Alan Alda Badass Man

An entertainment icon, a keen communicator, and a feminist before it was fashionable, ALAN ALDA has an enduring wisdom that can teach us all new lessons

- Laura Brown

QA LAURA BROWN: Hey, so you know what I’ve called your story? “Alan Alda, Badass Man”!

ALAN ALDA: Then I have to live up to that. [laughs] It’s like the other headline I loved. I was in London, and I had 15 interviews in one day, and I was really sick of hearing myself talk. The last question was one I’d never heard before. She said, “How long would you like to live?” I said, “A hundred and six if I can still have sex.” So the paper came out the next day, and Arlene [his wife of 62 years] is reading it, and the headline is “Watch Out, Girls!” And she looks up from the paper, and she says, “A hundred and six? Give me a break!”

LB: How did you pacify her?

AA: I said, “How ’bout it, honey?” The funny thing is, from that moment on, I actually thought I would live to be 106 [he’s 83]. I just picked a number, and then that was my number. Then I thought, “Oh, wait. I interviewed longevity experts and found out that people will routinely live to 250 before too long.”

LB: Really? When?

AA: Well, I’m not sure it’ll be in our lifetime. But I feel like, “Oh, shit, I’ve short-changed myself. I picked 106.”

LB: What would you do if you lived to 250?

AA: One of the researchers told me we would look and feel half our age. At 40 you’d look and feel 20. At 80 you’d look and feel 40. Unfortunately, at 200 you’d look and feel 100. I like it. I don’t understand why people say, “I don’t want to live forever.” Why not?

LB: I think it depends on your engagement with life. You’ve always been curious.

AA: Yeah. That’s one of the things that really keep me awake.