He commuted from his home in New Jersey to LA every weekend for 11 years while starring in "M*A*S*H" (1972). His wife and daughters lived in NJ, and he did not want to uproot the family to LA, especially because he did not know how long the show would last.
He did not sign on to play Hawkeye Pierce on "M*A*S*H" (1972) until 6 hours before filming began on the pilot episode.
He has twice played characters from Maine, from opposite ends of the ethical spectrum. In "M*A*S*H" (1972) he was noble surgeon Hawkeye Pierce, whose hometown was Crabapple Cove. In The Aviator (2004) he played corrupt U.S. Sen. Owen Brewster, nemesis of Howard Hughes. The author of the original "M*A*S*H" books, Maine doctor Richard Hornberger (writing as Richard Hooker), based the Pierce character on himself but was said to dislike the TV version of his story as overly moralistic. As for Sen. Brewster, whose smarmy hypocrisy was well-depicted by Alda, he was booted out of the Senate by Maine voters in the next Republican primary.
He is Italian-Irish.
He was nominated for the 2012 New Jersey Hall of Fame for His Contributions to Arts and Entertainment.
He was once selected as the most believable actor in the U. S.
He, father Robert Alda and half-brother Antony Alda appeared together in an episode of "M*A*S*H" (1972), "Lend a Hand", during Season 8. Robert had previously appeared in "The Consultant" in Season 3.
His favorite curseword is "horse". It stems from an outburst he once had on a set, where he went through every obscenity he could think of, then unable to come up with anymore, he loudly stated "Horse!". According to Alda, it has since become his favorite curse.
In 2005 he became the fifth actor to receive an Oscar, Emmy and Tony nomination in the same calendar year (for The Aviator (2004), "The West Wing" (1999) and Glengarry Glen Ross, respectively).
Is the first person ever to win an Emmy for acting, writing, and directing. (He accomplished to win in all three categories for his work on "M*A*S*H" (1972)).
Nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for "Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself" [Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling)].
Once did a cartwheel down the aisle while on his way to accept an award that he had just won.
Once played the role of "Sky Masterson" in "Guys 'n' Dolls", the same role his father, Robert Alda, was known for.
Out of his seven grandchildren, two are interested in pursuing careers in acting; his oldest granddaughter, 17 and his oldest grandson, 16.
Served in the U. S. Army, and he went AWOL every weekend because he was dating the woman that he ultimately married, Arlene Alda.
Son of Robert Alda and Joan Brown, a former Miss New York pageant winner.
Studied at Fordham University in New York
Studied at the Sorbonne during his junior year of college.
Suffered from a severe case of polio as a young child. At its worst point he was only able to move his left arm. He was treated by Australian polio expert, nurse Sister Kenny, subject of the movie Sister Kenny (1946).
To show the horrors of war in a television sit-com, Alda had it written into his contract that one scene of every episode must take place in the operating room while surgery occured.