Norman Alden: A Legacy of Character Acting in Film and Television (1924–2012)

Norman Alden, a character actor who appeared in more than 250 films and television series from 1956 to 2006, was born Norman Covin Adelberg at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, to Benjamin Adelberg and Esther Ruth (Covinsky) Adelberg on September 13, 1924. Alden’s first acting role was playing Santa Anna in a school production at McLean Junior High School in Fort Worth. He graduated from Paschal High School in time for military service in the European Theater in World War II. After his discharge from the U.S. Army, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to enroll at Texas Christian University.

When a new local radio station, KXOL (1360 AM), signed on at 4:00 p.m. on April 2, 1947, the first voice listeners heard was that of Norman Alden. At the station he served as a disc jockey as well as co-host (with Bill Herring) of the Hillbilly Supper Club, a country music show, and the prize show Doodle for Dollars. In 1955 Alden traveled to New York to appear as a comic on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts (1946–58). He signed a development deal with NBC and in 1956 gained his first television credit on the anthology series Matinee Theater (1955–58). A year later he made his feature film debut in Hear Me Good (1957).

Stocky and barrel-chested, Alden did not have the look for a leading man, but he was well qualified to be a character actor, often a heavy. He described himself as “the familiar face nobody knows,” and “America’s favorite unknown actor.” Over a period of fifty years, Alden appeared in more than 180 television series. Among the best known were Gunsmoke (1955–75), Leave It to Beaver (1957–63), Perry Mason (1957–66), The Rifleman (1958–63), Bonanza (1959–73), Hogan’s Heroes (1965–71), Batman (1966–68), Mission: Impossible (1966–73), Ironside (1967–75), The Mod Squad (1968–73), Charlie’s Angels (1976–81), Dallas (1978–91), The Dukes of Hazard (1979–85), and Murder, She Wrote (1984–96). Although primarily cast in one-off appearances, Alden had a number of recurring roles. These included starring roles on Rango (1967) and Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976) and memorable performances as Johnny Ringo on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–61) and as Coach Leroy Fedders on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977).

Alden also appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies as well as feature films. Among the better-known theatrical features in which he appeared were The Nutty Professor (1963), Man’s Favorite Sport (1964), The Wild Angels (1966), The Devil’s Brigade (1968), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), The Hindenburg (1975), Back to the Future (1985), They Live! (1988), Ed Wood (1994), and Patch Adams (1998). Other notable films include Kansas City Bomber (1972), a roller derby drama for which Alden’s skills as a skater got him the role of “Horrible” Hank Hopkins; I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), for which industry sources predicted a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Alden; and Semi-Tough (1977), based on the novel by Fort Worth sportswriter Dan Jenkins and filmed in Dallas. An outlier in Alden’s resume was the titular role in Andy (1965), an independent production about a burly adult man with the mind of a child. It was a rare opportunity for Alden to display his dramatic acting ability, but it didn’t lead to any more starring roles, perhaps because the film was not widely seen.

While Alden’s face was familiar to television and movie audiences, he also worked as a voice actor in several cartoons. His first credit in this vein was in Disney film The Sword in the Stone (1963). He had a regular role as the voice of Aquaman in Super Friends (1973) and The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977). His other voice credits include The Transformers: The Movie (1986) and Rugrats (1991–2004). Alden also acted in many television commercials. He had a memorable gig playing Lou the Mechanic for seven years in AC Delco commercials. He was supposedly so believable as a working-class hero that strangers often approached him and asked for advice on automotive problems.

On April 23, 1966, Alden married Sharon Hayden. The couple had two children, Brent and Ashley Alden, before divorcing in 1978. While Los Angeles was his permanent home, Alden often returned to Fort Worth. He appeared as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd in a production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at Casa Mañana in 1991 and played the narrator at a production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town at Paschal High School in 1995. An avid golfer, Alden was frequently in attendance at the Colonial National Invitational (later the Charles Schwab Challenge) held every May in Fort Worth.

Despite his extensive career, Alden was not listed in the 2005 guide to character actors Hey! It’s That Guy. After retiring in 2006, Alden lived in an assisted living facility in Los Angeles. Survived by his life partner, Linda Thieben, he died of natural causes in Los Angeles on July 27, 2012, and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.