Multiple Emmy, Golden Globe winner Alan Alda to speak May 2 at SMU Tate Lecture

DALLAS (SMU) - Alan Alda, the actor, writer, director and science advocate best known for portraying Captain Hawkeye Pierce on the long-running television series M*A*S*H, will be the featured speaker at The Anita and Truman Arnold Lecture of the Willis M. Tate Lecture Series at SMU Tuesday, May 2.

Alda will be available to answer questions at the Turner Construction/Wells Fargo Tate Student Forum at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Hughes Trigg Student Center Ballroom, 3140 Dyer St. The student forum enables high school students, SMU students, staff and faculty to interact with Alda through a lively question-and-answer session before the lecture that evening.

The Anita and Truman Arnold Lecture will begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium, 6405 Boaz Lane. Tickets for the lecture are sold out. Free tickets are distributed to students with a valid SMU ID on a first-come, first-served basis in the basement of McFarlin Auditorium beginning at 7 p.m. on the evening of the lecture.

Alan Alda’s career spans more than four decades resulting in seven Emmys, six Golden Globes, and three Directors Guild of America awards. Along with his acting and directing debuts, Alda spent 11 years hosting Scientific American Frontiers on PBS. He is also the author of two bestsellers.

As the son of actor Robert Alda, his first acting experiences were through his father, appearing on stage as a baby. He started performing in summer stock theater in Pennsylvania when he was 16 years old. As a student at New York’s Fordham University, he spent time studying abroad, where he made an appearance with his father on television.

He was named one of TV Guide’s “50 Greatest Television Stars of All Time” and became one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood after his role on M*A*S*H, which earned him five Emmy’s for acting, writing, and directing - making him the only actor in history to win in each category for a single series. The show’s series finale was the most-watched single TV episode in U.S. history with 125 million viewers. He also earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his roles on 30 Rock, The West Wing, and ER.

Alda also is a recipient of the National Science Board’s Public Service Award and serves as a visiting professor and founding member of Stony Brook University’s Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. 

Media Contact:

Kim Cobb
SMU News & Communications
214.768.7654
cobbk@smu.edu