Biography
Albert was born Edward Albert Heimberger in Rock Island, Illinois to Frank and Julia Heimberger, Christian German immigrants. He spent his early years in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from University of Minnesota, Albert pursued a show business career through jobs as a stage actor, nightclub singer and trapeze performer in a Mexican circus.
Albert's year of birth was frequently given as 1908, but this is incorrect. While many Hollywood figures have often given years of birth later than their true ones (in order to present themselves as being younger than they are), the motivation in this case was provided by Albert's mother, who began the practice because she was unmarried when Albert was born, but was married by 1908. Albert also stated that he dropped his last name, "Heimberger", not so much out of a desire to have a stage name, but rather because it was almost invariably mangled into "Hamburger".
Career
In the 1930s Albert performed in Broadway stage productions, including Brother Rat, which opened in 1936. He had lead roles in Room Service (1937-1938)and The Boys from Syracuse (1938-1939). In 1936, Albert had also become one of the earliest television actors, performing live in RCA's first television broadcast, a promotion for their New York City radio stations. In 1938, he made his feature film debut in the Hollywood version of Brother Rat, reprising his Broadway role as cadet "Bing" Edwards. His contract with Warner Bros. was abruptly terminated in 1941, purportedly because of an affair he was having with studio head Jack L. Warner's wife. (Warner had previously pulled him off a picture as it was being shot and kept him under contract for a period afterwards primarily as a way of preventing him from getting other work).
Albert served in the United States Navy during World War II as a lieutenant. He was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions during the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, when he rescued a group of wounded Marines under enemy fire. He later described some of these events during a short interview, in a segment of a show about the war, which appeared on the History Channel. Albert returned from the war a different actor with a darker screen persona, although it would take another ten years before he became better-known to audiences. The film Attack! (1956) provided Albert with his most serious role as a cowardly, psychotic Army captain whose behavior threatens the safety of his company, including a wounded lieutenant played by Jack Palance.
The 1950s also saw a return to Broadway for Albert, including roles in Miss Liberty (1949-1950) and The Seven Year Itch (ran 1952-1955). In 1960, Albert replaced Robert Preston in the lead role of Professor Harold Hill, in the Broadway production of The Music Man.
In 1965, Albert took the role of Oliver Wendell Douglas in the sitcom Green Acres, which ran through 1971. Albert played the straight man to his co-stars, including Eva Gabor. Of the many roles Albert took after the run of this very successful program, he is probably best remembered for his part as the warden in the 1974 film The Longest Yard.
After a four-year-absence from the small screen, he returned to series television in 1975, this time as Frank MacBride in the television crime drama Switch; he played a retired police officer. Like Green Acres, this proved to be Albert's second hit series. The show was cancelled in 1978 due to lower ratings, but Albert was not particularly disappointed at the show's cancellation.
In the mid-1980s, Albert was also best known for endorsing the popular public service message, the National Arbor Day Foundation, and was reunited with co-star of the Brother Rat and An Angel from Texas movies, Jane Wyman, in a recurring role as Carlton Travis in the popular 1980s soap opera, Falcon Crest. He also guest starred on a popular episode of the 80s television series, Highway to Heaven. In 1990, he reunited with Eva Gabor for a Return To Green Acres television movie.
Private life
Albert married actress María Marguerita Guadalupe Boldao y Castilla O'Donnell (better known by her stage name Margo) on December 5, 1945, and they remained together until her death on July 17, 1985. The couple had two children: Edward Albert, an actor like his parents, and Maria, a businesswoman.
Albert was active in a number of causes. He and his family helped support Plaza de la Raza, a center for Hispanic arts and education. Albert produced a number of educational films for children and also organized City Children's Farms, a program for creating gardens in inner cities. Albert was also very active in environmental concerns. He was one of the first people who called for a ban on DDT. International Earth Day was designated on April 22, partly in honor of his birthday.
Eddie Albert suffered from Alzheimer's disease, but he was reported to have been doing regular exercise almost until the day he died, which Alzheimer's patients are usually not able to do.
He died at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, of pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease. His death coincided with the release of the remake of The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler and Burt Reynolds.
For his contribution to the television industry, Eddie Albert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6441 Hollywood Boulevard.
Filmography
Brother Rat (1938)
On Your Toes (1939)
Four Wives (1939)
Brother Rat and a Baby (1940)
An Angel from Texas (1940)
My Love Came Back (1940)
A Dispatch from Reuters (1940)
The Great Mr. Nobody (1941)
Four Mothers (1941)
The Wagons Roll at Night (1941)
Thieves Fall Out (1941)
Out of the Fog (1941)
Treat 'Em Rough (1942)
Eagle Squadron (1942)
Lady Bodyguard (1943)
Ladies' Day (1943)
Bombardier (1943)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood in Uniform (1943) (short subject)
Strange Voyage (1946)
Rendezvous with Annie (1946)
The Perfect Marriage (1947)
Hit Parade of 1947 (1947)
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947)
Time Out of Mind (1947)
Unconquered (1947) (scenes deleted)
The Dude Goes West (1948)
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) (cameo)
The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
Meet Me After the Show (1951)
Actors and Sin (1952)
Carrie (1952)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Girl Rush (1955)
Oklahoma! (1955)
I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
Operation Teahouse (1956) (short subject)
Attack (1956)
The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)
The Sun Also Rises (1957)
The Joker Is Wild (1957)
Orders to Kill (1958)
The Roots of Heaven (1958)
The Gun Runners (1958)
Beloved Infidel (1959)
The Young Doctors (1961)
Madison Avenue (1962)
The Longest Day (1962)
Who's Got the Action? (1962)
The Two Little Bears (1963)
Miracle of the White Stallions (1963)
Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
The Party's Over (1965)
7 Women (1966)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
The Longest Yard (1974)
McQ (1974)
The Take (1974)
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
The Devil's Rain (1975)
Whiffs (1975)
Hustle (1975)
Moving Violation (1976)
Birch Interval (1977)
The Border (1979)
The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979)
How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980)
Foolin' Around (1980)
Yesterday (1981)
Take This Job and Shove It (1981)
The Act (1982)
Yes, Giorgio (1982)
Dreamscape (1984)
Stitches (movie) (1985)
Head Office (1985)
Turnaround (1987)
Brenda Starr (1989)
The Big Picture (1989) (Cameo)
Headless! (1994) (short subject)
Death Valley Memories (1994) (documentary) (narrator)
References
Eddie Albert. Internet Broadway Database (IBDB). URL accessed on January 16, 2006.
Eddie Albert. Internet Movie Database (IMDb). URL accessed on January 16, 2006.
