Jack Albertson

Jack Albertson (June 16, 1907 – November 25, 1981) was an American award-winning character actor dating to vaudeville. A comedian, dancer, singer, and musician, Albertson is perhaps best known for his role as Grandpa Joe in the 1971 version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. . The actor often stated that he and fellow character actor, Arthur O'Connell, were often confused for each other.

Early life

Albertson was born in Malden, Massachusetts, the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Flora Craft and Leopold Albertson. His sister was actress Mabel Albertson. Albertson's mother, a stock actress, supported the family by working in a shoe factory. Albertson dropped out of high school and traveled to New York City in an attempt make it big in show business. He was too poor to get a room in a flophouse, so in the winter he would sleep on the IRT subway for a nickel, and hide out when the transit workers would clear out the train at the end of the line. In the summer he would sleep in Central Park. Albertson's first real job in show business was with a vaudeville road troupe, the Dancing Verselle Sisters. He was considered a complete entertainer from the old school.

Career

Broadway

Albertson worked in burlesque as a hoofer (soft shoe dancer) and straight man to Phil Silvers on the Minsky's Burlesque Circuit. Besides vaudeville and burlesque, he appeared on the stage in many Broadway plays including High Button Shoes, Top Banana, The Cradle Will Rock, Make Mine Manhattan, Show Boat, Boy Meets Girl, Girl Crazy, Meet the People, The Sunshine Boys (for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor), and The Subject Was Roses (for which he won a Tony for Best Supporting Actor). He was also known for two radio programs, Just Plain Bill and The Jack Albertson Comedy Show.

Film

Albertson appeared in over 30 films. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1968 film The Subject Was Roses. He appeared as Charlie Bucket's Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), and in The Poseidon Adventure (1972), where he was the husband who encouraged his wife, the former swimming champion (played by Shelley Winters in her Oscar-nominated role) to swim for safety. Albertson said that his one regret was that he was not asked to reprise his role in the movie version of The Sunshine Boys.

Television

Television also saw much of Albertson's talent. He appeared in dozens of series, including Dean Jones's NBC series Ensign O'Toole from 1962-1963 and Jack Sheldon's short-lived Run, Buddy, Run on CBS in 1966. He starred in Chico and the Man, for which Albertson won an Emmy, making him one of the few entertainers to win the triple crown of entertainment (a Tony, an Oscar, and an Emmy).

Personal life and death

Albertson was married to Wallace (Wally) Thompson and had one daughter, Maura. He resided for years in West Hollywood, California. In 1978, he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, but kept this information private so he could continue to act. He made two television movies, My Body, My Child (1982) and Grandpa, Will You Run With Me? (1982), that were released posthumously.

Albertson died on November 25, 1981, from colorectal cancer. He was cremated and as his sisters', Mabel Albertson, would be, his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1938	Next Time I Marry	Reporter	unconfirmed
1940	Strike Up the Band	Barker	uncredited
1947	Miracle on 34th Street	Post Office mail sorter next to Lou	uncredited
1952	Anything Can Happen	Flower Vendor	uncredited
1954	Top Banana	Vic Davis
1955	Bring Your Smile Along	Mr. Jenson
1956	Over-Exposed	Les Bauer	uncredited
	The Harder They Fall	Pop
	The Eddy Duchin Story	Piano tuner	uncredited
	The Unguarded Moment	Prof
	You Can't Run Away from It	Third proprietor
1957	Man of a Thousand Faces	Dr. J. Wilson Shields
	Don't Go Near the Water	Rep. George Jansen
	Monkey on My Back	Sam Pian
1958	Teacher's Pet	Guide
1959	Never Steal Anything Small	Sleep-Out Charlie Barnes
	The Shaggy Dog	Reporter	uncredited
1961	The George Raft Story	Milton
	Lover Come Back	Fred
1962	Convicts 4	Art Teacher
	Period of Adjustment	Desk Sergeant
	Who's Got the Action?	Hodges
	Days of Wine and Roses	Traynor
1963	Son of Flubber	Mr. Barley
1964	Kissin' Cousins	Capt. Robert Jason Salbo
	The Patsy	Theatergoer with Helen
	Roustabout	Lou (tea house manager)
1965	How to Murder Your Wife	Dr. Bentley
1967	The Flim-Flam Man	Mr. Packard
1968	How To Save A Marriage and Ruin Your Life	Mr. Slotkin
	The Subject Was Roses	John Cleary	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1969	Justine	Cohen
	'Changes''	The Father
1970	Squeeze A Flower	Alfredo Brazzi
	Rabbit, Run	Marty Tothero
1971	Once Upon A Dead Man
	Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory	Grandpa Joe
	The Late Liz	Rev. Gordon Rogers
1972	Pickup on 101	Hobo
	The Poseidon Adventure	Manny Rosen
1981	The Fox and the Hound	Hunter (Amos Slade)	voice
	Dead and Buried	William G. Dobbs
1982	The American Adventure	Mark Twain

Television credits - recurrent roles

Year	Show	Role	Other notes
1957-1959	The Thin Man	Lt. Harry Evans	14 episodes
1959-1962	The Jack Benny Program	Reporter	6 episodes
1961-1964	Mister Ed	Paul Fenton	7 episodes
1962	Room for One More	Walter Burton
1971-1972	Dr. Simon Locke	Dr. Andrew Sellers
1974-1978	Chico and the Man	Ed Brown	1975 - Nominated - Emmy Award 1976 - Won - Emmy Award 1977 - Nominated - Emmy Award
1978	Grandpa Goes to Washington	Sen. Joe Kelley

Television - guest roles

Year	Show	Role	Other notes
1956	I Love Lucy	Helicopter Dispatcher	"Bon Voyage" episode
1957-1960	Have Gun, Will Travel		3 episodes
1958	Bachelor Father		"Bentley and the Finishing School" episode
1960	The Gale Storm Show	Freddy Morell	1 episode
1959-1961	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	various roles	5 episodes
1961-1963	The Twilight Zone	2 episodes
1962	The Dick Van Dyke Show	Mr. Eisenbauer	1 episode
1966-1967	Run for Your Life	Harry Krissel	3 episodes
1967	The Andy Griffith Show	Bradford J. Taylor	1 episode
1968-1972	Bonanza	2 episodes
1969	The Big Valley	Judge Ben Moore	1 episode
1969-1970	Land of the Giants		2 episodes
	The Virginian		2 episodes
1969-1974	Gunsmoke		3 episodes
1970	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Mr. Chambers	1 episode
	Daniel Boone	Sweet	1 episode
	Nanny and the Professor	Edwin Higgenbotham Botkin	1 episode
1971	Love, American Style	Archie	segment "Love and the Second Time"
1972	Night Gallery	Bullivant	1 episode
1973	The Streets of San Francisco	Tim Murphy	1 episode
1975	Tony Orlando and Dawn	Himself	1 episode
	Mitzi and 100 Guys	Himself	1 episode
	Cher	Himself	Emmy Award
1976	Donny & Marie	Himself	Episode dated 6 April 1976
1980	Charlie's Angels	Edward Jordan	1 episode

See also

• Vaudeville
• Broadway theatre
• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
• Chico and the Man

References

External links