Actor Alan Rosenberg Stars in New ‘Reality Series’ for The ALS Association

From:ALS Association
Date:August 23, 2004
By by Gary Wosk

Playing the ALS-stricken lawyer Alvin Masterson on the CBS show “The Guardian” changed the real life of actor Alan Rosenberg, a familiar face on TV for 30 years.

The 53-year-old Rosenberg, known for his roles on such popular TV series as “L.A. Law,” “Cybill,” “Chicago Hope,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Murphy Brown,”“ER,” “Barnaby Jones,” countless TV movies, films and stage productions, directed the episode of “The Guardian” on which his character informs a child advocacy center associate that he has ALS.

He’s played good guys and bad guys, and now he’s definitely a hero in the eyes of The ALS Association and thousands upon thousands of ALS patients across the United States.

Rosenberg has become a “rebel with a cause” for ALSA as a spokesperson and a devoted friend to a person with the disease, a single woman with no children.

A self-proclaimed 1960's peace activist who would like government to allocate more funding for the research and cure of this disease, Rosenberg decided to resurrect his role as activist for ALSA after visiting with ALS patients at ALSA’s national headquarters in Calabasas, Calif., last March, to prepare for the role.

He came away from that encounter with more than just bundles of reading materials, videos, and feeling touched by the many courageous stories told to him — “I was incredibly moved by them, by their bravery.” He decided to become involved with ALSA and became good friends with ALS patient Denise Glass, a volunteer at the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of The ALS Association.

His friendship with the Westlake Village, Calif., resident and former executive assistant for CEOs of large corporations continues to inspire Rosenberg’s fight against ALS.

“Denise Glass is a very good friend of mine. She is a marvelous person,” Rosenberg said, a day before they were to have lunch together. “I care very deeply about what happens to her.”

Because of Glass, Rosenberg, a resident of Santa Monica, where he lives in a warm and cozy home with his Emmy award-winning wife, Marg Helgenberger of the hit CBS series “CSI,” soon-to-be 14-year-old son, Hughie, and dog Mo-Mo, decided to participate in National ALS Advocacy Day and Public Policy Conference in Washington D.C. last May.

“Once I met the people of ALSA I wasn’t going to walk away from that,” Rosenberg said. “I realized there was a real need there. I don’t know how someone can avail themselves of someone else’s generosity and not give something back.”

Glass, 47, was diagnosed with ALS three years ago and is grateful to Rosenberg for reaching out to her and ALSA.“Alan is a fun, easygoing person with a big heart,” said Glass, gradually losing steadiness in her left leg and is finding it difficult to grasp things with her left hand. “It is hard not to think of him as a big brother. When we are together at an event, we will make plans to get together to do something fun for the future."

“When I met with Alan, a new friendship in my life began. Alan explained why he was at the national office and I was impressed to see that he was truly interested to learn about ALS, besides portraying it in the television show ‘The Guardian.’ That was when I knew he would be a great advocate for The ALS Association on a national and local chapter level. He listened intently while Mike Gagner, another ALS patient, and I told our stories about how ALS has affected our lives. The stories were happy and sad.

During the four hours that we talked, I mentioned that I was going to Washington, D.C. in May for Advocacy Day to meet with different members of Congress to ask them to continue funding for research through the Department of Defense, amend the Social Security Act and increase funding in the National Institutes of Health budget for 2004. I asked if he would like to attend, and he obliged.

”It was very exciting to have Alan attend Advocacy Day and watch him advocate for all of us PALS (People With ALS). When Alan arrived from Los Angeles to attend the Celebration of Excellence Reception in D.C., I introduced him to the PALS and their families in attendance. To see the look on the PALS’ faces, to meet a celebrity such as Alan, and for him to listen intently to their every story, it was worth a million dollars.

“Little does he know, he inspires me to keep going because he has said to me, ‘there are PALS out there that can’t do the work you are doing and you can, so you need to keep up your advocacy work in their honor.’ I feel the two of us inspire each other to keep going.”

