"No, no, it's Oscar Wendell McDouglas. I mean, Oscar Doo- Oscar McDou- Oscar... O- Oliver! Oliver Dooglas McWendell." - as Oliver Wendell Douglas from Green Acres Eddie Albert played Oliver Wendell Douglas, along with Eva Gabor as Lisa Douglas, on three shows: The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Green Acres. Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday (pictured below left with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck), and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid. 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) witch also starred Buddy Ebsen. The two began a lifelong friendship, from 1956, until Ebsen's death in 2003 and Albert appear as his Green Acres character on Ebsen's Beverly Hillbillies show. Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films (below with Priscilla Lane, 1938), traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical Oklahoma!, and the corrupt prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard. During World War II Albert was hired by the United States government, he went on what appeared to be pleasure sailing expeditions in Mexican waters. What he was actually doing was gathering information on Nazi and Japanese activities in and around the two Mexican territories on the Baja California peninsula of Mexico (since 1953, the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur). As part of the same effort, he also joined a Mexican circus act, owned by the Escalante Brothers, as a "flyer" in a trapeze act, and while touring with the circus, gathered intelligence for the U.S. government. An avid environmentalist, he shared his concerns on TV on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) and Today (1952) shows and lectured everywhere from high schools and industrial conventions. He produced films to aid in campaigns against pollution. He also helped to launch the very first "Earth Day" on April 22nd, 1970, his birthday, and was founder of City Children's Farms, a program for involving inner-city children in farming, and the Eddie Albert Trees Foundation. 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. Albert's first television series was Leave It to Larry, a CBS sitcom that aired in the 1952-1953 season, with Albert as Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman who lives with his young family in the home of his father-in-law and employer, played by Ed Begley. He guest starred on various series, including ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom as well as the Westinghouse Studio One series (CBS, 1953–54), playing Winston Smith in the first TV adaptation of 1984, by William Templeton. Albert is pictured below beside Betty White (left) in front of the a KLAC-TV camera during a broadcast of the live talk show, 'Hollywood on Television,' in 1952. In 1958 he made a pilot (or perhaps it was only proposed) for an adventure/fantasy series called “The Eddie Albert Show” where he played a reporter searching for amazing stories all over the world, as well as in other times and solar systems. Wow, that sounds a little like a Gallifreyan Time Lord Doctor we all know and love? Albert turned down the lead series roles in My Three Sons (1960) and Mister Ed (1958) in order to actively pursue his movie career. In 1964, Albert guest starred in Cry of Silence, an episode of the science fiction television series The Outer Limits. Albert played Andy Thorne who, along with his wife Karen (played by June Havoc), had decided to leave the city and buy a farm. They find themselves lost and in the middle of a deserted valley where they come under attack by a series of tumbleweeds, frogs, and rocks. Selected Eddie Albert TVography ABC Album - Outlaw's Reckoning (1953) The Alcoa Hour - No License to Kill (II) (1956) Ben Casey - An Uncommonly Innocent Killing (1962) The Beverly Hillbillies - The Thanksgiving Story (1968) Burke's Law - Who Killed Rosie Sunset? (1965) The David Niven Show - The Promise (1959) Disneyland - Beyond Witch Mountain (1982) Dr. Kildare - A Vote of Confidence (1963) Climax! - Murder Has a Deadline (1957) - Let It Be Me (1957) - Burst of Violence (1956) The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1948) Columbo - Dead Weight (1971) Combat! - Doughboy (1963) The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater - And Now from the Audience (1955) The Eleventh Hour - I Feel Like a Rutabaga (1963) Extreme Ghostbusters - The Jersey Devil (1997, voice) Falcon Crest - Manhunt (1987) The Fall Guy - The Fall Guy (1981) Front Row Center - Johnny Belinda (1955) General Electric Theater - Louie and the Horseless Buggy (1961) - Into the Night (1955) - I'm a Fool (1954) General Hospital - Jack Boland #1 (1993) Goodyear Television Playhouse - Rise Up and Walk (1956) - Wings Over Barriers (1953) Goodyear Theatre - Lazarus Walks Again (1958) The Greatest Show on Earth - The Loser (1963) Green Acres - series star as Oliver Wendell Douglas (1965-1971) Highway to Heaven - Jonathan Smith Goes to Washington (1986) Hotel - Pathways (1985) Kraft Mystery Theater - The Night the Phone Rang (1962) Kraft Suspense Theatre - The Gun (1964) Kung Fu - Blood of the Dragon: Part 1 & 2 (1974) Laramie - Glory Road (1959) Leave It to Larry - series star as Larry Tucker (1952) Letter to Loretta - The Last Witness (1958) - The Count of Ten (1954) - Act of Faith (1954) The Lieutenant - O'Rourke (1964) Lights Out - Friday the Nineteenth (1951) The Love Boat - Isaac's Aegean Affair/The Captain and the Kid/Poor Rich Man/The Dean and the Flunkee: Part 1 & 2 (1983) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Love Affair (1965) McCloud - The Park Avenue Rustlers (1972) Mr. Novak - Visions of Sugar Plums (1964) The Motorola Television Hour - Outlaw's Reckoning (1953) Murder, She Wrote - The Body Politic (1988) Naked City - Robin Hood and Clarence Darrow, They Went Out with Bow and Arrow (1963) The Outer Limits - Cry of Silence (1964) Petticoat Junction - The Valley Has a Baby (1968) - Kate Bradley, Peacemaker (1966) - Yogurt, Anyone? (1966) - Uncle Joe Plays Post Office (1965) - Betty Jo Goes to New York (1965) - Hooterville a Go Go (1965) - A Doctor in the House (1965) - Bobbie Jo's Sorority (1965) - Joe Carson, General Contractor (1965) - The Good Luck Ring (1965) - The Dog Turns Playboy (1965) - The Baffling Raffle (1965) The Philco Television Playhouse - Rise Up and Walk (1956) - The Bachelor Party (1953) The Philip Morris Playhouse - Journey to Nowhere (1953) Playhouse 90 - The Silver Whistle (1959) - The Ding-A-Ling Girl (1959) Rawhide - The Photographer (1964) The Ray Bradbury Theater - Touch of Petulance (1990) Return to Green Acres (TV Movie) - as Oliver Wendell Douglas Simon & Simon - Pirate's Key: Part 1 & 2 (1983) Schlitz Playhouse of Stars - Last Edition (1958) - Pattern for Death (1957) - Too Many Nelsons (1955) - Enchanted Evening (1952) Somerset Maugham TV Theatre - Smith Serves (1951) Spider-Man - Partners in Danger Chapter 5: Partners (1997, voice) Studio One - 1984 (1953) - The Trial of John Peter Zenger (1953) - The Trial of John Peter Zenger (1951) Studio 57 - An End to Fear (1958) Switch - series star as Frank MacBride (1975-1978 ) The Reporter - A Time to Be Silent (1964) Riverboat - The Unwilling (1959) Robert Montgomery Presents - The World to Nothing (1955) The Rogues - The Golden Ocean (1965) Tales of Wells Fargo - A Fistful of Pride (1961) thirtysomething - Elliot's Dad (1989) TV Reader's Digest - Human Nature Through a Rear View Mirror (1955) The Twilight Zone - Dream Me a Life (1988) The United States Steel Hour - A Break in the Weather (1962) - Famous (1961) - Apple of His Eye (1959) - Tin Wedding (1953) The Virginian - Impasse (1962) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - Eleven Days to Zero (1964) Wagon Train - The Kurt Davos Story (1962) - The John Darro Story (1957) Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse - The Night the Phone Rang (1958) Zane Grey Theater - The Vaunted (1958) - A Gun for My Bride (1957) - Fugitive (1957) - Stage for Tucson (1956) Selected Eddie Albert Filmography Brother Rat (1938) On Your Toes (1939) Four Wives (1939) Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) An Angel from Texas (1940) My Love Came Back (1940) A Dispatch from Reuter's (1940) The Great Mr. Nobody (1941) Four Mothers (1941) The Wagons Roll at Night (1941) Thieves Fall Out (1941) Out of the Fog (1941) Treat 'Em Rough (1942) Eagle