Edward Albert Heimberger
13 min read
Reading time
2,515
Words
Published
2
Awards
Eddie Albert, a University of Minnesota graduate, began his career as a circus trapeze flier before becoming a stage and radio actor. He made his film debut in 1938 and is best known for his role as Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres 1965–1971. Albert served with distinction in World War II, earning a Bronze Star with Combat V for rescuing 47 Marines at the Battle of Tarawa. He was nominated for two Oscars: for Roman Holiday 1953 and The Heartbreak Kid 1972.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Eddie Albert — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Eddie Albert by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Eddie Albert — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Born in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1906, Eddie Albert was the son of Frank Daniel Heimberger and Julia Mary Jones. He attended Central High School in Minneapolis, where he was a classmate of actress Ann Sothern, graduating in 1926. He then enrolled at the University of Minnesota. During his youth, he worked as a soda jerk and sang in a pop band before becoming a circus trapeze flier. His early career included writing the first original drama for television in 1936.
Eddie Albert made his film debut in 1938’s Brother Rat alongside Jane Wyman. He was often cast as the friendly, good-natured buddy but also played villains, including the cowardly army officer in Robert Aldrich’s Attack 1956. Albert’s best-known role came in 1965 when he was cast as Oliver Wendell Douglas on the sitcom Green Acres, opposite Eva Gabor. He earned two Academy Award nominations: for Roman Holiday 1953 and The Heartbreak Kid 1972. He appeared on the cover of TV Guide five times and guest-starred on shows including Columbo, Murder, She Wrote, and The Love Boat. Albert turned down lead roles in My Three Sons and Mister Ed to pursue film. He wrote the first original drama for television in 1936 and later hosted a game show and two variety shows in the early 1950s.
Eddie Albert married Mexican actress and singer Margo in December 1945 after his discharge from the U.S. Navy. The couple had one son, Edward Albert, who became an actor. The family resided in Pacific Palisades, California, where Albert maintained an organic garden and turned his front yard into a cornfield. He was an environmentalist and helped launch the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. His wife Margo died in 1985, just months before their 40th wedding anniversary. In his final years, Albert battled Alzheimer’s disease and was cared for by his son. He died of pneumonia on May 26, 2005, at age 99. He is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, near his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor.
Eddie Albert rescued 47 Marines at Tarawa and founded environmental programs. He received the Bronze Star with Combat V for rescuing 47 Marines at the Battle of Tarawa during World War II, a feat he rarely discussed until television documentaries in the 1990s. As an environmentalist, he founded the City Children’s Farms program and the Eddie Albert Trees Foundation, and served as a spokesperson for the National Arbor Day Foundation from 1985 to 1993. His role on Green Acres remains a classic, and he earned two Oscar nominations. He was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Albert is remembered as an actor, a war hero, and a conservationist.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Eddie Albert — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Eddie Albert — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Don’t Really Care How I Am Remembered as Long as I Bring Happiness and Joy to People.
What’s the Most Important Thing in the World? It’s Love, and I Look at That as an Energy, Not a Sentiment.
Our Priority Today, as I See It, Is Not Just Conservation, but Survival. Not the Moon or Mars or Even Vietnam, but Keeping Ourselves Alive!
Mankind Must Survive, the Extinction of Our National Forestry, Birds and Fish Must Be Stopped. for Without It, We Face Total Disaster. We Must Try to Clean up This Country’s Air and Water System.
I’ve Always Had It. I Have a Little Garden Where I Grow Vegetables. and I Always Wanted to Own a Small Piece of Land, near the Woods – Not to Make a Buck, but to Watch Things Grow.
My Real Concentration Is the Development of Bluegreen Algae. It Is an Organic Substance Which He Says Will Act as a Fertilizer and Allow Farming with Only a Small Amount of Water.
Because I Couldn’t Get Work in Pictures, I Put a Club Act Together with My Wife and It Caught on Pretty Well. Finally, Ed Sullivan Invited Us to Appear on Toast of the Town.
I Compare ‘Green Acres’ to ‘the Egg and I,’ the Successful Book and Picture About City Folks Learning to Live in the Country. Arguments About City Life Versus Country Living Have Been Going on Since Euripides. We’re Taking Another Crack at It.
Little-known facts about Eddie Albert — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He changed his name from Eddie Albert Heimberger because a radio announcer kept calling him Eddie Hamburger, so he dropped his last name and adopted his middle name as his surname.
During World War II, the United States government hired him to gather intelligence on Nazi and Japanese activities in Mexico while posing as a pleasure sailor. He also joined a Mexican circus act as a clown and trapeze flyer to further his espionage.
His son Edward Albert passed away from lung cancer just over a year after his father’s death.
