theOscarSite Facts:
Birth Name:
  • Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo
Birth Date:
  • 28 January 1936
Birthplace:
  • New York City
Quote:
  • "If you work very, very hard, this is the kind of actor, writer, and director you may turn out to be. And if you work extra hard, this is the kind of person you may turn out to be." - James Lipton, to students at New School University, where Alda gave an interview.
Factoids:
  • Suffered from a bad case of polio as a child.
  • Only person ever to win an Emmy® for acting, writing and directing the same television series
  • Wrote and directed the final episode of "M.A.S.H." (1983), one of the most-watched television shows in history
Education:
  • Attended Archbiship Stepniac High School in White Plains, NY
  • Fordham University, New York City (B.S., English, 1956)
  • Studied at the Sorbonne in Paris during his junior year of college.
Family:
  • Father: Robert Alda (Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo, 1914-1986), actor
  • Mother: Joan Browne, a former Miss New York
  • Half-Brother: Antony Alda (b. 1956), actor
  • Daughter: Eve
  • Daughter: Elizabeth Alda (b. 1960), actress
  • Daughter: Beatrice Alda (b. 1961), actress
Significant Other:
  • Wife: Arlene Weiss; married, 1957.
Feature Film
Credits:
  • 2008: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, FLASH OF GENIUS, DIMISHED CAPACITY
  • 2007: RESURRECTING THE CHAMP
  • 2004: THE AVIATOR
  • 2000: WHAT WOMEN WANT
  • 1998: THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION
  • 1997: MAD CITY, MURDER AT 1600
  • 1996: EVERYONE SAYS (I LOVE YOU), FLIRTING WITH DISASTER
  • 1995: CANADIAN BACON
  • 1993: MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY
  • 1992: WHISPERS IN THE DARK
  • 1990: BETSY'S WEDDING (also writer & director)
  • 1989: CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
  • 1988: A NEW LIFE (also writer)
  • 1986: SWEET LIBERTY (also writer & director)
  • 1981: THE FOUR SEASONS (also director)
  • 1979: THE SEDUCTION OF JOE TYNAN
  • 1978: SAME TIME NEXT YEAR, CALIFORNIA SUITE
  • 1972: TO KILL A CLOWN
  • 1971: THE MEPHISTO WALTZ
  • 1970: THE MOONSHINE WAR, JENNY
  • 1969: THE EXTRAORDINARY SEAMAN
  • 1968: PAPER LION
  • 1963: GONE ARE THE DAYS (a.k.a. PURLIE VICTORIOUS)
Academy Awards®:
  •  Nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 2004: THE AVIATOR

  • 1 nomination