1958–1971: Broadway debut and early work Alda began his career in the 1950s as a member of the
Compass Players, an improvisational comedy revue directed by
Paul Sills. He later joined the improvisational group Second City in Chicago. He joined the acting company at the
Cleveland Play House during their 1958–1959 season as part of a grant from the
Ford Foundation, appearing in productions such as
To Dorothy a Son,
Heaven Come Wednesday,
Monique, and
Job. In 1958, he appeared as Carlyle Thompson III on
The Phil Silvers Show in the episode titled "Bilko the Art Lover". Alda portrayed Charlie Cotchipee in the 1961
Ossie Davis play
Purlie Victorious on Broadway. In the November 1964 world premiere at the
August Wilson Theatre of the stage version of
The Owl and The Pussycat, he played Felix the Owl, opposite Doris the Pussycat played by actress/singer
Diana Sands, an African-American actress; their onstage kiss prompted hate mail. He continued to play Felix the Owl for the 1964–65
Broadway season. In 1966, he starred in the musical
The Apple Tree on Broadway with
Barbara Harris, and was nominated for the
Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for the role. Alda said he became a
Mainer in 1957 when he played at the Kennebunkport Playhouse. Alda was part of the cast, along with
David Frost,
Henry Morgan and
Buck Henry, of the American television version of
That Was the Week That Was, which ran as a series from January 10, 1964, to May 1965. He made his Hollywood acting debut as a supporting player in
Gone Are the Days!, a film version of the Broadway play
Purlie Victorious, which co-starred
Ruby Dee and her husband,
Ossie Davis. Other film roles followed, such as his portrayal of author, humorist and actor
George Plimpton in the film
Paper Lion (1968), ,
Larry Linville,
Wayne Rogers,
Gary Burghoff,
McLean Stevenson, and Alda Alda commuted from Los Angeles to his home in
New Jersey every weekend for 11 years while starring in
M*A*S*H. His wife and daughters lived in New Jersey and he did not want to move his family to Los Angeles, initially because he did not know how long the show would last. in 1975 During the series' first five seasons, its tone was largely that of a traditional "service comedy" in the vein of shows such as ''
McHale's Navy. As the original writers gradually left the show, Alda gained increasing control, and by the final seasons had become a producer and creative consultant. Under his watch, M*A*S*H
retained its comedic foundation, but gradually assumed a more serious tone, openly addressing political and social issues of the 1970s. As a result, the 11 years of M*A*S*H'' are generally split into two eras: the
Larry Gelbart/
Gene Reynolds "comedy" years (1972–1977), and the Alan Alda "dramatic" years (1977–1983). Alda disagreed with this assessment. In a 2016 interview he said, "I don't like to write political messages. I don't like plays that have political messages. I do not think I am responsible for that." Alda and his co-stars
Wayne Rogers and
McLean Stevenson worked well together during the first three seasons, but over time, tensions developed as Alda's role grew in popularity and disrupted their characters' original 'equal' standing. Rogers and Stevenson left the show at the end of the third season. Anticipating the fourth season, Alda and the producers sought a replacement for the surrogate parent role embodied in the character of Colonel Blake. Veteran actor
Harry Morgan, who was a fan of the series and had previously appeared in it, joined the cast as Colonel
Sherman T. Potter and carried on as one of the show's lead protagonists.
Mike Farrell was introduced as Hawkeye's new tentmate
BJ Hunnicutt. Alda's father Robert Alda and half-brother Antony Alda appeared together in the 20th episode of
season eight of
M*A*S*H, "Lend a Hand". Robert had previously appeared in "The Consultant" in
season three. By 1981, he was the highest paid person on a TV show with a contract paying him $225,000 an episode ($5.4 million per season). In his 1981 autobiography,
Jackie Cooper, who directed several early
M*A*S*H episodes, wrote that Alda concealed a lot of hostility, and that the two of them barely spoke by the end of Cooper's tenure. During his
M*A*S*H years, Alda made several game-show appearances, most notably on
The $10,000 Pyramid, and as a frequent panelist on ''
What's My Line? and To Tell the Truth. He also starred in films including the 1978 comedy films Same Time, Next Year and California Suite, and wrote and starred in the title role of the 1979 political drama film The Seduction of Joe Tynan.
His favorite episodes of M*A*S*H
are "Dear Sigmund" and "In Love and War". In 1996, Alda was ranked 41st on TV Guide''s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.
Writing and directing credits 1984–1999: Established actor Alda's prominence in
M*A*S*H provided him a platform to speak out on political topics. He has been a strong and vocal supporter of
women's rights and the
feminist movement. He co-chaired, with former
First Lady Betty Ford, the
Equal Rights Amendment Countdown campaign. In 1976,
The Boston Globe dubbed him "the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon" for his activism on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment. During
M*A*S*Hs run and continuing through the 1980s, Alda embarked on a successful career as a writer and director, with the ensemble
comedy drama,
The Four Seasons (1981) being perhaps his most notable hit. After
M*A*S*H, Alda took on a series of roles that either parodied or directly contradicted his "nice guy" image. In 1988, Alda starred opposite
Ann-Margret in the marital comedy
A New Life. He also appeared frequently in the films of
Woody Allen, beginning with
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). ''
Betsy's Wedding'' (1990) is Alda's last directing credit to date. Alda had a co-starring role as Dr.
