Biography
Born Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Robert D’Abruzzo on 26 February 1914 in New York, USA, and passing away on 3 May 1986 in Los Angeles, California, USA, Robert Alda pursued acting and singing across an extended span of entertainment pursuits. Although his efforts extended into numerous branches of show business, he is chiefly recalled for his inaugural screen appearance, in which he depicted composer George Gershwin within the 1945 Warner biopic Rhapsody In Blue. The offspring of a barber, he attended New York University and spent time employed as an architectural draughtsman prior to his initial stage appearance in vaudeville during 1933, participating in the act Charlie Ahearn And His Millionaires. Radio engagements followed, as did burlesque tours and summer-stock productions of straight plays that encompassed Tobacco Road, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Room Service and The Time Of Your Life.
His Broadway introduction arrived in 1950 when he originated the part of gambler Sky Masterson inside the Abe Burrows–Jo Swerling–Frank Loesser musical Guys And Dolls. He remained with the production for almost two years, earning a Tony Award together with Donaldson and New York Drama Critics Poll honours for the portrayal. While journeying through Italy and Sicily in the mid-1950s with La Padrona Di Raggio Di Luna, he was presented the Golden Wing Award in recognition of his work as an Italian. In the early 1960s he took up residence in Rome for several years yet continued occasional American engagements, among them a 1963 tour of Can-Can. The next year he returned to Broadway to share the stage with Steve Lawrence and Sally Ann Howes in the musical satire What Makes Sammy Run?, which lampooned Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 1930s.
Alda’s subsequent motion-picture work never matched the impact of Rhapsody In Blue. Beyond that film he completed only two additional musicals, Cinderella Jones (1946) and April Showers (1948), plus roughly twenty further features that included The Beast With Five Fingers (1947), The Man I Love (1947), Tarzan And The Slave Girl (1950), Two Gals And A Guy (1951), Beautiful And Dangerous (1958), Imitation Of Life (1959), Cleopatra’s Daughter (1961), The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1968), I Will, I Will, I Will... For Now (1976), Bittersweet Love (1976) and The Squeeze (1980). Regular appearances on American television encompassed By Popular Demand, The Milton Berle Show, The Kids From Fame, Police Story, Perfect Gentlemen, Days Of Our Lives, Supertrain and The Robert Alda Show. He likewise headlined on Italian radio and television while maintaining a cabaret presence through most of his professional life. A stroke in 1984 left him without complete recovery. His son is the well-known actor-director Alan Alda.
His Broadway introduction arrived in 1950 when he originated the part of gambler Sky Masterson inside the Abe Burrows–Jo Swerling–Frank Loesser musical Guys And Dolls. He remained with the production for almost two years, earning a Tony Award together with Donaldson and New York Drama Critics Poll honours for the portrayal. While journeying through Italy and Sicily in the mid-1950s with La Padrona Di Raggio Di Luna, he was presented the Golden Wing Award in recognition of his work as an Italian. In the early 1960s he took up residence in Rome for several years yet continued occasional American engagements, among them a 1963 tour of Can-Can. The next year he returned to Broadway to share the stage with Steve Lawrence and Sally Ann Howes in the musical satire What Makes Sammy Run?, which lampooned Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 1930s.
Alda’s subsequent motion-picture work never matched the impact of Rhapsody In Blue. Beyond that film he completed only two additional musicals, Cinderella Jones (1946) and April Showers (1948), plus roughly twenty further features that included The Beast With Five Fingers (1947), The Man I Love (1947), Tarzan And The Slave Girl (1950), Two Gals And A Guy (1951), Beautiful And Dangerous (1958), Imitation Of Life (1959), Cleopatra’s Daughter (1961), The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1968), I Will, I Will, I Will... For Now (1976), Bittersweet Love (1976) and The Squeeze (1980). Regular appearances on American television encompassed By Popular Demand, The Milton Berle Show, The Kids From Fame, Police Story, Perfect Gentlemen, Days Of Our Lives, Supertrain and The Robert Alda Show. He likewise headlined on Italian radio and television while maintaining a cabaret presence through most of his professional life. A stroke in 1984 left him without complete recovery. His son is the well-known actor-director Alan Alda.
Albums
Singles
