Alan Alda

FULL NAME	Alphonzo Joseph D'Abruzzo
BORN	January 28, 1936, New York, USA
ASSOCIATION	Actor (Writer, Director)
NATIONALITY	American
HEIGHT	188 cm
REVIEWED ENTRIES	18 (17)
MAX. RATING	½ (actor) (Crimes and Misdemeanors) ½ (filmmaker)
MIN. RATING	½ (actor) (filmmaker)
AVERAGE RATING	3.91 (actor) 3.13 (filmmaker)
STRENGTHS	Singular ability to deliver comic lines. Humanity and honesty Charm, charisma, energy

FILMOGRAPHY (ONLY REVIEWED ENTRIES)

FILMMAKER FILMOGRAPHY (ONLY REVIEWED ENTRIES)

BIO

He'll have to compete with the likes of Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and Burt Reynolds for the position of my all-time favourite performer. Alan Alda doesn't have the dramatic talent of any of the others (some would say far from it), and as a filmmaker, he was never groundbreaking. Yet, Alan Alda enjoyed a position in the business that few others could match. Not only has he enjoyed a successful career based on remarkably healthy ideals and political correctness (too correct for my taste, actually), but he has taken great pride in giving his audience pleasure and genuine moments of amusement. He comes off as one of the most unselfish men in the business, yet many who have worked with him, whether during the time of M*A*S*H or as a director, will tell you otherwise.

Obviously, it is no secret that there would be no Alan Alda as we know him today had it not been for M*A*S*H, which, along with Friends, is the most successful TV series of all time. Alda was a young, semi-struggling actor of films and stage when he landed the role of Hawkeye Pierce for the show's debut in 1972. And by the end of the very first season, he was one of the most popular household names in the country. Such was his impact on the character and the show's popularity that the producers had to cast and write it based on how it would fit in with Alan's Hawkeye. Robert Altman's feature film from 1970 was and will always be acclaimed, but for most people, M*A*S*H will always be synonymous with Alan Alda and the character of Hawkeye Pierce. His charisma, humour and knack for simple comic relief stand firmly as the epitome of how to lead a TV sitcom. Still, Alda would tell you that M*A*S*H was so much more than that.

Transitioning from eleven years on M*A*S*H to new challenges in the film industry was never going to be easy. Alda already had the foundation of popularity on which he could build, but he was also going to be very much associated with that one character. He chose to write and direct his films himself, and throughout the 1980s Alda's focus was on making insightful, good-hearted character-dramas of middle-aged, urban life stories. His debut feature, The Four Seasons arrived in 1981 to rave reviews, but unfortunately Alda wasn't quite able to thrive on the success.

After the only moderately successful Betsy's Wedding in 1990, Alda's career as a filmmaker came to an end. He had been extremely selective about accepting roles in other films (only starring in Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors except from his own films throughout the entire decade), however, throughout the 1990s, he appeared in more and more supporting roles in films of varying degrees of success. More often than not, these were not particularly challenging roles, and it is my firm opinion that we have never seen the best of Alan Alda on the big screen - and we probably never will. I was happier than anyone when, in 2005, Alda received his first-ever Academy Award nomination for his work in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. A fine way of rounding out a career that has given people more laughs and good times than most others.

TRIVIA

• I (not surprisingly) first met Alan Alda through the tv-series M*A*S*H when living with my brother in the late nineties. We used to sit together and watch the show screened on Norwegian TV every afternoon.
• Grew up virtually onstage, travelling with his parents burlesque vaudeville theatre group.
• When he was 18, stayed a year in Europe, based in Paris and driving around with friends in order to visit as many parts of the continent as possible.
• His mother battled a lifetime of mental illness, mostly without medical care.

AWARDS

WHAT DO THE CRITICS SAY?

Sweet Liberty (1986)

"Alda's conception of this professor—as smug and insecure but basically a representative of solid, enduring values—casts a pall over the proceedings; still, if you don't expect too much and just ride along with the movie's conventionality there are enough enjoyable scenes to put you in a good mood." - Pauline Kael

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

"Woody Allen himself plays a little, grubbing-for-a-living documentary filmmaker who falls in love but can't compete for the woman (Mia Farrow) against a darling of the media, a tall, egomaniacal TV producer played with a wonderfully smug, screwy abandon by Alan Alda." - Pauline Kael

CHARACTER QUOTES

M*A*S*H (TV Series) (1972-83) [CLICK FOR FULL QUOTES]