Alan Alda Turned 90 and Talked Honestly About Parkinson's, Aging, and His 70-Year Marriage

CBS Television publicity photo of MASH cast members including Alan Alda, 1975. Photo via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.*

Ninety Years and Still the Sharpest Person in the Room

Alan Alda turned 90 on January 28, 2026. The dinner was quiet - a family meal, a cupcake with a candle, and a waiter who led the restaurant in singing ‘Happy Birthday, older gentleman.’

‘Then I blew out the candle,’ Alda told the audience at a May 2026 event in New York City, ‘and they said, “You did it yourself. I didn’t help you.”’

The room laughed. They always do when Alan Alda is talking.

The Actor Who Became Something More

Alda is best known to generations of television viewers as Captain Benjamin Franklin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce on MAS*H, the CBS series that ran from 1972 to 1983 and remains one of the most-watched series finales in television history. He won Emmy Awards for acting, writing, and directing on the same series - a combination almost no one in television history has matched.

But Alda’s post-MAS*H career became something different from what most Hollywood careers become after a defining role. He kept working. He podcasted about science communication. He advocated for clearer, more human language in medicine and research. He wrote books. And most recently he appeared in The Four Seasons, a Netflix adaptation of his own 1981 film.

Living With Parkinson’s - on His Own Terms

In 2015, Alda was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He went public with the diagnosis in 2018, becoming one of the most visible and thoughtful voices about what it means to manage a chronic condition while continuing to engage fully with life.

At the May 21, 2026 event at 92NY in New York City - titled ‘More Rules for Aging’ alongside author Roger Rosenblatt and co-host Joy Behar - Alda reflected on what the disease has become at 90.

Managing Parkinson’s, he said, had gone ‘from a part-time job to almost a full-time job.’ But he described it not as defeat but as an ongoing puzzle with satisfying solutions. ‘It’s a little like a game,’ he told the audience. ‘I’ve found whatever the little problem is, if I keep at it, I can eventually solve it - and then I feel like a million bucks. It’s a way to have a good time under poor circumstances.’

People magazine covered the remarks and noted that Alda has continued to approach the disease with the same intellectual curiosity and humor that have characterized his entire public life.

Nearly 70 Years With Arlene

Alan Alda has been married to his wife Arlene since 1957 - approaching seven decades together, and by all accounts genuinely happy about it. His grandson Jake Alda Coffey shared photos from the 90th birthday celebration on social media, writing: ‘Happy 90th birthday to my grandpa. He’s my biggest role model.’

The birthday itself was low-key - dinner, rum cake baked by a friend, and family. Jake described it as ‘full of laughs.’ Tributes from MAS*H co-star Mike Farrell and fans around the world followed the next morning.

What Aging Looks Like When You Refuse to Disappear

The conversation at 92NY was part of a broader message that Alda and Rosenblatt have been developing together: that aging is not a period of decline to be managed quietly, but an active stage of life that demands engagement, curiosity, and a willingness to keep solving problems.

At 90, Alda is still doing exactly that. He is acting. He is speaking publicly. He is making audiences laugh about a waiter who did not offer to help him blow out a birthday candle.

‘I don’t measure age by years,’ he said. ‘Age becomes obvious in unexpected ways - especially when your body tells you things you never anticipated it would tell you.’

He has been finding his way through those moments for a decade now. He is still at it.

References: Alan Alda Details Turning 90 Amid Parkinson’s Disease Battle | MAS*H Star Alan Alda Shares Honest Reality of Living With Parkinson’s at 90 | Alan Alda’s Grandson Shares Photos From Actor’s 90th Birthday