Edward Albert


 * For his father, See Eddie Albert.

Edward Albert (February 20, 1951 – September 22, 2006) was an American film and television actor. He was also known as Edward Laurence Albert and occasionally Eddie Albert, Jr.

Early life
Albert was born Edward Laurence Heimberger in Los Angeles, California, to actor Eddie Albert, and Mexican actress Margo Albert. His godfather was a family friend, Laurence Olivier, which is where Albert got his middle name.

Career
Albert made his motion picture debut in the unusual and offbeat 1965 drama The Fool Killer. In the film he played a runaway orphan who crosses paths with a disturbed Civil War veteran, played by Anthony Perkins. He is best known for his work in the 1972 film Butterflies Are Free, in which he played a blind man, starring opposite Goldie Hawn. The performance earned him a Golden Globe Award as Most Promising Male Newcomer. The following year he starred opposite Liv Ullman in the film adaptation of the play 40 Carats. Albert appeared as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot in the epic film Midway, portraying the doomed son of a famous (and fictitious) naval captain (played by Charlton Heston).

He was also well-loved for his recurring role in the 1980s television series Beauty and the Beast, in which he played Elliot Burch, the millionaire New York developer who loved series heroine Catherine Chandler (played by Linda Hamilton). He may also be remembered as Mr. Collins, father to Wesley Collins, the Red Ranger from Power Rangers: Time Force. Albert also voiced the blind superhero Daredevil in two episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the 1990s.

In the film Guarding Tess (1994), he played the son of kidnapped former First Lady Tess Carlisle (Shirley MacLaine), also starring Nicolas Cage. Throughout his life, he appeared in numerous films, television shows and soap operas, often playing a debonair gentleman with villainous tendencies.

Personal life
Albert was an accomplished photographer, stone-carver and musician. He married Katherine Woodville in 1978, and they had one daughter, Tai Carmen (who is a singer/songwriter of the rock band Sugar in Wartime).

During what would turn out to be his final years, Albert devoted an increasing amount of time to environmental and humanitarian causes. He served on both the California Coastal Commission and the state's Native American Heritage Commission. He lived on a ranch in the mountains above Malibu, for many years, and as a resident of the area, took a leading role in preserving the mountains and canyons that remained undeveloped. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy named the Escondido Canyon area the Edward Albert Escondido Trail and Waterfalls, in his honor before his death.

He died of lung cancer in his home on September 22, 2006 at the age of 55, one year after his father's death. His wife said he had suffered from lung cancer for 17 months. Despite his illness he had tended to his ailing father, who died at the age of 99 in 2005.

He had an adopted sister, Maria, who was not in show business.