He was disappointed when Green Acres was canceled after six seasons as part of CBS’s rural purge in 1971, which eliminated many popular country-themed shows despite their ratings.
His son Edward Albert was his primary caregiver during his final years of battling Alzheimer’s disease. He remained physically active until one month before his death at age 99.
He participated in the battle of Tarawa in November 1943, one of the bloodiest island battles of World War II. He was credited with rescuing up to 70 wounded Marines while under enemy fire while skippering a landing craft, earning a Bronze Star with Combat V for his bravery, but he did not speak publicly about it until the 1990s.
He attended the funeral of his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor after she passed away on July 4, 1995.
When his son Edward Albert was 18, they sailed to Anacapa Island off the coast of California to examine the effects of DDT on the pelican population.
He met a young, unknown actress Shirley Jones on the set of Oklahoma! 1955, beginning a lifelong friendship until Albert’s death in 2005.
He was an agronomist who turned his front yard into a cornfield and his backyard into a vegetable garden.
He served in the Naval Reserve during World War II and fought in the Battle of Tarawa, receiving a Bronze Star with Combat V for rescuing 47 stranded Marines and supervising the rescue of another 30.
He served in the United States Navy during WWII.
He resided in Pacific Palisades, California, in a Spanish-style house on an acre of land with a cornfield in the front yard.
He founded City Children’s Farms, a program for involving inner-city children in farming, and the Eddie Albert Trees Foundation.
He met his future wife Margo while on leave of duty and married her in December 1945 after his discharge from the Navy.
He is buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, not far from his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor.
Three of the surviving cast members of Green Acres attended his funeral on May 26, 2005; co-star Tom Lester was not present but Albert once stated Lester was his closest and best friend.
He was a spokesperson for the National Arbor Day Foundation from 1985 to 1993.
He turned down lead roles in My Three Sons and Mister Ed to pursue his movie career.
He and his wife Margo had a nightclub act together.
His father Frank Daniel Heimberger died in 1970 at age 96.
He taught his Green Acres co-star Tom Lester to eat healthily.
He remained good friends with Robert Wagner during and after the series Switch.
While in elementary school during World War I, he was taunted as the enemy by classmates due to his Germanic surname Heimberger, which he later dropped.
He had 12 hobbies: jogging, swimming, golfing, world travel, organic gardening, sculpting, beekeeping, wine making, sailing, boating, reading, and playing guitar.
He played Oliver Wendell Douglas, along with Eva Gabor as Lisa Douglas, on three shows: The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, and Green Acres.
While filming John Huston’s The Roots of Heaven 1958 in Africa, he met Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
He disliked the films Roman Holiday and The Heartbreak Kid despite earning two Oscar nominations for them.
He wrote the first original drama for television in 1936 as well as dozens of small scripts for RCA.
To hide being born out of wedlock, his mother altered his birth certificate to read 1908, but his son Edward confirmed Eddie was born in 1906.
He was friends with many celebrities including Shirley Jones, Ernest Borgnine, Vincent Price, Buddy Ebsen, and Audrey Hepburn.
Before becoming an actor, he worked as a soda jerk and sang in a pop band.
Eight days after his 90th birthday, he attended MTV’s launch party for TV Land on April 30, 1996, alongside Steve Allen and others.
He met Buddy Ebsen on the set of Attack 1956, beginning a lifelong friendship.
His wife Margo died in 1985, just five months before their 40th wedding anniversary.
He sang in the church choir.
He was an environmentalist who appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Today to discuss his concerns, and helped launch Earth Day on April 22, 1970.
He remained good friends with Tom Lester during and after Green Acres.
He was attached to the Military Intelligence Service during World War II under the supervision of Hank Fine at the OSS.
After a guest-starring role on Extreme Ghostbusters in 1997, he retired from acting at age 91.
He was a classmate of actress Ann Sothern at Minneapolis Central High School in 1926.
He won the role of Oliver Wendell Douglas on Green Acres because he knew and was hired by producer Paul Henning.
His future Switch co-star Robert Wagner saw him in Brother Rat 1938 at age eight and was impressed.
He met Jane Wyman on the set of Brother Rat, beginning a lifelong friendship, and later had a recurring role on Falcon Crest opposite her.
Prior to becoming an actor, he was a singer.
He presided over a game show and two variety shows in the early 1950s.
He is buried alongside his wife Margo at Westwood Memorial Park; his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor is nearby.
He worked with Shirley Jones in Oklahoma! 1955 and on episodes of The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.
His Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor was thirteen years younger than him.
He appeared on the front cover of TV Guide five times.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Eddie Albert.
Celebrities similar to Eddie Albert — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