Glass and Rosenberg often speak on the phone and “have been doing a lot of fun things together,” including having dinner with the actor and Marg and visiting the set of “NYPD Blue.”

“When Alan asks how I am doing, it is hard at times not to cry when I tell him the latest change that has occurred or what I cannot do because of ALS and he listens with a comforting ear. He is a concerned friend.”

Born in Passaic , New Jersey , the lanky, fit-appearing Rosenberg not only participated in Advocacy Day, but also recently hosted the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of The ALS Association’s fundraiser “A Time to Care” held at the Playboy Mansion , which honored outstanding local and national philanthropists as well as longtime supporters, and raised $575,000. At the gala event, the Chapter presented Rosenberg with the “Spotlight for Increasing Awareness Award” for the “The Guardian” portrayal of a character living with ALS. He also hosted the Chapter’s “Authentic Swing Charity Golf Tournament.”

Both Rosenberg and Helgenberger are members of the Chapter.

“We are so pleased to be able to call Alan a friend of the Chapter,” said Chapter Executive Director Fred Fisher. “Like a good friend, Alan has been there for us. Anything we need, I can just pick up the phone and ask. He has shown himself to be a person of character and compassion, gentle and self-deprecating. He uses his celebrity to help others, and we grateful and honored to be among them.”

Rosenberg has expressed an interest in visiting the Capital again this May.

“I’m open to helping in any way that I can. I would be more than happy to participate in the next Advocacy Day. For me Advocacy Day was different on a couple of levels. First of all, I was happy to lend my support to ALSA, to fighting ALS. And lastly, to walk the halls of Congress with the idea you could go to Congress and lobby them is interesting to me.”

“I remember some of the Congressional staff members recognized me from the show and their face lit up. Suddenly they became more responsive. That’s really sad because what is really compelling is that there were people there with a real need, who have a problem. Hopefully my presence and celebrity picked up people’s morale. I don’t know why that is, but that’s why I was there.”

The head of ALSA’s Advocacy Department looks forward to a Rosenberg encore.

"There are disease wars on Capitol Hill that make attaining goals very difficult,” said Stevan Gibson, vice president, Government Relations and Public Affairs. “To have an effect on the legislative process, you need to use many instruments. Alan was more than willing to be just that: an instrument of change. You could tell that his heart and mind were really behind our efforts, and that was very apparent to our members of Congress."

Helping non-profits is nothing new to Alan and his wife. Each year they host “Marg and Alan’s Celebrity Golf Weekend” in Omaha , Nebraska , which raises awareness for survivors of breast cancer.

Rosenberg said playing characters faced with various health problems, including a junkie —he went for therapy because the role was so intense — and a person at a hospital awaiting a heart transplant, helped prepare him for the ALS part as well as firsthand experiences with personal loss: His brother died of a heart attack at the age of 44 in 1992, and his father also died at a young age.

“I believe I accurately depicted someone with ALS, but you know what, to do it right you have to do your research and you have to get that stuff inside of you…not only the physical symptoms of the disease, but also the emotional life of a character diagnosed with the disease. I had no doubt that I could do that, but it was going to take a lot of work. When you’re handed a story like that, where people with ALS are going to be watching, there’s a real responsibility to it realistically, and that was my intention. As far as we went, I believe we were able to accomplish that.”

Rosenberg said playing someone with ALS is the type of challenging role he and other actors live for.

“I knew it would be tough. You can kind of indicate something and go through it, but one of the great things about acting is that you really get to live through someone else’s experiences, and that can be cathartic. At the same time it can be frightening, it can be depressing, but that is why being an actor is so fulfilling.

“These types of roles, exploring the human condition, are the most involving, challenging, and ultimately the most satisfying because it does have to do with the human condition.”

What ultimately motivates an actor like Rosenberg to play someone with ALS transcends professional fulfillment.

