Robert Alda

Robert Alda, born Alfonso Giovanni Giuseppe Roberto D'Abruzzo on February 26, 1914, in New York, New York, was an American actor, singer, and dancer whose career spanned vaudeville, film, television, and Broadway. He is the father of actors Alan Alda and Antony Alda. Alda died on May 3, 1986, at the age of 72, two years after suffering a stroke from which he never fully recovered, and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Alda launched his performing career in vaudeville following a talent contest victory, subsequently working in burlesque before transitioning to broader entertainment. In 1949 he toured alongside Jack Carson and Marion Hutton as part of Carson's radio program. His film career gained significant attention when he portrayed composer George Gershwin in the biographical picture Rhapsody in Blue in 1945, and he later appeared as a talent agent in Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life in 1959. In the mid-1950s he starred as espionage agent Colonel Bill Morgan in the syndicated television series Secret Files USA, with episodes drawn from American intelligence service stories. He also hosted the DuMont game show What's Your Bid? from May through June of 1953 and served as host of the television game show Can Do in 1956. During the early 1960s, Alda relocated to Italy, where he appeared in numerous European film productions over the following two decades, with occasional returns to the United States for projects such as The Girl Who Knew Too Much in 1969.

On Broadway, Alda performed from 1950 through 1974, originating the role of Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls in 1950, a performance that earned him the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1951. He went on to appear in What Makes Sammy Run?, Harbor Lights, Roger the Sixth, Can-Can, Riverwind, and Follies, as well as starring in My Daughter, Your Son and The Sunshine Boys. He also appeared in The Front Page during its 1969–1970 run.

Alda made two guest appearances alongside his son Alan on the television series M*A*S*H, first in the episode "The Consultant" in January 1975, and again in "Lend a Hand" in February 1980, the latter also featuring his younger son Antony Alda. His first wife, Joan Browne, a homemaker and former beauty pageant winner and the mother of Alan Alda, divorced Alda in 1946.