Squadron (1942) Lady Bodyguard (1943) Ladies' Day (1943) Bombardier (1943) Screen Snapshots: Hollywood in Uniform (1943) Strange Voyage (1946) Rendezvous with Annie (1946) The Perfect Marriage (1947) Hit Parade of 1947 (1947) Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (1947) Time Out of Mind (1947) Unconquered (1947) (scenes deleted) The Dude Goes West (1948) You Gotta Stay Happy (1948) Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) (cameo) The Fuller Brush Girl (1950) You're in the Navy Now (1951) Meet Me After the Show (1951) Actors and Sin (1952) Carrie (1952) Roman Holiday (1953) 1984 (1953) The Girl Rush (1955) Oklahoma! (1955) I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) Operation Teahouse (1956) (short subject) The Opposite Sex (1956) Attack! (1956) The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) The Sun Also Rises (1957) The Joker Is Wild (1957) Orders to Kill (1958) The Roots of Heaven (1958) The Gun Runners (1958) Beloved Infidel (1959) The Young Doctors (1961) Madison Avenue (1962) The Longest Day (1962) Who's Got the Action? (1962) The Two Little Bears (1963) Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) The Gun (24 Dec. 1964) The Party's Over (1965) 7 Women (1966) The Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) The Lorax (1972, TV, voice) The Heartbreak Kid (1972) The Longest Yard (1974) McQ (1974) The Take (1974) Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) The Devil's Rain (1975) Whiffs (1975) Hustle (1975) Moving Violation (1976) Birch Interval (1977) Crash (1978) Border Cop (1979) The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979) How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (1980) Foolin' Around (1980) Yesterday (1981) Take This Job and Shove It (1981) The Act (1982) Yes, Giorgio (1982) Dreamscape (1984) Stitches (1985) Head Office (1985) Turnaround (1987) Brenda Starr (1989) The Big Picture (1989) (Cameo) Return to Green Acres (1990) Headless! (1994) (short subject) Death Valley Memories (1994) (narrator) In 1965, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning to star in a new sitcom for CBS called Green Acres (1965 below left). His character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a farmer. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor as his urbanite, spoiled wife. The show was an immediate hit, achieving fifth place in the ratings in its first season. After a four-year-absence from the small screen, and upon reaching age 69 in 1975, Albert signed a new contract with Universal Television, and starred in the popular 1970s adventure/crime drama Switch (above right) for CBS, as a retired police officer, Frank McBride, who goes to work as a private detective with a former criminal he had once jailed. In its first season, Switch was a hit. By late 1976, the show had become a more serious and traditional crime drama. At the end of its third season in 1978, ratings began to drop, and the show was canceled after 70 episodes. Albert worked with Shirley Jones in the film Oklahoma! (1955), and on television in a two part episode of The Love Boat (1977) and and episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984). He was also a huge fan of Falcon Crest (1981) that starred his old friend Jane Wyman (with he co-stared in Brother Rat, 1938), and had a recurring role on the show in 1987. Later in career he did voice work forthe TV cartoon series Spider-Man (1996-1997) and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997). After his guest-starring role on Extreme Ghostbusters, he retired from acting at the age of 91. Albert suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his last years. His son put his acting career aside to care for his father. Despite his illness, Albert exercised regularly until shortly before his death. Eddie Albert died of pneumonia in 2005 at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, next to his late wife and close to his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor. Albert's son, Edward Jr. (1951–2006) was an actor, musician, singer, and linguist/dialectician. Edward Jr. died at age 55, one year after his father. He had been suffering from lung cancer for 18 months. slideshow