Jack Albertson was considered a complete entertainer from the old school. He was an actor, comedian, dancer, singer, and musician. Albertson was born on June 16, 1907, in Malden, Massachusetts, to Flora Craft, a Russian immigrant and Leo Albertson, a Polish immigrant. He had a sister, Mabel, and a brother, Frank, who were also actors.

Jack dropped out of high school and traveled to New York City in an attempt make it big in show business. He was too poor to get a room in a flop house, so in the winter he would sleep on the IRT subway for a nickel and hide out when the transit workers would clear out the train at the end of the line. In the summer he would sleep in Central Park (This was in the age before the muggers took over the park at night). His first real job in show business was with a vaudeville road troupe, the Dancing Verselle Sisters.

Jack soon worked in burlesque as a hoofer (soft shoe dancer) and straight man to Phil Silvers on the Minsky's Burlesque Circuit. Besides vaudeville and burlesque, he appeared on the stage in many Broadway plays including High Button Shoes, Top Banana, The Cradle Will Rock, Make Mine Manhattan, Showboat, Boy Meets Girl, Girl Crazy, Meet The People, The Sunshine Boys, for which he received a Tony nomination, and The Subject Was Roses, the play which garnered him the Tony. He was also known for two radio programs, Just Plain Bill and The Jack Albertson Comedy Show.

Albertson began taking bit roles in films in 1938; among his many fleeting film parts was the postal worker who redirected all of Santa Claus' mail to the New York Courthouse in Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Albertson mostly playing supporting roles. He played The Thin Man's Lt. Evans: Grandpa Goes to Washington's Senator Joe Kelley and “Grandpa Joe” in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

He played "Paul Fenton” on TV’s Mister Ed. But it was Albertson’s role as grumpy mechanic “Ed Brown” on the TV sitcom Chico and the Man that made Albertson a household name. When Chico and the Man co-star Freddie Prinze committed suicide in 1977, Albertson continued the show for an additional season with child actor Gabriel Melgar added to the cast.

One of only three actors to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy. He won a Tony for his performance in the 1964 Broadway play The Subject Was Roses; he repeated the role in the 1968 film version, winning an Oscar in the process. Albertson added a pair of Emmies to his shelf for his performance as crotchety garage owner Ed Brown on Chico and the Man (1974-77), and for his guest appearance on a 1975 episode of the variety series Cher.

Jack Albertson died on November 25, 1981, at age 74, of cancer. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.