Jack Albertson
Triple Crown winner who danced from vaudeville to Hollywood.
Jack Albertson was born Harold Albertson on June 16, 1907, in Malden, Massachusetts, to Russian-Jewish immigrants Flora and Leopold Albertson. His older sister, Mabel, also became an actress. Their mother worked in a shoe factory to support the family. Until age 22, he went by Harold. At 18, he started earning money for his prize-winning shows; Mabel taught him his first tap dance steps, and he learned more by watching vaudeville acts in his hometown. He also sang with a group called The Golden Rule Four, which rehearsed under a railroad bridge.
Albertson began his career in vaudeville with the Dancing Verselle Sisters, then worked burlesque as a soft-shoe dancer and straight man for Phil Silvers on the Minsky's circuit. On Broadway, he appeared in shows like *High Button Shoes*, *Top Banana*, *The Cradle Will Rock*, *Make Mine Manhattan*, *Show Boat*, *Boy Meets Girl*, *Girl Crazy*, *Meet the People*, and *The Sunshine Boys* (earning a Tony nomination). He won a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play for *The Subject Was Roses* in 1964.
In film, he appeared in over 30 movies. An early role was a postal worker in *Miracle on 34th Street*. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1968 film adaptation of *The Subject Was Roses*, making him one of only eleven actors to win both a Tony and an Oscar for the same role. He played Grandpa Joe in *Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory* (1971) and Manny Rosen in *The Poseidon Adventure* (1972). His one regret was not reprising his role in the film version of *The Sunshine Boys*; he was unavailable due to his TV work on *Chico and the Man*.
On radio, Albertson appeared on *Just Plain Bill*, *Lefty*, *That's My Pop*, and *The Jack Albertson Comedy Show*, and was a regular on the *Milton Berle Show* in the late 1940s. On television, he had recurring roles on *Room for One More*, *Ensign O'Toole*, and *Dr. Simon Locke*. He co-starred as Ed Brown on *Chico and the Man* from 1974 to 1978, winning an Emmy for that role in 1976 (his second; the first came from a 1975 appearance on *Cher*). He also appeared in two episodes of *The Twilight Zone*. In 1977, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6253 Hollywood Boulevard.
Albertson and his wife, Wallace, had one daughter, Maura Dhu, who married actor Wes Studi. On November 25, 1981, Albertson died of colon cancer at his Los Angeles home in the Hollywood Hills at age 74. He and his sister Mabel (who died ten months later from Alzheimer's) were cremated, and their ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
- born
- June 16, 1907, Malden, Massachusetts
- died
- November 25, 1981, Los Angeles, California
- field
- Acting, comedy, dance, singing
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Triple Crown of Acting; role as John Cleary in *The Subject Was Roses*; Grandpa Joe in *Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory*; Ed Brown in *Chico and the Man*
Lore & Background
Albertson was born on June 16, 1907, in Malden, Massachusetts, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants Flora (née Craft) and Leopold Albertson. His older sister was actress Mabel Albertson. Their mother, a stock actress, supported the family by working in a shoe factory. Until the age of 22, Albertson was known as "Harold Albertson". During a 1972 New York Daily News interview with Sidney Fields, Albertson reminisced: "I was bright but disruptive. I didn't do homework. To cover, I made wisecracks and funny faces at the teachers. They told me to take my business elsewhere." When he was eighteen, he began to be paid for his prize winning shows. His sister Mabel taught him the first "time steps" in tap dancing, and he picked up additional routines by watching vaudeville acts that played his hometown. Around this time, he started singing with a group called "The Golden Rule Four," who held their practice sessions beneath a railroad bridge.
Reader's Guide
Albertson joined the vaudeville road troupe known as the Dancing Verselle Sisters. He then worked in burlesque as a hoofer (soft shoe dancer) and straight man to Phil Silvers on the Minsky's Burlesque Circuit. Besides vaudeville and burlesque, he appeared on the stage in many Broadway plays and musicals, including High Button Shoes, Top Banana, The Cradle Will Rock, Make Mine Manhattan, Show Boat, Boy Meets Girl, Girl Crazy, Meet the People, The Sunshine Boys – for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor, and The Subject Was Roses – for which he won a Tony for Best Supporting Actor. Albertson appeared in more than 30 films. He had an early minor role in Miracle on 34th Street as a postal worker who redirects dead letters addressed to "Santa Claus" to the courthouse where Kris Kringle's sanity hearing is held. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1968 film The Subject Was Roses. Albertson appeared as Charlie Bucket's Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), and in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), where he played Manny Rosen. Albertson said that his one regret was that he did not reprise his role in the movie version of The Sunshine Boys. When producer Ray Stark acquired the film rights from Neil Simon in 1973, Albertson was expected to play the part, but by the time MGM had bought the rights in 1974 and was preparing to begin filming in February 1975, Albertson was not available because he was appearing on Chico and the Man on TV. Albertson was a radio performer early in his career. Among the shows he appeared on were Just Plain Bill, Lefty, That's My Pop and The Jack Albertson Comedy Show. In the late 1940s he was for a time a regular on the Milton Berle Show. Albertson had a recurring role as the neighbor Walter Burton in eight episodes of the 1962 ABC sitcom Room for One More, with Andrew Duggan and Peggy McCay. He had recurring roles in Ensign O'Toole (1962–63). Other 1960s series on which Albertson appeared were: NBC's sitcom Happy, starring Ronnie Burns, and Glynis, starring Glynis Johns, and Keith Andes, which aired for 13 weeks in the fall of 1963. Albertson appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone. From 1971 to 1972, he co-starred, with actor Sam Groom, in the Canadian TV series Dr. Simon Locke. He then co-starred as "The Man" Ed Brown on the popular series Chico and the Man with
Did You Know?
- Albertson was known as "Harold Albertson" until age 22.
- His sister Mabel taught him his first tap dancing steps.
- He sang with a group called "The Golden Rule Four" under a railroad bridge.
- He won an Emmy in 1975 for an appearance on the variety show Cher.
- His daughter Maura Dhu is married to actor Wes Studi.
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