Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 - May 26, 2005) was a popular Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated American stage, film, character actor, gardener, humanitarian activist, and World War II hero. In an acting career that spanned nearly seven decades, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday and again in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid. Among his other well-known roles are Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films, Oliver Wendell Douglas in the popular 1960s television situation comedy Green Acres, and Frank MacBride on the 1970s crime drama Switch. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on Falcon Crest, opposite Jane Wyman.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Eddie Albert was a circus trapeze flier before becoming a stage and radio actor. He made his film debut in 1938 and has worked steadily since, often cast as the friendly, good-natured buddy of the hero but occasionally being cast as a villain; one of his most memorable roles was as the cowardly, glory-seeking army officer in Robert Aldrich's World War 2 film, Attack (1956).

Eddie Albert's television career is the earliest of any other performer. It began years before electronic television was introduced to the public. In June of 1936 Eddie appeared in RCA/NBC's first private live performance for their radio licensees in New York City. This was very early experimental all electronic television system. Due to the primitive nature of these early cameras it was necessary for him to apply heavy make-up and endure tremendous heat from studio lighting. The basic makeup was green toned with purple lipstick for optimal image transmission by RCA's iconoscope pick up cameras. Since television was experimental Eddie applied his own make-up and even wrote the script for this performance. His co-star was Grace Brandt.