Alan Alda's Biography

Alan Alda, originally Alphonso Joseph d'Abruzzo, was born in New York on 28 January 1936.

He performed with his father, actor Robert Alda, at the Hollywood Canteen in 1945. Alan Alda made his Broadway debut in 1959 in Only in America. Four years later he made his debut in film in Gone Are the Days (1963).

Alan Alda is probably best known for his role as Captain 'Hawkeye' Pierce in the long-running television series M*A*S*H. Alda also wrote and directed episodes of the series. Alda has appeared in several films. Particularly strong was his performance in Woody Allen's Crime and Misdemeanors. He has also acted in Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) and Everyone Says I Love You (1996).

Alan Alda is the only person to be honoured by the Television Academy as top performer, writer and director.

He has received 29 Emmy nominations, as well as winning three Director's Guild of America Awards, six Golden Globe Awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and seven People's Choice Awards.

Alan Alda's wife, Arlene, is an award-winning photographer and author of children's stories.

Alan Alda's books include the autobiographical Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself.

Alda's more recent work includes his performance as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster in "The Aviator", for which he was an Oscar nominee in 2005; and his role as Republican Arnold Vinick in The West Wing, for which he won an Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama.