What is the salary and net worth of Alan Alda?
The American writer, director, and actor Alan Alda is worth $50 million. Though he has starred in more than 70 films and television shows, including “Manhattan Murder Mystery” (1993), “Canadian Bacon” (1995), “Everyone Says I Love You” (1996), “Tower Heist” (2011), “ER” (1999), and “The West Wing” (2004–2006), Alan Alda is most known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce on the CBS series “M*A*S*H” (1972–1983). The film “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” (1979), “The Four Seasons” (1981), “Sweet Liberty” (1986), “A New Life” (1988), and “Betsy’s Wedding” (1990) were all directed by Alda, who also wrote a number of episodes of “M*A*S*H” and directed “The Four Seasons,” “Sweet Liberty,” “A New Life,” and more than 30 episodes of “M*A*S*H.” He has performed in more than a dozen Broadway shows, including “Love Letters” (2014), “Jake’s Women” (1992), “The Apple Tree” (1966–1967), and “Glengarry Glen Ross” (2005).
The books “Never Have Your Dog Stuffed” (2006), “Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself” (2007), and “If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?” were written by Alan, who also does voice acting. (2017).
Early Years
Born in New York City on January 28, 1936, Alan Alda was born Alphonso Joseph D’Abruzzo. His mother, Joan, was a homemaker and former beauty pageant winner, while his father, Robert, was an actor and singer. Robert’s stage name, Robert Alda, was created by merging the initial initials of Alfonso and D’Abruzzo. His real name was Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D’Abruzzo. Because of his father’s work as a burlesque theatrical performer, Alan travelled the nation as a boy. After Alan was diagnosed with polio at the age of seven, his parents treated him for six months by wrapping “scalding blankets…around his limbs every hour.” As a junior at Archbishop Stepinac High School, he studied in Paris, participated in a theatrical play in Rome, and joined his father on a televised show in Amsterdam. After enrolling at Fordham University, where he became a member of the ROTC, Alda earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1956. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve for six months after graduating from college and was sent to Korea. Robert later wed actress Flora Marino after Alan’s parents separated in 1946; Anthony, Alda’s half-brother, was born in 1956.
Career
Alan participated in the Compass Players, an improv comedy revue, in the 1950s. In the 1958–1959 season, he joined the Cleveland Play House’s acting company and made appearances in “Heaven Come Wednesday,” “To Dorothy a Son,” and “Job.” In 1959, he starred in his first Broadway production, “Only in America,” and made his television debut on an episode of “The Phil Silvers Show” in 1958. Alda’s debut movie was “Gone Are the Days!,” released in 1963. He also made appearances as a guest star in “Naked City” (1962), “The Doctors and the Nurses” (1963), “Route 66” (1963), and “The Trials of O’Brien” (1965) during this period. “Paper Lion” (1968), “The Extraordinary Seaman” (1969), “The Moonshine War” (1970), “The Mephisto Waltz” (1971), and “To Kill a Clown” (1972) were among his subsequent cinematic appearances. In 1972, Alan got his big break when he was chosen to play Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce on “M*A*S*H.” He won multiple honours for his work as an actor, writer, and director, and he starred in all 256 episodes of the show. He wrote and directed the 1983 series finale, which was the most watched episode of any American television program. In addition to her role as the star of “M*A*S*H,” Alda starred in the television series “Isn’t It Shocking?” (1973) and “Kill Me If You Can” (1977), as well as the motion pictures “Same Time, Next Year” (1978) and “California Suite” (1978).
Following the conclusion of “M*A*S*H,” Alan wrote, directed, and performed in the films “Sweet Liberty” (1986) and “A New Life” (1988). He also starred in the TV movie “And the Band Played On” (1993), the films “Crimes and Misdemeanours” (1989) and “Whispers in the Dark” (1992). In the 1995 film “Canadian Bacon,” he portrayed the President of the United States. In the 1996 film “Flirting with Disaster,” he costarred with Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Mary Tyler Moore, George Segal, and Lily Tomlin. In 1999, Alda appeared in five episodes of NBC’s “ER,” earning him a nomination for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. He had previously played in the films “Murder at 1600” (1997), “Mad City” (1997), and “The Object of My Affection” (1998). After making an appearance in the movie “What Women Want” in 2000, he played Republican politician Owen Brewster in the 2004 film “The Aviator,” for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Alan won an Emmy for his portrayal of Senator Arnold Vinick in 28 episodes of NBC’s “The West Wing,” which aired from 2004 to 2006.
