Good night, Ol-ee-vah

May 28, 2005 1:34 PM

RIP Eddie Albert. As Mr. Kimball might have said, he was an actor . Well, not really an actor, but a war hero. He was awarded a Bronze star...well, it wasn't really bronze, more like a...anyway, for his efforts at Tarawa. But maybe he was more of an environmentalist...oh, anyway, dig into some hotscakes and remember Mr. Douglas.
posted by Oriole Adams (20 comments total)

Truly amazing guy, and I'm sad that I never knew about his life till I read the LA Times obit this morning.

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posted by maryh at 2:13 PM on May 28, 2005

It's a genius show. Get the DVDs. What makes the first one particularly interesting is that outright spells out for you the fact that Mr. Douglas wasn't the sane one amidst the crazies. It's the opposite.
posted by raysmj at 2:20 PM on May 28, 2005

Eddie Albert was the main investor (if not full owner) of the mall where I went to college in Carbondale Illinois. They had a tv commercial of Eddie landing in the parking lot in a helicopter and running into the mall to buy a suit. The next shot was of him trying on the same suit coat he was wearing when he got out of the helicopter. That's how I'll always remember him. That and as Warden Hazen in the Longest Yard.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 2:20 PM on May 28, 2005

RIP, Oliver. In tribute, I offer the Green Acres theme song en Français (scroll down below photos and click for WAV file) from a fan site with clips and sounds.
posted by planetkyoto at 2:35 PM on May 28, 2005

I liked it in Head Office when he was the CEO who personally disconnected deliquent customers.
posted by drakepool at 3:35 PM on May 28, 2005 [1 favorite]

You went to college in a mall?
posted by found missing at 4:02 PM on May 28, 2005

Not that there's anything wrong with that.
posted by found missing at 4:03 PM on May 28, 2005

You went to college in a mall?

Yup, Dollar Store U. On a football scholarship. Actually, my post above was just written wrong. I went to college at a university in a town called Carbondale. They had a mall in Carbondale. And Eddie Albert owned it.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 4:11 PM on May 28, 2005

I don't want to be cynical, but I suspect that the timing of his death was coordinated with the opening of the remake of The Longest Yard.
posted by found missing at 4:57 PM on May 28, 2005

I have always believed "Green Acres" to be one of the few genuinely surreal programs ever to air on American television, and it came in a decade where there were talking horses, mothers reincarnated into cars, witches and genies, and various undead folks.

I remember reading a TV Guide piece about Eddie Albert years ago, and the story revolved around how he would often give large sums of his own money to anyone showing up at his door with a wacky invention or scheme. Made me think he'd started to believe all those scenes with Pat Buttram as Mr. Haney.
posted by briank at 6:51 PM on May 28, 2005

Green Acres was genius. I think Briank is exactly right: it was surreal, and perfectly so. Oliver Wendell Douglas kept trying to pin down reality, but everyone around him kept reinventing it faster than he could deal with it. I used to think it was comedy, but as a liberal in today's U.S., I see now it was a tragedy.
posted by ancientgower at 7:42 PM on May 28, 2005

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posted by orthogonality at 8:05 PM on May 28, 2005

drakepool-
dis co nect!
posted by horsemuth at 8:23 PM on May 28, 2005

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posted by jlkr at 8:33 PM on May 28, 2005

Before Green Acres, he played a great second banana to Gregory Peck, as he wooed Audrey Hepburn in the classic 1953 romcom Roman Holiday...

R.I.P.
posted by fairmettle at 11:45 PM on May 28, 2005

Green Acres was a little before my time. I know the theme song. I'll check the show out when I can.

I remember him in The Sun also Rises, I believe it was.

And Death Tide at Tarawa, where he spoke with sorrow about the death he saw. I know it was something he carried with him.
posted by drakepool at 5:55 AM on May 29, 2005

his credits also include a science toy.That wacky drinking bird
that bobs up and down ,was invented by him.(edmund science catalog trivia)
posted by hortense at 9:15 AM on May 29, 2005

From Grand Times (edited a bit by me):

During a break on the set of Green Acres, Eva Gabor greeted Albert, just back from one of his many university lectures. "Every time you hear of a sick fish you make a speech. And what do you talk about?"

Albert mentioned the plight of the birds and their nemesis, DDT. "And if you wouldn't mind," he said to Gabor, "I'd appreciate your not wearing that thing you have on in front of the camera."

Gabor, in an extravagant feather outfit with a $5,000 price tag, appeared surprised. "Oh, but it's so beautiful, so chic!"

"Yes, but it caused a lot of birds to die."

"How's that, what are you talking about?"

"It's full of feathers, and the ladies that see you on screen are going to want to buy it."

"Eddie, feathers don't come from birds."

"Well, where do feathers come from?"

"Pillows, dahling, pillows!"

Says Albert of this exchange: "She swears that she was not teasing me!"

My favorite performance from his was when he convincingly portrayed the president of the United States in the movie Dreamscape. He didn't have a lot of screen time in that film, but he made it count. Enjoyable talent, leaving behind quite a legacy of work. His doubletakes and comic timing are legendary. One of the great straight men of the twentieth century. Stood up for what he believed in. Supported environmental and humanitarian efforts. Gave humanity some laughter. Lived a full life. Great man.
posted by ZachsMind at 10:48 AM on May 29, 2005

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posted by nj_subgenius at 2:20 PM on May 29, 2005

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posted by ursus_comiter at 7:24 PM on May 31, 2005