Alan Alda shares how face blindness once made him mistake his daughter for a stranger while filming “The Four Seasons.”
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That Awkward Moment
Alan Alda once failed to recognize his own daughter on a movie set.
Back in 1981, while filming “The Four Seasons,” Beatrice returned from getting her hair dyed blonde for her role.
Alda spotted this “stranger” with horn-rimmed glasses staring at him from across the set.
Completely baffled, he asked the assistant director to remove this distracting person.
Living with Face Blindness
The MAS*H star has prosopagnosia, a condition that makes recognizing faces nearly impossible.
Even today at 89, Alda struggles to tell if someone approaching him is a fan or an old friend.
He might spend hours dining with someone and draw a complete blank when seeing them the next day.
Double Health Whammy
Face blindness isn’t Alda’s only challenge these days. His Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2015 has gradually changed his daily routine.
What started as a “part-time job” managing symptoms has evolved into almost full-time work.
Yet somehow, he maintains his trademark sense of humor through it all.
Still Making Us Laugh
Despite his health struggles, Alda recently made a hilarious cameo in Netflix’s adaptation of “The Four Seasons.”
His character offers couples some eyebrow-raising bedroom advice: “Every once in a while, my wife would say, ‘Congratulations!
Take off your pants, it’s a sex day.'” Classic Alda humor shines through his challenges.
Marriage Wisdom Worth Stealing
After 68 years with wife Arlene, Alda knows a thing or two about lasting love.
“The secret to marriage is a short memory,” he quotes his 92-year-old wife.
They focus on truly being present: listening, answering, taking genuine interest.
Even when Arlene must help open packages his trembling fingers can’t manage.