Alan Alda: Life and Laugh Secrets

Alan Alda knows about the road not taken.

He almost turned down the route that made him a star.

Alda marvels that he almost said "no thanks" to the role of Hawkeye in what became the iconic series "M*A*S*H."

 "The show was being shot in California and I lived in New Jersey with my wife and kids," he says.

"I was so conflicted. How could I sustain my family and do a show shot across the country?" he says.

"I was willing to turn it down, but then my wife said, 'If the show is that good maybe we could fix it with you traveling up and back.

"So, I flew up and back from LA to our home in New Jersey for weekends for 11 years," he says.

"It proves that you can really do anything – and especially when you have such a supportive partner in your life who helps you do anything."

BACK ON THE BIG SCREEN IN "TOWER HEIST"

Doing anything includes playing the bad guy in the new film "Tower Heist" co-starring Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller.

The film revolves around a group of hard working operations and maintenance workers at a Manhattan luxury high-rise who are furious when they find out that they've been "taken" by a wealthy businessman's Ponzi scheme.

They decide to use their insider info about the building to rob his high-rise condo and seek retribution.

Alda plays a Wall Street capitalist who ends up stealing pensions.

Alda loved "going bad."

"America still has to get over this whole nice guy thing about me," he says with a laugh.

"I want to say to people, 'Yes, I'm nice in real life, but I'm also an actor.'"

HIS EARLY LIFE AND PAYING DUES

Alda didn't have an easy early life.

As a child growing up in White Plains, New York, he was diagnosed with polio.

"I was affected in every part of my body, except for one arm," he says.

"I was paralyzed temporarily, but no permanent damage," he says. "It got better. Doctors told me I got really lucky."

Alda isn't just a guy who fell into an acting career. He more than paid his dues as a cab driver, doorman and clown.

Yes, clown.

He didn't join the circus, but instead got into full clown costume to stand in front of a gas station to drum up business.

"I was a great clown.I gave it everything in me. I would dance in the hot sun, jump high in the air and spin around. Yeah, I twisted my ankle one day in the rain from that little dance, but still kept going.

"Honestly, I didn't even know how to dance, but I did it," says the calm, gentle voice.

Even at his age, he takes nothing for granted.

 "Even after 'M*A*S*H," I said, 'I might have to go back to driving a cab someday, and if so, I'm still emotionally ready,'" Alda says.

"I just never wanted to lay asphalt," he interjects.

He was never up for that job.  

 "I drive around and pass those guys doing that job and feel such admiration for them. That's hard work!" he says.

ALDA ON AGING AND THE FUTURE

His fan base spans all ages.

"There are people who come up to me who weren't even born when "M*A*S*H" was on the air the first time in prime time and they're loyally watching it now in reruns," he marvels.

He notes that the show is more relevant now that the United States is at war.

"As for the meaning of the show now…….well, it's interesting," he begins. "The show started when we were at war.

"Now that we're at war again, I've heard that people don't want to see war on TV or at the movies," he says. "I think 'M*A*S*H' is different because it was never about the fighting, but the clean up after the fighting.

"It's about saving lives and a different side of war," he says. "That's what touches all those hearts."

Alda says it's never time to retire.

 "Let's face it," he says. "I'm at an age where a lot of people slow down and go to the farm.

"Not me," he promises. "I love playing all of these characters.

"I want to play human beings and show how all of us have good sides and flaws. We're happy. We're sad. We're young. We're older. It's all part of the human experience."

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