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ALPHONSO JOSEPH D'ABRUZZO
His real name is Alfonso Joseph D'Abruzzo.
He was born on January 28, 1936, in New York City.
His mother was Joan Brown, owner of the title of "Miss New York", and Alan's father, Robert Alda, (real name - Alfonso Giuseppe Giovani Roberto D'Abruzzo) - a famous actor, who appeared in movies and played in Broadway musicals. After becoming an actor, Robert Alda created a pseudonym from the first syllable of his first name (Alfonso) and the first syllable of his last name (d'Abruzzo), Alda, which his sons later adopted. Alan's younger brother Anthony is also an actor.
At the age of seven, Alan Alda had polio, but thanks to the efforts of doctors and parents, he quickly recovered. Small roles in TV shows Alan Alda begins to play from a young age.
He first hit the stage at the age of 16, in the summer theater of Burnsville, Pennsylvania. As a young student at Fordham University, he studied at the Sorbonne, and also appeared on the Roman stage and on television in Amsterdam with his father.
In 1956 Alan received a bachelor's degree, then was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in the Reserve Corps.
After college, he played in the Cleveland Theater. On top of that, Alda studied acting at Second City in New York City and at the Compass in Guyansport, Massachusetts.
Alda received good critical acclaim for his Broadway production of Owl and Pussycat, his major breakthrough on stage. His first Tony nomination came from his work in the play Apple Tree. Alan was also nominated for a Tony for his role in the play "The Women of Jake."
Alda's first film was Days Gone By (1963). But, still, the beginning of a serious career in film can be considered the role of George Plimpton in the movie "Paper Lion" (1968). Then, of course, there were other roles, but the world fame brought Alan the role of Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce, from the TV series "M * A * S * H". This series took Alan to the top of Hollywood. Throughout the 11 years of filming, Alan shuttled from his home in New Jersey to Los Angeles. He collected an unprecedented number of awards for his portrayal of the empathetic military surgeon drafted into the Korean War. Alda was nominated for 29 Emmy Awards in the 11 years the series ran on CBS. He won five gold statuettes and was the only one to win an Academy Award as an actor, writer and director. In addition to the Emmys, Alda won two Screenwriters' Union Awards, three Directors' Union Awards, six Golden Globes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as Best Comedy Actor, and seven Audience Awards.
The great actor has played in many more films; one of his latest works was "Object of My Admiration" (1998).
In 1999 he was invited to play a consultant physician with Alzheimer's disease in several episodes of the series "ER", this role brought him another Emmy Award.
On March 5, 2002, Alan Alda was awarded the WGA Valentine Davis Award, which is reserved for writers who have "contributed to the film industry and brought honor and dignity to the profession of screenwriting." He also received the Royal Film Award for Achievement in a Television Career, at the Sarasota Film Festival, January 13, 2001.
Alan Alda has often played himself, a tolerant, good-natured, intellectual middle-aged American. His talent is a peculiar gift, delighting audiences with the way he is able to convey absolute despair and compassion, monstrous fatigue and the broadest range of humor with a boundless honesty that is itself a hallmark.
In his later films, he continued to use his charm and masculine appeal. In recent years Alda has been quite prolific on the theatrical stage, in the revived plays Our Town and Neil Simons' Jake's Women.
A committed feminist, Alda was appointed to the National Commission on Observance of International Women's Day in 1976, where he co-chaired a committee for 10 years to fight for equal rights for men and women. Alan Alda's civic responsibilities were not limited to feminist issues.
In 1957 he married Arlene Weiss (she is a professional photographer), they have three daughters, Eva, Elizabeth and Beatrice, and seven grandchildren.
