Edward Laurence Albert
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Albert has a Black Belt in kenjutsu (sword fighting), in the Niten (Two Heaven Style), using long swords (katanas).
Extremely proud of his Latino origins (his mother Margo hailed from Mexico City), Albert helped found Plaza de la Raza, a community arts center that for 25 years has taught the arts to 500 Latino children a week. As of 1997, the complex at Plaza includes a 235-seat theater, two outdoor stages, a dance studio, art space and expansive classrooms.
Biography
The son of TV and film star Eddie Albert and dancer-actress Margo, Edward Albert has worked steadily as an actor since the early 1970s. He made an adolescent debut in the feature "Fool Killer" (1965), then went back to school and didn't resume his career until undertaking the role of the blind hero opposite Goldie Hawn in the film version of Broadway's "Butterflies Are Free" (1972), winning a Golden Globe Award as Most Promising Male Newcomer. Albert went on to portray Liv Ullmann's youthful lover in "40 Carats" (1973) and appeared in "Midway" (1976) and "The Domino Principle (1977) before moving to Europe for " . . . a self-designed on-the-job training course. It gave me the freedom to choose roles without worrying how it would affect my career." After acting in the critically-acclaimed "Un Taxi mauve/The Purple Taxi" (1977) in France, he returned to the USA where his feature films have included "The Greek Tycoon" (1978, as Anthony Quinn's son), "When Time Ran Out" (1980), "Butterfly" (1981), "Getting Even" (1986) and the "The Underachievers" (1987).
Television beckoned early to Albert, beginning with the 1974 ABC movie "Killer Bees" with Gloria Swanson, and he worked on TV-movies and miniseries like "Death Cruise" (ABC, 1974), "Black Beauty" (NBC, 1978) "The Last Convertible" (NBC, 1979) and "Blood Feud" (syndicated, 1983) before taking his first crack as a series regular on "The Yellow Rose" (NBC, 1983-84). He played crazed book publicist Jeff Wainwright on the popular CBS series "Falcon Crest" throughout 1986 and first portrayed Elliott Burch on CBS' "Beauty and the Beast" in 1987, a recurring role that became a regular one by the show's final season in 1989-90. 1991 saw Albert act in the TV-movie "The Girl From Mars" (The Family Channel) opposite his famous father, with whom he also filmed the never-aired CBS pilot "California," a spin-off from "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."
Albert has flourished during the 90s on both the large and small screens. He starred in the feature "The Ice Runner" (1992), filmed in Russia as the Soviet Union collapsed, acted with Karen Black in "Modern Rhapsody" (1997) and played three characters in "Illusion Infinity" (lensed 1997), which also featured his father. Additionally, he portrayed Shirley MacLaine's son in "Guarding Tess" (1994). Albert made a successful entrance to daytime TV as manipulative surgeon Bennett Devlin (from 1997-98) on the ABC soap opera "Port Charles," a spin-off of "General Hospital." As a director, he completed lensing a remake of the 1956 sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" in 1997, in which he also starred.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1965
Film debut, "The Fool Killer", with Anthony Perkins
1970
Served as production assistant on "Patton"
1972
First starring film role, "Butterflies Are Free", opposite Goldie Hawn
1973
Reunited with "Butterflies" director Milton Katselas for "40 Carats"
1974
TV-movie debut in "Killer Bees" (ABC), with Gloria Swanson
1976
Portrayed Ensign Tom Garth as part of star-studded cast of "Midway"
1977
Acted in the critically-acclaimed "Un Taxi Mauve/The Purple Taxi", which won the Golden Palm at Cannes
1978
Appeared in CBS movie "Silent Victory: The Kitty O'Neill Story", starring Stockard Channing
1978
Starred in NBC movie version of "Black Beauty", the ninth version of Anna Sewell's beloved animal classic
1978
Played Nico Tomasis (Anthony Quinn's son) in feature "The Greek Tycoon", a thinly veiled fiction about the romance and marriage of Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy
1979
Cast as one of five Harvard roomates who are the subjects of the NBC miniseries "The Last Convertible"
1983
Starred on NBC series, "The Yellow Rose"
1983
Portrayed Phil Wharton in syndicated miniseries "Blood Feud" (directed by Mike Newell), depicting the battles between Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa and Robert Kennedy