After that, Alda had appearances in the films “Nothing but the Truth” (2008), “Flash of Genius” (2008), and “Resurrecting the Champ” (2007). She also made appearances on “30 Rock” as a guest star in 2009 and 2010. He appeared in six episodes of “The Big C” as a guest star from 2011 to 2013, and then five episodes of “The Blacklist” from 2013 to 2014. In 2011’s “Tower Heist,” which also starred Eddie Murphy, he reconnected with his “Flirting with Disaster” co-star Ben Stiller. In 2012, he reteamed with his “The Object of My Affection” co-stars Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston for “Wanderlust.” In 2015, Alan played alongside Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg’s “Bridge of Spies” and made an appearance in the movie adaption of Nicholas Sparks’ book “The Longest Ride.” He has been in guest roles on “Broad City” (2016), “The Good Fight” (2018–2019), and “Ray Donovan” (2018–2020) in recent years. He also received praise from critics for his role in the 2019 movie “Marriage Story.”
M*A*S*H Pay
Alan was not only the highest paid actor on “M*A*S*H” at the height of his career, but he was also the most paid actor on television. Alan made $300,000 per episode starting in 1980 and continuing through seasons 9, 10, and 11, which was a staggering sum at the time. That amount every episode amounted to about $6 million for the entire season. That’s equivalent to making $20 million a season for three seasons in today’s currency after accounting for inflation.
Individual Life
Beatrice (born August 10, 1961), Elizabeth (born August 20, 1960), and Eve (born December 12, 1958) are the three children of Alan and Arlene Weiss, who were married on March 15, 1957. Alda disclosed in 2018 that he had received a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis three years prior.
Alan narrated the 2005 St. Jude Children’s Hospital special “Fighting for Life” because he has a strong interest in charitable work. In the early 1990s, he and Arlene founded the Jenjo Foundation, which focusses on “early childhood, youth development, violence prevention, and microenterprise organisations that serve the needs of women and families.” He has also donated to organisations like HELP USA, Clothes Off Our Back, and Feeding America.
Alda presented the “Scientific American Frontiers” series from 1993 to 2005 and has a keen interest in science. In 2010, a year after establishing their Alan Alda Centre for Communicating Science, he was appointed a visiting professor at Stony Brook University. In addition to serving on the boards of the World Science Festival and Future of Life Institute, Alan was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication in 2014. He received the Distinguished Kavli Science Communicator award (2021), the National Academy of Sciences Public Welfare Medal (2016), and the James T. Grady-James H. Stack Award for Interpreting Chemistry for the Public (2014). As a supporter of women’s rights, Alda and First Lady Betty Ford co-chaired the Equal Rights Amendment Countdown campaign.
Honours and Awards
A 16-time Golden Globe nominee, Alda has won six of them for “M*A*S*H.” For “The Aviator,” he received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. He has won six of the 34 Primetime Emmys for which he has received nominations, including five for “M*A*S*H” and one for “The West Wing.” Alan was awarded Favourite Star – Male in 1982 and won an American Movie Award for “The Seduction of Joe Tynan” in 1980. For directing “M*A*S*H,” he received three Directors Guild of America honours. He has also won seven People’s Choice honours, including Favourite All-Around Male Entertainer twice and Favourite Male TV Performer five times. Alda received the Episodic Comedy award for the 1977 episode of “M*A*S*H” titled “Dear Sigmund” and the Valentine Davies Award from the Writers Guild of America in 2000. In addition to winning the Gold Derby Awards in 2009 and the Screen Actors Guild Awards’ Life Achievement Award in 2019, he was recognised as the Golden Apple Awards’ Male Star of the Year in both 1974 and 1979.
Alan was named the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year in 1980 and received a Humanitas Prize for the ‘Dreams’ episode of ‘M*A*S*H’ in the same year. He was honoured with the Dick Cavett Award at the 2018 Hamptons International Film Festival and a Founders Award from the International Emmy Awards in 2012. In addition, Alda received Tony nominations for “The Apple Tree,” “Jake’s Women,” and “Glengarry Glen Ross,” as well as a Grammy nomination for Spoken Word Album for “Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself.” “Glengarry Glen Ross” also garnered a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. Several universities, including Carnegie Mellon University, Wesleyan University, Fordham University, Saint Peter’s University, and Stony Brook University, have awarded him honorary degrees. Alan was admitted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1994.
Property
Alan and Arlene purchased two adjacent apartments in Manhattan’s Park Millennium building for $4.9 million in 2000. In addition to the two apartments, which are 1,528 and 878 square feet in size, the couple paid $3 million in 2008 for a second apartment that was adjacent and was 1,284 square feet. In addition, the Aldas have owned residences in Brentwood, Bel Air, and the Pacific Palisades neighbourhoods of Los Angeles, as well as Watermill, New York. In 2003, they sold their 3,169-square-foot property in Bel Air for $1 million, and in 2005, they sold their 3,072-square-foot home in Brentwood for $1.395 million.
