|
Register Now!
|
|
Register now for vtap for the fastest and easiest way to watch web video on your mobile device!
|
|
Edward Albert (February 20 1951 - September 22 2006) was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert Jr.
He was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Eddie Albert and Mexican actress Margo. .
Edward is probably most famous for his work in the 1972 film Butterflies Are Free in which he played Don Baker, a blind man who is a talented guitarist and singer-songwriter. His performance won him the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor. The following year he starred opposite Liv Ullman in the film adaptation of the play 40 Carats. Children may remember him as Mr. Collins, father to Wesley Collins, the Red Ranger from Power Rangers: Time Force.
He appeared as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot in the epic film Midway. In the film Guarding Tess (1994), he played the son of kidnapped former First Lady Tess Carlisle (Shirley Maclaine), also starring Nicolas Cage. He also appeared in numerous films, television shows and soap operas, often playing a debonair gentleman with villainous tendencies.
He married Katherine Woodville in 1978, and they had one daughter, Thais (who is a singer/songwriter of the rock band Sugar in Wartime).
He put his acting career aside for eight years to care for his father in his last years. He died of lung cancer in his home on September 22 2006 at the age of 55, only one year after his father's death. His wife said he had suffered from lung cancer for 17 months. Despite his illness he had tended to his ailing father, who died at the age of 99 in 2005.
He had an adopted sister, Maria, who was not in show business.
The only son of "Green Acres" star Eddie Albert and Mexican actress/dancer Margo (I), Edward Laurence Albert managed to come out from under his father's strong shadow and make a gallant showing of his own as a gifted thespian. Born in Los Angeles on February 20, 1951, Edward's multi-cultural heritage and talented gene pool allowed him to become a man of many talents: songwriter, drummer, singer, photographer and, most importantly, activist. Growing up, he inherited an early interest in music and the performing arts. He made an auspicious film debut at the age of 14 in Fool Killer, The (1965) co-starring as a young runaway who teams up with a tormented Civil War veteran (Anthony Perkins), a teaming that leads to murder. A strong, mature role for such a youngster, his next film appearance wouldn't come about until seven years later. In the meantime Edward attended Oxford University and was studying psychology at UCLA when offered the break through of a lifetime. Signed up to play the difficult role of blind Don Baker who yearns for freedom away from his domineering mom (Oscar winner Eileen Heckart) and finds it in the arms of a liberated lass named Jill (Goldie Hawn) in Butterflies Are Free (1972), Edward easily captured the hearts of millions with his tender, life-affirming performance. Played on Broadway by Keir Dullea, Edward walked home with the cinema's Golden Globe Award as "Male Newcomer of the Year." A confident, intelligent actor with a serene handsomeness and thousand-watt smile who just happened to possess the most magnetic pale eyes this side of Meg Foster, Edward was on a seemingly strong path to film stardom. Although he never found a comparable success to "Butterfly," he did follow it up with another theater comedy favorite 40 Carats (1973) in which he had a dalliance with older actress Liv Ullmann. He also played Captain Charlton Heston's military son in Midway (1976), followed by highly visible roles in Domino Principle, The (1977) and Greek Tycoon, The (1978). When film stardom did not pan out, Edward saw TV as a welcoming medium and made up for his sudden lack of star power with wonderful turns in major TV minimovies, notably "Last Convertible, The" (1979) (mini). By the 1980s, he had started making the rounds in formula lowbudget action films and usually fared best when his flashy villainous side came into view. While such obvious movie titles as House Where Evil Dwells, The (1982), Fist Fighter (1989), Demon Keeper (1994) and Stageghost (2000) pointed out the lack of quality in his offerings, it did provide a steady income and visibility. He also made frequent guest appearances on such shows as "Falcon Crest," "L.A. Law, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and "Dr. Quinn--Medicine Woman" that kept him in the public eye. A solid regular as both good guy and bad guy on series TV, he gave his life (and, it seems, his paycheck) to the Beast after three seasons on "Beauty and the Beast" (1987) and, in contrast, played the dastardly Dr. Bennett Devlin on the daytime soap "Port Charles" (1997) for its first three seasons. Edward also used his vocal talents in animation involving such superhero icons as The Fantastic Four, Spiderman and The Power Rangers. From his father and mother Edward developed a deep love and appreciation for the land and the diversity of cultures. As such, he divided his time between acting work and activism just as his father had done. Owning a ranch in Malibu for over 30 years, he was a strong, positive influence and passionate spokesperson when it came to environmental and cultural affairs. In more recent years he served on the California Coastal Commission and California Native American Heritage Commission. Long married to lovely British-born actress Katherine Woodville, the couple had one daughter, Thais, who continued the family musical tradition as a singer/songwriter for the rock group Sugar in Wartime. Following his mother's passing of brain cancer in 1985, Edward became a selfless caregiver to his aging father, who began to develop early signs of Alzheimer's disease in the 1990s. His father lived for more than a decade in declining health, dying in May 2005. In early 2005, Edward discovered he too was seriously ill after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He died surrounded by family on September 22, 2006, at the relatively young age of 55.







