Eddie Albert, best known as the charmingly perplexed gentleman farmer of the sitcom Green Acres, has died.
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The actor and environmental activist with the easy-going smile, who had suffered with Alzheimer's disease in recent years, succumbed to pneumonia Thursday at his Pacific Palisades home. He was 99.
"He died so beautifully and so gracefully that literally this morning I don't feel grief, I don't feel loss," said his actor son, Edward Albert, who told the Associated Press he was holding his father's hand when he passed.
On Green Acres, Albert played Oliver Wendell Douglas, the Manhattan lawyer, who, against the objections of his ultra-glamorous socialite wife, Lisa (Eva Gabor), buys a run-down farm in Hooterville. Their struggles to adapt--or not--to rural life, eccentric neighbors and barnyard animals, including the pig Arnold Ziffel, made the sitcom a hit on CBS from 1965-71. Albert even sang the theme song.
While he will be remembered for his TV work, Albert also had a successful run on the big screen. He earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for two popular romantic comedies: 1953's Roman Holiday, in which he played a press photographer, and 1972's The Heartbreak Kid, in which he played a world-weary dad.
In a long, versatile career, Albert also earned Golden Globe nominations as the sadistic prison warden in the original 1974 The Longest Yard, and as an Army psychiatrist in the 1956 comedy The Teahouse of the August Moon.
Because he was born out of wedlock, his mother changed his birth certificate to read 1908, but his son confirms the entertainer was actually born in 1906 in Rock Island, Illinois, and grew up in Minneapolis. His birth name was Edward Albert Heimberger, but once he began to find success singing in nightclubs and on the radio, he dropped the last name--"because most people mispronounced it 'Hamburger.' "
In the 1930s, Albert not performed in RCA/NBC's first private broadcast to test experimental television--before it was available to the public--but he also starred in the Broadway comedy Brother Rat and was signed by Warner Bros. for the 1938 film version. But he soon became embroiled in scandal--he reportedly was caught in a dalliance with the wife of studio boss Jack Warner--and his movie career stagnated.
During World War II, Albert was in the U.S. Navy, earning the Bronze Star for rescuing Marines during the battle of Tarawa. When the conflict ended he was able to revive his Hollywood career. He appeared in such films as Smash Up, Oklahoma! (in which he played the traveling salesman to whom Ado Annie can't say no), The Sun Also Rises, Attack!, The Longest Day and Escape to Witch Mountain. His telelvision credits included a recurring role on the nighttime soap Falcon Crest, a starring role on the mid-'70s detective series Switch with Robert Wagner, and the title part in the miniseries Benjamin Franklin. Additionally his good natured Douglas character showed up in many episodes of Petticoat Junction, the other daffy sitcom also set in rural Hooterville. His final role was in the 1995 ABC TV movie The Barefoot Executive.
After Green Acres made Albert financially secure, he devoted much of his time to conservation projects, including helping to bring about a ban on DDT. The man who once sang, "Green acres is the place for me," helped create gardens for inner-city kids, he campaigned for the preservation of endangered species, and he led efforts to clean up the ocean, particularly Santa Monica Bay near his Southern California home. International Earth Day was chosen as Apr. 22 partly to honor his birthday. Albert also traveled extensively for UNICEF.
"Acting was one-tenth of his life. The majority of his life was committed to helping other people. This guy, was from the absolute depth of his soul, one of the true heroes of our world," said his son, who starred in the 1972 hit Butterflies Are Free.
Albert was married to the single-named actress Margo (Lost Horizon) from 1945 until her death in 1985, and the couple had two children. Albert is survived by both his son and daughter, Maria Albert Zucht, and two granddaughters. A private funeral is planned
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The actor and environmental activist with the easy-going smile, who had suffered with Alzheimer's disease in recent years, succumbed to pneumonia Thursday at his Pacific Palisades home. He was 99.
"He died so beautifully and so gracefully that literally this morning I don't feel grief, I don't feel loss," said his actor son, Edward Albert, who told the Associated Press he was holding his father's hand when he passed.
On Green Acres, Albert played Oliver Wendell Douglas, the Manhattan lawyer, who, against the objections of his ultra-glamorous socialite wife, Lisa (Eva Gabor), buys a run-down farm in Hooterville. Their struggles to adapt--or not--to rural life, eccentric neighbors and barnyard animals, including the pig Arnold Ziffel, made the sitcom a hit on CBS from 1965-71. Albert even sang the theme song.
While he will be remembered for his TV work, Albert also had a successful run on the big screen. He earned Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominations for two popular romantic comedies: 1953's Roman Holiday, in which he played a press photographer, and 1972's The Heartbreak Kid, in which he played a world-weary dad.
In a long, versatile career, Albert also earned Golden Globe nominations as the sadistic prison warden in the original 1974 The Longest Yard, and as an Army psychiatrist in the 1956 comedy The Teahouse of the August Moon.
Because he was born out of wedlock, his mother changed his birth certificate to read 1908, but his son confirms the entertainer was actually born in 1906 in Rock Island, Illinois, and grew up in Minneapolis. His birth name was Edward Albert Heimberger, but once he began to find success singing in nightclubs and on the radio, he dropped the last name--"because most people mispronounced it 'Hamburger.' "
In the 1930s, Albert not performed in RCA/NBC's first private broadcast to test experimental television--before it was available to the public--but he also starred in the Broadway comedy Brother Rat and was signed by Warner Bros. for the 1938 film version. But he soon became embroiled in scandal--he reportedly was caught in a dalliance with the wife of studio boss Jack Warner--and his movie career stagnated.
During World War II, Albert was in the U.S. Navy, earning the Bronze Star for rescuing Marines during the battle of Tarawa. When the conflict ended he was able to revive his Hollywood career. He appeared in such films as Smash Up, Oklahoma! (in which he played the traveling salesman to whom Ado Annie can't say no), The Sun Also Rises, Attack!, The Longest Day and Escape to Witch Mountain. His telelvision credits included a recurring role on the nighttime soap Falcon Crest, a starring role on the mid-'70s detective series Switch with Robert Wagner, and the title part in the miniseries Benjamin Franklin. Additionally his good natured Douglas character showed up in many episodes of Petticoat Junction, the other daffy sitcom also set in rural Hooterville. His final role was in the 1995 ABC TV movie The Barefoot Executive.
After Green Acres made Albert financially secure, he devoted much of his time to conservation projects, including helping to bring about a ban on DDT. The man who once sang, "Green acres is the place for me," helped create gardens for inner-city kids, he campaigned for the preservation of endangered species, and he led efforts to clean up the ocean, particularly Santa Monica Bay near his Southern California home. International Earth Day was chosen as Apr. 22 partly to honor his birthday. Albert also traveled extensively for UNICEF.
"Acting was one-tenth of his life. The majority of his life was committed to helping other people. This guy, was from the absolute depth of his soul, one of the true heroes of our world," said his son, who starred in the 1972 hit Butterflies Are Free.
Albert was married to the single-named actress Margo (Lost Horizon) from 1945 until her death in 1985, and the couple had two children. Albert is survived by both his son and daughter, Maria Albert Zucht, and two granddaughters. A private funeral is planned
