The news broke just as the long holiday weekend was beginning. Eddie Albert was dead. Even though he had a long and storied career on film, Broadway, and television, the 99-year-old actor was best known for his lead role as Oliver Douglas, the befuddled city slicker-turned-farmer on the campy and silly "Green Acres" TV sitcom.
The Associated Press reports that Albert, who was born Edward Albert Heimberger, died of pneumonia at this home in Pacific Palisades, California surrounded by his caregivers, including his son Edward who was holding his hand at the time of his death. "He died so beautifully and so gracefully that literally this morning I don't feel grief, I don't feel loss," Edward Albert told AP.
In addition to "Green Acres," Albert did some serious and award-winning acting and was nominated for Academy Awards as supporting actor in "Roman Holiday" (1953) and "The Heartbreak Kid" (1972). Albert starred in Broadway plays, and in the 1970s co-starred with Robert Wagner in "Switch." He was also a semi-regular on "Falcon Crest" in 1988. Albert was in these films: "Carrie," "Oklahoma!" "The Teahouse of the August Moon," "The Sun Also Rises," "The Roots of Heaven," "The Longest Day," "Miracle of the White Stallions," "The Longest Yard" and "Escape to Witch Mountain."
Of "Green Acres" he said in 1970, "Some people think that because of the bucolic background 'Green Acres' is corny, but we get away with some of the most incredible lines on television."
Because Albert's mother was not married when he was born in 1906 in Rock Island, Illinois, he actually changed his birth certificate to 1908 after she did marry. His son Edward Albert, 54, said of his father: "Acting was a tenth of his life. The majority of his life was committed to helping other people. This guy was, from the absolute depth of his soul, one of the true heroes of our world."
The Associated Press reports that Albert, who was born Edward Albert Heimberger, died of pneumonia at this home in Pacific Palisades, California surrounded by his caregivers, including his son Edward who was holding his hand at the time of his death. "He died so beautifully and so gracefully that literally this morning I don't feel grief, I don't feel loss," Edward Albert told AP.
In addition to "Green Acres," Albert did some serious and award-winning acting and was nominated for Academy Awards as supporting actor in "Roman Holiday" (1953) and "The Heartbreak Kid" (1972). Albert starred in Broadway plays, and in the 1970s co-starred with Robert Wagner in "Switch." He was also a semi-regular on "Falcon Crest" in 1988. Albert was in these films: "Carrie," "Oklahoma!" "The Teahouse of the August Moon," "The Sun Also Rises," "The Roots of Heaven," "The Longest Day," "Miracle of the White Stallions," "The Longest Yard" and "Escape to Witch Mountain."
Of "Green Acres" he said in 1970, "Some people think that because of the bucolic background 'Green Acres' is corny, but we get away with some of the most incredible lines on television."
Because Albert's mother was not married when he was born in 1906 in Rock Island, Illinois, he actually changed his birth certificate to 1908 after she did marry. His son Edward Albert, 54, said of his father: "Acting was a tenth of his life. The majority of his life was committed to helping other people. This guy was, from the absolute depth of his soul, one of the true heroes of our world."
