16 June 1907 - 25 November 1981
Jack Albertson was an American actor and is best known for playing Grandpa Joe in Willy Wonka (1971) and Manny Rosen in The Poseidon Adventure (1972). He also appeared in Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Shaggy Dog (1959), The Fox and the Hound (1981), I Love Lucy (156), The Twilight Zone (1961), Mister Ed (1961-1964), Land of the Giants (1969-1970, Professor Kirmus), and Terror at Alcatraz (1982).
Albertson was born in Malden, Massachusetts, US and was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He was raised by his mother and stepfather as his father left before he was born. At school he was known to be intelligent, but he couldn’t concentrate in class, he didn’t do his homework and was the class clown. He dropped out of High School and started working numerous jobs and during this time he took tap dancing classes and would sing with a local group.
Albertson was married and had one child and lived in West Hollywood, California.
In 1978 he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He was working on Disney’s The Fox and the Hound (1981) four months before he died. He died at his LA home aged 74 from colon cancer. His sister died 10 months later from Alzheimer’s disease, the siblings were both cremated and their ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
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