'Green Acres' Star Eddie Albert Dies at 99

Three things struck me as I read this article and many others about an actor that I enjoyed watching, some that I already knew:

1. Had his mother been living today, in today's society, he may never have been allowed to have been born, as she was not married when he was born. Instead, he may have been aborted.

2 Had he never been born, all those guys he helped to save as he earned his Bronze Star may not have survived... He also did not 'live one the laurels' of his military career and Bronze Star, just like most real heroes.

3 The man was a COMMITTED man, marrying in 1945 and staying married through the years until his wife died forty years later, in spite of Hollywood atmosphere and lifestyles... MANY today could learn from some of the actors of his day.

One I did not know is that he had an adopted child... and that, among other things about this man makes him even more special to me.
May he rest in peace.

Excerpts from the full article:
'Green Acres' Star Eddie Albert Dies at 99

By BOB THOMAS LOS ANGELES (AP) - Eddie Albert, the actor best known as the constantly befuddled city slicker-turned-farmer in television's ``Green Acres,'' has died. He was 99.

Albert died of pneumonia Thursday at his home in the Pacific Palisades area, in the presence of caregivers including his son Edward, who was holding his hand at the time.

``He died so beautifully and so gracefully that literally this morning I don't feel grief, I don't feel loss,'' Edward Albert told The Associated Press.



Albert's mother was not married when he was born, in 1906. After marrying, she changed his birth certificate to read 1908, the younger Albert said.



The actor left Hollywood and appeared as a clown and trapeze artist in a one-ring Mexican circus. He escaped his studio contract by joining the Navy in World War II and served in combat in the South Pacific. He received a Bronze Star for his heroic rescue of wounded Marines at Tarawa, his son said.



Edward Albert, 54, who became a prominent actor in ``Butterflies Are Free,'' ``40 Carats'' and other films, said he put his career on hold for the past eight years to aid his father, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

On Friday, he remembered a moment several years ago in which the two sat in a garden together.

``I said to him 'You're my hero.' I saw him struggling to put together the words, and he looked at me and said: 'You're your hero's hero.' I'll take that to my ... grave.''

Albert was married to the dancer-actress Margo for 40 years until her death in 1985. In addition to his son, Albert is survived by a daughter, Maria Albert Zucht, and two granddaughters.