April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005
Eddie was born Edward Albert Heimberger, and is certainly most known as Oliver Wendell Douglas, the lawyer turned farmer on the television series Green Acres, with Eva Gabor. Green Acres is one of the damn funniest shows I have ever watched. Much more as an adult – as a kid most of the humor was beyond me. Not anymore.
He was in many movies as well, including The Heartbreak Kid, with Charles Grodin and Cybil Shepherd, and The Longest Yard, with Burt Reynolds. Eddie played sleazy hardass characters very well. You can get a total list of his credits at the IMDb.
Eddie was also a dedicated environmentalist. Because of him, Earth Day falls on his birthday, April 22. He was also the national conservation chairman for the Boy Scouts of America. Thanks to him, the use of the chemical pesticide DDT was discontinued, due to the sudden decrease in the pelican population in California.
He was a war hero as well, and was at the battle of Tarawa, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. He rescued seventy Marines during rescue missions, and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Eddie lived in the Pacific Palisades, in this house,
with the funky mailbox.
He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease ten years ago, and for the last years of his life was cared for by his son, Edward Albert Jr. On May 26, with his son in attendance, he died of pneumonia, at the ripe old age of 99.
Funny thing, he once told TV Guide that he wanted to live to be 100 years old. From what I’ve read, he was in pretty good health up until a month before his death. According to his son, his father was playing basketball with his granddaughter two days before he died.
Coincidentally, he died the day before the remake of The Longest Yard was released, starring Adam Sandler.
Eddie was cremated and buried in Westwood Memorial Park, alongside his wife, the Mexican actress Margo. They were married from 1945 to 1985. She died of brain cancer. They had two children and had two granddaughters.
Trivia:
He was offered the lead roles on both Mister Ed and My Three Sons. He turned them down to do movies.
Frank Cady (Sam Drucker) is still alive as of 8-4-05.
This is an actual sound file from Green Acres, when Lisa wanted to establish a Hooterville Symphony Orchestra.
Goes to show you how times have changed. Don’t shoot the messenger.
Findadeath.com friend John from Germany sends us this: I remember reading somewhere that Mr. Albert wrote, produced an even starred in the first live television drama broadcast ever on November 6, 1936, another interesting anecdote you may want to add to his story. You can visit the link here.
Thanks to Kevin Hassell for the story, and Mike Steen for the death certificate.
Eddie Albert was a personal friend of mine. I visited at his home in late 90’s – 2004 in Pacific Palisades many times.
At every visit, his cook/housekeeper named “Nache” would make a wonderful meal with fresh vegetables from his garden. He often showed me what he would plant. By this time, he also had a gardener who would take care of his garden. Even his front yard had vegetables. The backyard had corn, tomatoes and romaine lettuce.
He was a kind man. Jack Lemmon would often visit Mr. Albert.
In regards to Mr. Albert being in the first ever live television broadcast, that is incorrect. The very first live drama was in 1928, 8 years before Mr. Alberts.
Have a cousin 8 years older so he was a driving teenager in the late ’60s. He relayed Eddie grew corn in his Pacific Palisades front yard and that his film SOB parts were no “strech” acting wise. Cousin relayed Eddie was one of the most unpleasant people around, given to yelling profanaties at the neighborhood “hippies”. Irrespective of their cultured European manners…or driving Ferrari’s.
Eddie’s film career tanked after his affair with Ann Warner became known. Ann’s husband, vindictive studio mogul chief Jack Warner, “blackballed” him.
Absolutely agree with your love of Green Acres! One of the all time best comedies ever! The Ziffel’s son, Arnold the pig; Ralph, the female Monroe Brother; Mr. Haney, etc. Priceless zany characters. Did you know show’s clothing designer, Jean Louis, was strictly “A List”, both on screen & off for society’s swells. My opinion only, but both Oliver and Lisa’s wardrobes look as seriously beautiful today as they did then. Or that Lisa’s feathered neglees cost $10,000 a pop, then? Or that most all her show jewelery was real? Name a subsequent show as funny or seriously elegant. I can’t think of one –
Correction: or driving his Dad’s Ferrari.
Eddie’s house. Gosh I really like these ’20s “Haciendas”. Tile roofs, real plaster walls, wought iron and lots of land. Guessing others agree based on $20 million price. Take special notice of the 8th pic down. Never, ever, seen such cool dual showers –
https://uc.ink/Ilbs2?pub=link
Matt I’m not sure where you get your information (which you seem to always have some), but Eddie Albert was blacklisted for a short time because of his political stances and was labeled a “red”. As were numerous other actors, writers, directors, etc. of the time. Yes he did have an affair with Jack Warner’s wife but it certainly didn’t kill his career. Besides, Jack Warner would f*ck anything that would move so I commend his wife for doing what she did.
Really amazes me when people, apparently, can’t comprehend what’s clearly written – I didn’t say his career ended, I said his FILM career tanked. But in essence you’re correct. When I wrote that, referenced somewhere that showed he had no film credits for something like 3 years. Checking today, it was “spotty” in places, but continued through out his life.
As to Jack Warner’s fornication habits, you think he was “unique” in that regard? Just off the top of my head, might want to brush-up on Darrel Zanuck at 20th Century Fox & Harry Cohen at Columbia. Both had frequent “scheduled appointments” for such assignations –
Green Acres Info:
Just found out that actor Hank Patterson who played Fred Ziffel was almost completely deaf!
Per Wikipedia:
According to westernclippings.com “Characters and Heavies” by Boyd Magers, “Ironically, by the time Patterson was doing ‘Green Acres’ he was in his late 70s and almost completely deaf, but the producers loved his portrayal so much they worked around his hearing impairment by having the dialogue coach lying on the floor out-of-shot tapping Hank’s leg with a yardstick as a cue to speak his lines. (Isn’t that amazing?)