10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Actor Alan Alda

6. He was almost a different character on The West Wing

If you enjoyed watching the show The West Wing, you know that Alan joined the sixth season as Senator Arnold Vinick. His character tried to become President. However, when the show was just in the works, Alan was in the running to play the President but turned it down because he didn’t want to be tied down as a regular in a series at the time. Martin Sheen stepped in to play President Josiah Bartlet instead.

7. He accomplished this amazing feat

He is the only person to win an Emmy for acting, directing, and writing the same show. He won five Emmys for his time with M*A*S*H, which is extremely rare!

8. He is a science enthusiast

Alan hosted Scientific American Frontiers on PBS for many years. BBC also called him in to talk about the Large Hadron Collider when it launched on television.

9. He has been named an “Honorary Woman”

The Boston Globe once called him “the quintessential Honorary Woman: a feminist icon” after his work campaigning for Equal Rights. He also served on the National Commission for the Observance of International Women’s Year in 1976.

10. At 83 years old, he has a podcast

Many people have podcasts these days, including Alan! His show is called Clear + Vivid. He talks about how we communicate with each other and how we can be better at it. He speaks to different guests too. Have you ever listened to his podcast? What do you think about it? Listen to his podcast Clear + Vivid here!

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Check out this video of Alan receiving a lifetime achievement award: