Robert Alda (February 26, 1914 – May 3, 1986) appeared in two episodes of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H as Doctor Anthony B. Borelli, a visiting surgeon and Civilian Medical consultant appearing with his son Alan twice on M*A*S*H, in the episodes "The Consultant" (Season 3, January 1975) and "Lend a Hand" (Season 8, February 1980). The latter episode also featured younger son Antony Alda (1956–2009), also an actor, his son by his second wife Flora Martino. A talented singer and dancer, Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productions before moving to Italy during the early 1960s. He appeared in many European films over the next two decades, occasionally returning to the U.S. for film appearances such as The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969).
Life and career[]
Alda, an Italian American, was born Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo in New York City, the son of Frances (née Tumillo) and Antonio D'Abruzzo, a barber born in Sant'Agata de' Goti, Benevento, Campania, Italy.[1] He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Brooklyn, NY in 1930. He began as a singer and dancer in vaudeville after winning a talent contest, and moved on to Burlesque.[2] He is known for portraying George Gershwin in the biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945) as well as the talent agent in the Douglas Sirk classic Imitation of Life (1959). He was very successful in Broadway theater, starring in Guys and Dolls (1950), for which he won a Tony Award, and in What Makes Sammy Run? (1964).
Alda's first wife, and mother of actor Alan Alda, Joan Browne, was a showgirl.[3] Alda was married to his second wife, Flora, until his death.
Alda died on May 3, 1986, aged 72, after a long illness following a stroke.[4]
References[]
- ↑ Robert Alda Biography (1914-1986)
- ↑ Alan Alda: A Biography, by Raymond Strait, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1983 pages 7-9, ISBN 0-312-01703-0
- ↑ Alan Alda
- ↑ Robert Alda dies at 72