Emmys Flashback: Alan Alda Flipped Out When He Won an Emmy in 1979

Six-time Emmy recipient Alan Alda has never directly said his favorite trophy was the one presented to him by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams in 1979 for writing in a comedy series (he already had two acting and one directing win by then). However, it’s the only Emmy he accepted after doing a cartwheel on the way to the stage.

“I was really, really happy,” he said later regarding the acrobatic move done at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

Alda, 82, has received 34 Emmy noms, with 26 of them for the 11 seasons he was on M*A*S*H. Other noms have come for everything from a guesting gig on 30 Rock in 2009 to the 1974 TV movie 6 Rms Riv Vu. But it was for M*A*S*H‘s “Inga” episode (which saw Hawkeye falling for a Swedish doctor) that he received the writing win.

“You get an award for acting and you don’t really know how much of it is because you’re cute or because you’re on a popular show,” Alda said in 2017. “But if you get an award for writing, the chances are much higher that you did good work and work that’s hard to do.”

This story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.