Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Alan Alda, best known for his role as Capt. Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H,” will receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award Sunday evening at the 25th annual SAG Awards ceremony.
“He is an artist whose body of work is a testament to the craft and the magic of our business,” SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris said last year when the honor was announced. “His ability to make us laugh, to think and to feel is extraordinary. From theater to television, movies and new media, Alan’s dedication and talent are exceeded only by his contributions to a just and caring society.”
The Life Achievement Award is given to an actor who “fosters the finest ideals of the acting profession.” Alda will be presented with the award by Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks.
Alda, who will turn 83 on Monday, won Emmy awards for acting, directing and writing on “M*A*S*H,” which ran from 1972 to 1983 and was one of television’s most successful comedy series. He also scored a supporting-actor Emmy in 2006 for his work on “The West Wing,” and was most recently nominated for an Emmy for a 2015 guest appearance on “The Blacklist.”
He was nominated for a supporting-actor Oscar in 2005 for “The Aviator,” but lost to Morgan Freeman.
The New York native’s other film credits include “The Four Seasons,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “California Suite,” “Same Time, Next Year,” “Sweet Liberty,” “Manhattan Murder Mystery” and “Tower Heist.”
He began his acting career on stage, and earned Tony nominations for his work in “The Apple Tree,” “Jake’s Women” and “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
Alda founded the nonprofit Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York, providing communications training for more than 12,000 scientists and medical professionals, and he also hosts the Clear and Vivid podcast series.