Good Evening all and I'd like to introduce you to my acting idol...*trumpets and drumroll* Alan Alda everyone! *applauds* Many of you might know him as Hwkeye Pierce from M*A*S*H*, a role that he played for eleven years and won five emmy's for, amoung his many other awards. That however, is in reality only a fraction of his career. Over the years Alan Alda has been in who knows how many movies, guest stared on many television shows, and even now hosts his own television show called "Scientific American Frontiers" (which can be seen on PBS). If you have never seen any of his work, I highly reccomend it, he is an incredible actor with an amazing range of emotions and ability to play a seemingly endless amount of characters. He is also an accomplished director, as well as a talented improvist and has appeared on Second City,and has been on broadway. Outside of his acting career he is an activist for many causes - He is an ardent supporter of feminist causes and campaigned extensively for 10 years for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. He was also appointed by the president to serve on the National Commission for the Observance of International Women's Year. He has done many other worthy things, but I won't bore you with any more stats, you can always find them out for yourself. I just want to say that Alan Alda has inspired me in my acting, and continues to inspire me, he makes me want to become a better actor. At 67 he is hosting his own show and continues to act (for example. guest starring on ER). He has supported my belief that it doesn't matter what stage of your life you are in, acting is always something you van do. His ability, dedication and just pure genius illustrate to me what it means to be an actor, and to ever be able to act with someone of his calibre would be to me pure bliss. Whether this will happen, who can say. All I know is that to me he illustrates the essence of acting and that to be able to be like him, to be able to be the kind of actor that he is would make me proud. So I say, if you're looking for an outstanding actor to study, or just to enjoy watching, consider him. He is truly one of those unforgettable stars of the screen and stage.