“Part of the challenge is a responsibility that goes along with it. An actor must understand that there are people going through what you are going through on the screen. You want to serve them, the segment of the viewers with ALS, and do it realistically. You do feel like you touch people and there’s a real sense of accomplishment as opposed to doing a situational comedy. You really get the feeling you’re doing something worthwhile.”

When informed of the dramatic turn of events in his character’s life, his thoughts immediately turned to the next season. Would there be a next season, and should he call his agent? And when he told friends he was playing someone with ALS, a few obviously were not listening and thought he had the disease and began commiserating.

“From those people you get a real reaction, not about having a part but about receiving devastating news about me, which kind of gave me some insight into what it would be like to break that news, to share that news with people.”

Rosenberg, the New York State backgammon champ in 1982, is not quite sure why the writers of the show decided to give his character ALS aside from the fact the character expressed an interest in baseball from time to time and kept talking about Lou Gehrig, but he has a hunch or two.

“It was fairly random. None of the writers had people with ALS in their families. I think they were looking to give Alvin a challenge. The writers had struggled for a while with what to do with my character and give him an anchor.

“The creator of the show, David Hollander, told me he wanted me to go on to do things with my life as the character I never would have done if it had not been for the disease. That was one of the great things about the show, it always showed the dark side of the human condition, but it also showed that there is always redemption, and there always is a silver-lining. I love those kinds of stories.”

During the episode, the Masterson character appears semi-euphoric, in a state of self-denial.

“Alvin has this hair brain idea that he’s going to find a healer in California .

Finally he realizes the healer does not work and that he’s fooling himself. A meeting with a son he hasn’t seen in years doesn’t go too well either. He goes there with optimism but quickly gets disillusioned.

“It’s like many situations in life. I know people who are recovering addicts. They go through this period where they’re on a pink cloud, where they only see possibilities. They kind of fool themselves into thinking it’s going to be a relatively easy road to recovery. I think that’s similar to what’s going on with Alvin . The symptoms have not really manifested themselves yet. He’s intoxicated with the challenge. Finally, he just wants to go home and be in comfortable surroundings, and get on with the work of what you’re going to have to do to make your life livable.”

The actor regrets that the series did not continue because audiences will not have an opportunity to observe how his character deals with ALS. In an episode that was never shot, Masterson returns from a soul-searching trip to Antarctica with a beard. His friend Glass is scheduled to embark on a 20-day cruise to Antarctica soon because “she loves ice, cold and animals.”

“From when the show begins until he was diagnosed with ALS, he was kind of an ex-idealist who became disenchanted,” Rosenberg said. “He spent so many years bucking the system, and it beat him down a little. He was more of a guy who just came to work and cleared the cases off his desk.

“ALS kind of emotionally attached him to his clients again and to his purpose in life. He became more determined to help them. He became aware of every single moment he was living, which is interesting because I did a lot of reading and research and I know that emotionalism is one of the symptoms of ALS.

“Unfortunately, the show was cancelled before we were either able to develop the character or storyline further than we did. Our show could be pretty rough at times. I don’t think they would have made easy for Alvin . The storyline would have put obstacles in his way and he would have had to overcome them.”

To play characters like an Alvin Masterson with ALS, Rosenberg believes actors must possess an important quality.

“To be a good actor you have to be a sensitive person, otherwise you could not play roles like this. Actors are supposed to be emotionally available and able to identify with people. I think that was part of me already, but doing this role kind of enhanced those qualities.”

Rosenberg ’s show business career is in first gear. He plays a parody of himself in the recently released film “Frankie and Johnny Are Married,” and he is set to star in the play “Partners,” opening on September 18 in Delaware .


At Playboy Mansion fundraiser he hosted, actor Alan Rosenberg, refreshment in hand, enjoys some time with Denise Glass and Mike Gagner, who both have ALS. Rosenberg has become good friends with Glass, a volunteer for the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of The ALS Association.

From ALS Association