1986
Had regular role as crazed book publicist Jeff Wainwright in CBS drama "Falcon Crest"
1987
Played recurring role as Elliott Burch on CBS' "Beauty and the Beast"; became regular by final abbreviated season
1991
Worked with father on TV-movie "The Girl From Mars" (The Family Channel)
1992
Starred in "The Ice Runner", filmed in Moscow at the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union
1994
Played Shirley MacLaine's son in "Guarding Tess"
1996
Seen as Captain Gray in Showtime movie "Space Marines"
1997
Portrayed manipulative surgeon Bennett Devlin on ABC daytime soap opera "Port Charles", a spin-off of "General Hospital"
1997
Again worked with father in "Illusion Infinity"
1997
Feature directorial debut, "Forbidden Planet", a remake of the 1950s classic; also starred
1998
Provided voice for The WB's animated sci-fi series "Invasion America", a Steven Spielberg-DreamWorks project
2001
Appeared as Mr. Collins in the children's series "Power Rangers Time Force"; credited as Edward Laurence Albert
2007
Co-starred with C. Thomas Howell in "Fighting Words"; film released after his death
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Albert has a Black Belt in kenjutsu (sword fighting), in the Niten (Two Heaven Style), using long swords (katanas).
Extremely proud of his Latino origins (his mother Margo hailed from Mexico City), Albert helped found Plaza de la Raza, a community arts center that for 25 years has taught the arts to 500 Latino children a week. As of 1997, the complex at Plaza includes a 235-seat theater, two outdoor stages, a dance studio, art space and expansive classrooms.
Albert's earliest work as an environmentalist was as a member of the historic Berkeley expedition to Ana Capa Island which discovered decimation of eggs of pelican rookeries. Testing at Berkeley determined the eggs' thin shells resulted from DDT absorbed by parents, affecting calcium retention. These findings led directly to the banning of DDT and several other pesticides, as well as the indirect salvation of many then-endangered species. Albert also worked 15 years to preserve the 150 acre Escondido Canyon and legendary Escondido Falls (1000 foot waterfall called by THE WALKING GUIDE TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA the most beautiful in the region), resulting in the purchase of the canyon by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
As a photo-journalist, Albert travelled extensively throughout Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, publishing articles accompanied by his photographs, and also worked with a National Geographic photo assignment team at Native American ceremonials in the Southwestern United States. He has had sold-out exhibitions of his photography in both London and Los Angeles and is preparing the photo book "Sacred Vision", a bound edition of images of traditional Native American medicine animals. He has also championed the preservation of Native American sacred and habitation sites.
Albert made his London stage debut in "A Terribly Strange Bed", directed by Orson Welles, and his Los Angeles stage debut came as Fortinbras in the Gordon Davidson production of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" at the Mark Taper Forum. Among his other theatrical performances, he acted in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" and in "Room Service", portrayed the same role in which Eddie Albert had made his stage debut years before.
Albert lives with his family in a home he built with his own hands from the ground up. Since 1985, he and wife Kate have operated an equestrian training and boarding facility at their ranch in Malibu. He has also received a Palisades Award and a Harriet Hugo Award for his poetry.
A musician and composer, Albert did studio work with such people as Rita Coolidge, Joni Mitchell, Glen Campbell, Booker T and Ry Cooder.
About his time in Russia during the breakup of the Soviet Union: "I did a film called 'Ice Runner'. We were shooting a chase scene in Red Square [in Moscow] when the tanks started coming in. We had a young trainee walking toward the tanks with a bullhorn saying, 'We have the square until 5, we have the square until 5!' thinking it was a parade. The news said they shot four people, but I counted at least 16 that I saw, so it was hairier than most people realize." --Edward Albert in Soap Opera Digest, October 14, 1997.
