1. Harold "Jack" Albertson was an American actor, dancer and singer who performed in vaudeville.
23 Facts About Jack Albertson
1. 2.
Jack Albertson was born on June 16,1907, in Malden, Massachusetts, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants Flora and Leopold Jack Albertson.
3.
Until the age of 22, Jack Albertson was known as "Harold Jack Albertson".
4.
Jack Albertson's father abandoned his mother before Jack was born, and the boy was raised by his stepfather, Alex Erlich, a barber.
5.
Jack Albertson dropped out of high school, ending his formal education after a single year.
6.
Jack Albertson worked at several different jobs including: the local General Electric plant; in one of many shoe factories in the Lynn, Massachusetts area; and as a rack boy in neighborhood pool parlors, where he was a fairly good pool hustler, although he was always on guard to avoid playing anyone who could "out-hustle" him.
7.
Jack Albertson joined the vaudeville road troupe known as the Dancing Verselle Sisters.
8.
Jack Albertson then worked in burlesque as a hoofer and straight man to Phil Silvers on the Minsky's Burlesque Circuit.
9.
Jack Albertson had an early minor role in Miracle on 34th Street as a postal worker who redirects dead letters addressed to "Santa Claus" to the courthouse where Kris Kringle is on trial.
10.
Jack Albertson won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1968 film The Subject Was Roses.
11.
Jack Albertson said that his one regret was that he did not reprise his role in the movie version of The Sunshine Boys.
12.
When producer Ray Stark acquired the film rights from Neil Simon in 1973, Jack Albertson was expected to play the part, but by the time MGM had bought the rights in 1974 and was preparing to begin filming in February 1975, Jack Albertson was not available because he was appearing on Chico and the Man on TV.
13.
Jack Albertson guest-starred on the David Janssen crime-drama series Richard Diamond, Private Detective.
14.
From 1960 to 1961, Jack Albertson was cast in three episodes of Pete and Gladys, with Harry Morgan and Cara Williams.
15.
On January 2,1961, Albertson was cast as Sampson J Binton, with DeForest Kelley as Alex Jeffords, in "Listen to the Nightingale", the series finale of Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin.
16.
Jack Albertson had a recurring role as the neighbor Walter Burton in eight episodes of the 1962 ABC sitcom Room for One More, with Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay.
17.
Jack Albertson had recurring roles in Ensign O'Toole and Run, Buddy, Run.
18.
Between 1961 and 1964, Jack Albertson appeared seven times on Mister Ed as Paul Fenton, brother-in-law to Wilbur Post's next-door-neighbor Kay, appearing as a stopgap regular for several episodes after the death of Larry Keating in 1963.
19.
In 1970, Jack Albertson appeared as Billy "Moose" Valentine in The Men From Shiloh, the rebranded name for The Virginian in the episode titled "With Love, Bullets and Valentines".
20.
Jack Albertson then co-starred as "The Man" Ed Brown on the popular series Chico and the Man with Freddie Prinze.
21.
Jack Albertson stayed for its entire run from 1974 to 1978.
22.
Jack Albertson earned an Emmy Award for that role in 1976, which was his second; his first was for an appearance on the variety show Cher in 1975.
23.
Jack Albertson resided for many years in West Hollywood, California.