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Robert Alda (February 26, 1914–May 3, 1986) was an American theatrical and film actor and father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. A talented singer and dancer, Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productions before moving to Italy during the early 1960s. He appeared in many European films over the next two decades, occasionally returning to the U.S. for film appearances such as The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969). Alda, an Italian American, was born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo in New York City, New York, the son of Frances (née Tumillo) and Antonio D'Abruzzo, a barber... MORE

Robert Alda (February 26, 1914–May 3, 1986) was an American theatrical and film actor and father of actors Alan and Antony Alda. A talented singer and dancer, Alda was featured in a number of Broadway productions before moving to Italy during the early 1960s. He appeared in many European films over the next two decades, occasionally returning to the U.S. for film appearances such as The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1969). Alda, an Italian American, was born Alfonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D'Abruzzo in New York City, New York, the son of Frances (née Tumillo) and Antonio D'Abruzzo, a barber born in Sant'Agata de' Goti, Benevento, Campania, Italy. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York in 1930. He began as a singer and dancer in vaudeville after winning a talent contest, and moved onto burlesque. He is known for portraying George Gershwin in the biopic Rhapsody in Blue (1945) as well as the greasy talent agent in the Douglas Sirk classic Imitation of Life. He was very successful on Broadway, starring in Guys and Dolls (1950), for which he won a Tony Award, and in What Makes Sammy Run? (1964). Alda's first wife, and mother of actor Alan Alda, Joan Browne, was a showgirl. LESS