Alan Alda is one of the oldest actors, having acted in numerous roles, and directed some. While he is recognized as an actor, he is also an author, comedian, director, screenwriter and singer. Having being born in a family of entertainers, Alan got exposed to the entertainment industry by his parents.
He has won six Emy Awards, making himself one of the best actors. Due to many years on the screens, Alda’s net worth is around $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Early Life and Education
Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo was born on January 28, 1936 in Manhattan, New York City. His family moved a lot because his father was an actor and singer. Moreover, his mother was a former beauty-pageant winner and homemaker.
Due to his father’s career, his early childhood was full of movements throughout the country. At age seven, he contacted polio, which prompted his parents to administer a painful treatment, developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny.
His parents would apply hot woolen blankets to his limbs and stretching his muscles every two hours, until he recovered. The future actor would go on to live a normal life, as he attended Archbishop Stepinac High School.
Alda went on to join Fordham University and pursued a major in English. While in college, he began acting, and was a student staff member of WFUV, a school FM radio station. While in his junior year he acted a play in Rome, and performed alongside his father in an Amsterdam television.
Before Alda began acting full-time, he joined the United States Army Reserve and served for six months. While some sources indicate that he went on to serve in Korea, the actor and director has refuted those claims.
Career
Alda’s rise to a great actor began in the late 1950s. He was a member of various clubs which enabled him to venture into acting. Among his early roles include “To Dorothy a Son, Heaven Come Wednesday, and Job.” He continued to portray in many other films, establishing himself as a skilled actor.
His breakthrough came in 1972, after he auditioned for, and was selected to act in M*A*S*H. His role in the series was so great that he won five of the twenty-one Emmy Awards. After that, he went on to help write other films, as he continued to act.
While Alda acted in M*A*S*H, his father and half-brother also had guest roles in episode twenty of season eight. He appeared on all the 256 episodes of the series, becoming one of the highest paid actors for the movie.
During the acting period in this series, his family stayed in New Jersey, as he did not know for how long he would be acting. As a result, he commuted from Los Angeles to his New Jersey home every weekend, for more than a decade.
Alan Alda’s Children
Alan is a proud father to three daughters. He met Arlene Weiss, while in college and they fell in love after meeting at a friend’s party. They were attending different colleges, and married a year after completing.
One of Alda’s daughters is an actress, and some of his grandchildren have also followed in his footsteps.