Robert Gallo in the 1993 television film
And the Band Played On. He continued appearing in the films of his friend Woody Allen, including
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) and
Everyone Says I Love You (1996). When asked about the controversy surrounding Allen in 2019, Alda stated, "I'd work with him again if he wanted me. I'm not qualified to judge him... I just don't have enough information to convince me I shouldn't work with him. And he's an enormously talented guy." Alda played Nobel Prize–winning physicist
Richard Feynman in the play
QED, which had only one other character. Although
Peter Parnell wrote the play, Alda both produced and inspired it. From the fall season of 1993 until the show ended in 2005, Alda was the host for
Scientific American Frontiers, which began on
PBS in 1990. In 1995, he starred as the President of the United States in
Michael Moore's
political satire/comedy film
Canadian Bacon. Around this time, rumors circulated that Alda was considering running for the
United States Senate in
New Jersey, but he denied this. In 1996, Alda played
Henry Ford, founder of the
Ford Motor Company, in
Camping With Henry and Tom, based on the book by
Mark St. Germain and appeared in the comedy film,
Flirting with Disaster. In 1997, Alda played National Security Adviser Alvin Jordan In
Murder at 1600. In 1999, Alda portrayed Dr. Gabriel Lawrence, Dr.
Kerry Weaver's mentor, in the NBC program
ER for five episodes. During the later episodes, Lawrence was revealed to be in the early stages of
Alzheimer's disease. Alda was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Alda starred in the original Broadway production of the play
Art, which opened on March 1, 1998, at the
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The play won the Tony Award for Best Play.
Since 2000: The West Wing and other roles Beginning in 2004, Alda was a regular cast member on the NBC program
The West Wing, portraying
California Republican U.S. Senator and presidential candidate
Arnold Vinick, until the show's conclusion in May 2006. He made his premiere in the sixth season's eighth episode, "In The Room", and was added to the opening credits with the 13th episode, "King Corn". In August 2006, Alda won an
Emmy for his portrayal of Vinick in the final season of
The West Wing. Alda appeared in a total of 28 episodes during the show's sixth and seventh seasons. Alda had been a serious candidate, along with
Sidney Poitier, for the role of
President Josiah Bartlet before
Martin Sheen was ultimately cast in the role. In 2004, Alda portrayed conservative Maine Senator
Owen Brewster in
Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning film
The Aviator, in which he co-starred with
Leonardo DiCaprio. Alda received his first
Academy Award nomination for this role in 2005. Alda also had a part in the 2000 romantic comedy
What Women Want, as the CEO of the advertising firm where the main characters worked. In early 2005, Alda starred as Shelly Levene in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of
David Mamet's
Glengarry Glen Ross, for which he received a nomination for the
Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play losing to his co-star
Liev Schreiber. Throughout 2009 and 2010, he appeared in three episodes of
30 Rock as Milton Greene, the biological father of
Jack Donaghy, played by
Alec Baldwin. In January 2010, Alda hosted
The Human Spark, a three-part series originally broadcast on PBS discussing the nature of human uniqueness and recent studies on the human brain. In 2006, Alda contributed his voice to a part in the audio book of
Max Brooks'
World War Z. In this book, he voiced Arthur Sinclair Jr., the director of the United States government's fictional Department of Strategic Resources (DeStRes). In 2011, Alda starred with
Ben Stiller,
Matthew Broderick and
Eddie Murphy in the comedy film
Tower Heist. Alda returned to Broadway in November 2014, playing the role of Andrew Makepeace in the revival of
Love Letters at the
Brooks Atkinson Theater alongside
Candice Bergen. In 2015, Alda appeared as a lawyer, Thomas Watters, alongside
Tom Hanks as James Donovan, in
Steven Spielberg's critically acclaimed cold war drama film
Bridge of Spies which received an
Academy Award nomination for
Best Picture. In 2016, Alda gained critical praise for his performance in
Louis C.K.'s acclaimed web-based series
Horace and Pete as the irascible Uncle Pete.
IndieWire critic Sam Adams described as "his best role in years". In regard to C.K.'s recent scandal, Alda stated, "I respect Louis so much as an artist. But he did a terrible thing, and I hope he finds a way to come to terms with both of those things." Also in 2016, Alda took part in the opening night show of
John Mulaney and
Nick Kroll's
The Oh, Hello Show at the
Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. The show is said to be inspired by "two old men at the Strand buying a copy of Alda's book". Before bringing Alda onstage, Mulaney said, "This is genuinely the best guest we ever had." From 2018 to 2020, Alda portrayed psychiatrist Dr. Arthur Amiot in the
Showtime's
Ray Donovan. He reprised this role in
Ray Donovan: The Movie (2022). In 2019, Alda appeared in
Noah Baumbach's thirteenth film,
Marriage Story, as a warm-hearted lawyer who represents a stage director (
Adam Driver) during the divorce proceedings. In an interview with
The Wall Street Journal, Alda discussed the effects of his illness, mainly
Parkinson's disease, and other related issues. He stated, "I have this tremor. It's not part of the script so I didn't want it to be distracting if Noah thought it would be distracting." Alda has received widespread acclaim for his performance. In 2025 Alda appeared in a cameo role in
The Four Seasons, a Netflix miniseries. This was a remake of
The Four Seasons which he directed and starred in in 1981. == Charitable works ==