Jack Albertson

American actor

Also known as: Harold Albertson

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Quick Facts

Original name:: Harold Albertson

Born:: June 16, 1907, Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.

Died:: November 25, 1981, Hollywood Hills, California (aged 74)

Awards And Honors:: Emmy Award (1976); Emmy Award (1975); Academy Award (1969); Tony Awards (1965); Academy Award (1969): Actor in a Supporting Role; Emmy Award (1976): Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series; Emmy Award (1975): Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Variety or Music; Tony Award (1965): Best Featured Actor in a Play

Married To:: June Wallace Thomson (married 1952)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Hennesey" (1959); "Riverboat" (1961); "Suspicion" (1957); "The Big Valley" (1969); "Hey, Landlord" (1966); "The Flim-Flam Man" (1967); "The Virginian" (1969–1970); "Studio 57" (1958); "The Ford Theatre Hour" (1950); "CBS Playhouse" (1969); "Teacher's Pet" (1958); "Love, American Style" (1971); "Frontier Doctor" (1958); "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" (1959–1961); "Squeeze a Flower" (1970); "The 20th Century-Fox Hour" (1957); "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1962); "Saints and Sinners" (1962); "The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna" (1960); "Kissin' Cousins" (1964); "Climax!" (1956); "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1970); "Five Fingers" (1959); "Period of Adjustment" (1962); "Robert Montgomery Presents" (1953); "The Thin Man" (1958–1959); "The Andy Griffith Show" (1967); "Room for One More" (1962); "Colonel Humphrey Flack" (1959); "Temperatures Rising" (1972); "The Harder They Fall" (1956); "How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life" (1968); "Margie" (1961); "The Donna Reed Show" (1960–1961); "The Bold Ones: The New Doctors" (1972); "Wagon Train" (1962); "The Unguarded Moment" (1956); "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (1959); "The Law and Mr. Jones" (1961); "Crusader" (1956); "Charlie's Angels" (1980); "Our Miss Brooks" (1956); "Chico and the Man" (1974–1978); "Glynis" (1963); "The Clock" (1950); "Nanny and the Professor" (1970); "Monkey on My Back" (1957); "The Dick Powell Show" (1963); "The Late Liz" (1971); "Bracken's World" (1970); "87th Precinct" (1961–1962); "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1950); "Pete and Gladys" (1960–1961); "The Immortal" (1970); "Inner Sanctum" (1954); "You Can't Run Away from It" (1956); "Paris 7000" (1970); "December Bride" (1956–1958); "The Sheriff of Cochise" (1956); "Goodyear Theatre" (1960); "The Patsy" (1964); "Klondike" (1960); "The Jack Benny Program" (1959–1962); "Matinee Theatre" (1957–1958); "The Twilight Zone" (1961–1963); "Pickup on 101" (1972); "McMillan & Wife" (1971); "Who's Got the Action?" (1962); "The Name of the Game" (1971); "The Fox and the Hound" (1981); "Bonanza" (1968–1972); "Son of Flubber" (1963); "General Electric Theater" (1957–1962); "Top Banana" (1954); "Alias Smith and Jones" (1971); "Night Gallery" (1972); "Bus Stop" (1962); "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972); "Never Steal Anything Small" (1959); "The Ann Sothern Show" (1960); "Gunsmoke" (1969–1974); "How to Murder Your Wife" (1965); "Wire Service" (1957); "Tightrope" (1960); "Run Buddy Run" (1966); "Lover Come Back" (1961); "The Lieutenant" (1963); "A Tiger Walks" (1964); "Justine" (1969); "Michael Shayne" (1960); "It's About Time" (1967); "The George Raft Story" (1961); "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962); "Happy" (1960); "The Tab Hunter Show" (1960–1961); "Have Gun - Will Travel" (1957–1960); "The Life of Riley" (1956); "Here Come the Brides" (1968); "Sarge" (1971); "The Trials of O'Brien" (1965); "Over-Exposed" (1956); "Insight" (1967–1974); "The Red Skelton Show" (1960–1969); "Dr. Simon Locke" (1971–1972); "Arnie" (1970); "Bring Your Smile Along" (1955); "America 2-Night" (1978); "Bachelor Father" (1958); "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1956–1958); "Playhouse 90" (1956–1958); "Ensign O'Toole" (1962–1963); "The Joey Bishop Show" (1961–1962); "Rabbit, Run" (1970); "Daniel Boone" (1970); "Dead & Buried" (1981); "The Nurses" (1964); "The Lucy Show" (1964); "Make Room for Daddy" (1959–1961); "Man of a Thousand Faces" (1957); "Man Against Crime" (1953–1954); "Convicts 4" (1962); "The Lineup" (1958); "Grindl" (1964); "Ironside" (1968–1970); "Mister Ed" (1961–1964); "Westinghouse Preview Theatre" (1961); "Dr. Kildare" (1962); "Run for Your Life" (1966–1967); "Damon Runyon Theater" (1955); "State Trooper" (1958); "The Subject Was Roses" (1968); "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1964); "Angel" (1960); "I Love Lucy" (1956); "The Streets of San Francisco" (1973); "The George Burns Show" (1958); "Yancy Derringer" (1959); "The Frank Sinatra Show" (1958); "Don't Go Near the Water" (1957); "Grandpa Goes to Washington" (1978–1979); "Lawman" (1962); "Peter Loves Mary" (1961); "Startime" (1960); "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971); "Pistols 'n' Petticoats" (1966); "Starlight Theatre" (1951); "Hey, Jeannie!" (1956); "Changes" (1969); "The Defenders" (1965); "The Man and the City" (1971); "Death Valley Days" (1964); "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" (1956–1958); "Roustabout" (1964); "Shirley Temple's Storybook" (1958); "Land of the Giants" (1969–1970); "Westinghouse Playhouse" (1961); "The People's Choice" (1958)

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Jack Albertson (born June 16, 1907, Malden, Massachusetts, U.S.—died November 25, 1981, Hollywood Hills, California) was an American stage, television, and movie actor who was noted for his work in the Broadway plays The Subject Was Roses (1964–66) and The Sunshine Boys (1972–74) and the television series Chico and the Man (1974–78).

Born into poverty, Albertson earned a living as a pool hustler and working on a freighter. He moved to New York City to find work as a dancer and launched a career in vaudeville and burlesque, first as a dancer and then as a straight man. He later formed a partnership with comedian Phil Silvers. Albertson made his Broadway debut in the revue Meet the People in 1940 and went on to perform in Broadway comedies and musicals for the next decade, including A Lady Says Yes (1945), The Cradle Will Rock (1947), Tickets, Please! (1945), and Top Banana (1951), which starred Silvers.

Albertson appeared in a string of motion pictures, notably the movie version of Top Banana (1954), and he also began acting on television, including on The Phil Silvers Show (1956–57). His other movies included Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), How to Murder Your Wife (1965), and The Flim-Flam Man (1967). Albertson played Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Manny Rosen in the popular disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure (1972). He also had guest roles in dozens of TV series and variety shows as well as several made-for-television movies. He showed his versatility as an actor by garnering awards in three media; he won a Tony Award in 1965 for his Broadway performance as the surly Irish father in The Subject Was Roses, an Academy Award in 1969 for best supporting actor in the 1968 motion-picture version of that play, two Emmy Awards (1975 and 1976) for his portrayal of the cranky gas station–garage owner in the television series Chico and the Man, and another Emmy for a guest appearance on the Cher show in 1975. His last theatrical motion picture, Dead & Buried, was released in 1981, and his last two TV movies, My Body, My Child and Terror at Alcatraz, aired posthumously in 1982.

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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