The Only Major Actors Still Alive From M*A*S*H
It's been 40 years since "M*A*S*H" ended its celebrated 11-season run, and the series, even though it's set in the long-ago Korean War, is as hilarious and relevant as ever. When the show premiered in 1972, it was clearly commenting on the still-raging Vietnam War — and, tragically, the United States is still scoring foreign policy own-goals that result in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Meanwhile, on a less serious note, the writing from greats like Larry Gelbart, Burt Metcalfe, and Gene Reynolds was as good as it got for sitcoms in the 1970s.
But there's simply not a chance "M*A*S*H" would've aired for longer than a decade without its dynamite cast. The series' actors earned eight Primetime Emmys (yes, we're counting Alan Alda's 1974 Super Emmy), and while some of these artists found themselves typecast for the rest of their careers, starring in one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time had to take some of the sting out of this.
Given that it's been a good four decades since the 4077th closed up shop, we've sadly lost more than a few of the series' cast members. Wayne Rogers (Trapper John McIntyre), McLean Stevenson (Henry Blake), Larry Linville (Frank Burns), Harry Morgan (Sherman T. Potter) and David Ogden Stiers (Charles Emerson Winchester III) are gone. But some of our favorites are still with us and still at it! Let's check in on five of our favorites.
Alan Alda
Alan Alda is an American legend of stage and screen. He won five Emmys during his time on "M*A*S*H": three for acting, one for directing, and another for writing. He's a veritable renaissance man! He was still playing Hawkeye Pierce when he made his feature writing-and-directing debut with the 1981 ensemble comedy "The Four Seasons," and he spent the rest of the decade knocking out mild-mannered big-screen comedies like "Sweet Liberty" (his best work in this vein), "A New Life" and "Betsy's Wedding."
He returned to television in the 1990s with critically lauded work in "ER" and "The West Wing," and found his way back to Broadway in Neil Simon's "Jake's Women," Yasmina Reza's "Art" (opposite Alfred Molina and Victor Garber, which I can assure you was a delight) and a revival of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" (as hard-up realtor Shelly Levine). More recently, he turned in memorable performances in Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies" and Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story," but if you prefer your Alda uncut, you can listen to his ongoing podcast "Science Clear + Vision."
Loretta Swit
The one and only Major Margaret J. "Hot Lips" Houlihan was one of television's most sought-after talents in the '70s and early '80s, and, but for contractual obligations, would've played Detective Christine Cagney opposite Tyne Daly's Mary Beth Lacey on CBS' popular police procedural "Cagney & Lacey" (she at least got to appear as Cagney in the pilot). Swit continued to work steadily as an actor after "M*A*S*H," but her real passion was for animal rights. A vegan since 1981, she's been an advocate for no-kill animal shelters, and you can support her work by visiting her official website "SwitHeart."
And if you want to see Swit in one of the wildest studio movies of the 1970s, check out her portrayal of mob wife Mildred Meyers in Richard Rush's crazed cop comedy "Freebie and the Bean."
Jamie Farr
Jamie Farr has always had to settle for being the second-most famous Lebanese-American out of Toledo, Ohio, but the man's love for his Midwest hometown shone through in just about every episode of "M*A*S*H." Farr's Corporal Maxwell Klinger made a splash with viewers given his penchant for cross-dressing (which he hoped would get him discharged from the Army). The series eventually abandoned this character quirk, which allowed Klinger to become a more well-rounded member of the 4077th. But for anyone from Northwest Ohio (and I am one such person), Farr's advocacy of Tony Packo's Cafe (and their delicious Hungarian hot dogs) was a source of tremendous regional pride.
Farr's been MIA from the airwaves since Charlie Day's "The Cool Kids" got canceled four years ago, but he still shows up once a year to the LPGA's Dana Open in Sylvania, Ohio, which began life as the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic.
Garry Burghoff
Gary Burghoff was the sole holdover from Robert Altman's 1970 film version of "M*A*S*H," and, really, can you imagine anyone else in the role of Corporal Radar O'Reilly? Radar was the 4077th's mascot. He was unswervingly loyal to Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake and never ratted out Hawkeye and the other troublemakers for their carousing (in fact, he often joined in the fun). He couldn't play the bugle to save his life, but that just made us love him more.
Burghoff's finest hour arrived in "Abyssinia, Henry," where he staggered into the 4077th's operating and announced that the plane flying Blake back home to Illinois had been shot down. Burghoff left the series soon after this moment, which disappointed castmate Mike Farrell, who observed, "[Berghoff's] focus, his ability to find those little gems of behavior that made everything absolutely true were a marvel to behold."
Burghoff's post "M*A*S*H" career has found him inventing such disparate things as fishing tackle and a toilet seat lifting handle. He's also an accomplished jazz drummer. He hasn't acted since appearing in "Daniel's Lot," but he's certainly kept himself busy.
Mike Farrell
It's possible no one's had a busier post-"M*A*S*H" career than Mike Farrell — not even Alan Alda! After Rogers' departure, Farrell joined the cast as Hawkeye's replacement drinking buddy Captain B.J. Hunnicutt. Sporting a bushy mustache, he was something of a sex symbol at a time when mustaches were upper-lip aphrodisiacs. Farrell stayed until the end of the series and backed away from acting for a while to focus on political causes. He was an observer for Amnesty International during the Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s and was a prominent critic of the Iraq War in the 2000s. As for his entertainment career, he formed a production company with Marvin Minoff, which resulted in the 1988 two-hander "Dominick and Eugene" (starring Ray Liotta and Tom Hulce) and, a decade later, Robin Williams' funny-doctor vehicle "Patch Adams."
Farrell served as the Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild from 2002 to 2005, and, after a five-season run on NBC's hour-long "Providence," has popped up here and there on shows like "Desperate Housewives," "Without a Trace" and the Gianni Versace season of "American Crime Story." Once a working actor, always a working actor.