Burl Ives, who had a small role in the play.

Also in 1938, Eddie Albert made his feature-film debut in the Hollywood version of Brother Rat with Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, reprising his Broadway role as cadet "Bing" Edwards.

On September 9,1942, Eddie Albert enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and was discharged in 1943 to accept an appointment as a lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve.

Eddie Albert was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for his actions during the invasion of Tarawa in November 1943, when, as the coxswain of a US Navy landing craft, he rescued 47 Marines who were stranded offshore, while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire.

From 1948 on, Eddie Albert guest-starred in nearly 90 television series.

Eddie Albert made his guest-starring debut on an episode of The Ford Theatre Hour.

In 1959, Eddie Albert was cast as businessman Dan Simpson in the episode "The Unwilling" of the NBC Western series Riverboat.

The 1950s had a return to Broadway for Eddie Albert, including roles in Miss Liberty and The Seven Year Itch.

In 1960, Eddie Albert replaced Robert Preston in the lead role of Professor Harold Hill, in the Broadway production of The Music Man.

Eddie Albert created the title role of Marc Blitzstein's Reuben, Reuben in 1955 in Boston.

Eddie Albert performed at The Muny Theater in St Louis, reprising the Harold Hill role in The Music Man in 1966 and playing Alfred P Doolittle in My Fair Lady in 1968.

Eddie Albert was nominated for his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor with Roman Holiday.

Eddie Albert appeared in several military roles, including The Longest Day, about the Normandy invasion.

Eddie Albert guest-starred on various series, including ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, and the Westinghouse Studio One series, playing Winston Smith in the first TV adaptation of 1984, by William Templeton.

Albert had his own daytime variety program, The Eddie Albert Show, on CBS television in 1953.

In 1962, Eddie Albert appeared as Cal Kroeger on the TV Western The Virginian in the episode titled "Impasse".

In 1964, Eddie Albert guest-starred in "Cry of Silence", an episode of the science-fiction television series The Outer Limits.

Eddie Albert played Andy Thorne, who along with his wife Karen, had decided to leave the city and buy a farm.

Eddie Albert was cast as Charlie O'Rourke in the 1964 episode "Visions of Sugar Plums" of the NBC education drama series, Mr Novak, starring James Franciscus.

In 1965, Eddie Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning to star in a new sitcom for CBS called Green Acres.

Eddie Albert's character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a gentleman farmer.

In 1968, Eddie Albert was a guest on The Carol Burnett Show episode six.

Eddie Albert played Harvey Korman's boss in an episode of "Carol and Sis", and sang.

Eddie Albert's first was the 1956 made-for-television NBC documentary Our Mr Sun, a Bell Telephone-produced color special.

Eddie Albert appears with Dr Frank Baxter, who appears in several other Bell Telephone science specials.

In 1971, Eddie Albert guest-starred in a season-one Columbo episode called "Dead Weight", which featured guest star Suzanne Pleshette, as a highly decorated retired US Marine Corps major general, and combat war hero from the Korean War, who murders his adjutant to cover up an illegal quid pro quo contracting conspiracy scheme.

In 1972, Eddie Albert resumed his film career and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as an overprotective father in The Heartbreak Kid, and delivered a memorable performance opposite Burt Reynolds as an evil prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard.

Eddie Albert appeared in such 1980s films as How to Beat the High Cost of Living, Yesterday, Take This Job and Shove It, Rooster, and Yes, Giorgio, and as the US President in Dreamscape.

Eddie Albert's final feature film role was a cameo appearance in The Big Picture.

Eddie Albert appeared in many all-star television miniseries, including Evening in Byzantium, The Word, Peter and Paul, Goliath Awaits, and War and Remembrance.

In 1982, Eddie Albert sang the character role of the elderly Altoum in the San Francisco Opera staging of Puccini's Turandot.

Eddie Albert guest-starred on an episode of the 1980s television series Highway to Heaven, as well as Murder, She Wrote, and in 1990, he reunited with Eva Gabor for a Return to Green Acres.

In 1950, Margo and Eddie Albert's names were both published in "Red Channels", an anti-Communist pamphlet that sought to expose purported Communist influence within the entertainment industry.

Eddie Albert's son spoke of his parents' blacklisting in an interview published in December 1972, crediting Eddie Albert's military service during World War II with ultimately saving his career:.

Eddie Albert was active in social and environmental causes, especially from the 1970s onward.

In 1970, Eddie Albert participated in the creation of Earth Day and spoke at one of its events in that year.

Eddie Albert was a trustee of the National Recreation and Park Association and a member of the US Department of Energy's advisory board.

Eddie Albert was special envoy for Meals for Millions and consultant for the World Hunger Conference.

Eddie Albert joined Albert Schweitzer in a documentary about African malnutrition.

Eddie Albert promoted organic gardening, and founded City Children's Farms for inner-city children, while supporting eco-farming and tree planting.

Eddie Albert was a director of the US Council on Refugees.

Eddie Albert married Mexican actress Margo in 1945.

Margo Eddie Albert died from brain cancer on July 17,1985.

Eddie Albert's son put aside his acting career to care for his father.

Eddie Albert died of pneumonia on May 26,2005, at the age of 99 in his home in Pacific Palisades, California.

Eddie Albert was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, next to his late wife and near his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor.

Eddie Albert had been suffering from lung cancer for 18 months.

For contributions to the television industry, Eddie Albert was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard.