David Ogden Stiers, 1942 - 2018

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

William Christopher, 1932-2016

Dear Bill,

I hope you don't mind me calling you Bill, considering that we've never met. But every time I saw someone on the show refer to you, it was as "Bill", not "William." Plus, you seem just so darn friendly that I didn't think you'd mind.

I've never been a believer, of any stripe, but if I had been stationed at the 4077th, I think I would have sought Father Mulcahy out--just to "kick it around", as he liked to say. Father Mulcahy was always so wise, so warm, so understanding, that even though we didn't share any of the same beliefs, you infused the character with such a basic humanity that I never thought you would judge me, no matter how much I might screw up.

You were asked once what M*A*S*H was about, and you cheekily said: "It's about a chaplain in Korea." And while that wasn't strictly true, your presence on the show always offered a stark contrast to the other characters, and the show would have been severely diminished without your presence. And when Father Mulcahy got a big moment--like in "The Interview", "Mulcahy's War", "Dear Sis", or "A Holy Mess"--you knocked it out of the park. In those moments, the show was about a chaplain in Korea!

I grew up on M*A*S*H, and it was an enormous influence on the person I am today. Decades later, I'm still miffed that AfterM*A*S*H--which I watched, er, religiously--was cancelled so unceremoniously, and your character never got a proper goodbye. I like to think Father Mulcahy kept hanging out with his 4077th pals, and continued making life better for anyone who came to him for help. Like the character you so brilliantly played for over a decade, you brought a lot of joy into people's lives.

Rest in peace, William--Bill--Christopher.

Edward Herrmann, 1943-2014

Rest in Peace, Dr. Steven Newsom.

Marcia Strassman, 1948 - 2014

Rest in Peace, Nurse Margie Cutler.

Episodes:

• Requiem For A Lightweight 
• Yankee Doodle Doctor 
• Bananas, Crackers, and Nuts 
• Edwina 
• Love Story
• Ceasefire
  

Dear Allan

Dear Allan,

It was with great sadness that I learned that you had passed away on April 19, 2013. You lived to be 95, a great old age, but nevertheless I can't help but feel like it was much too soon.

I grew up with you as your character Dr. Sidney Freedman on M*A*S*H, and even though you only appeared on the show about once a year, in many ways he was my favorite character on the show. Sidney was brilliant, warm and understanding; yet he had a spine of steel: when faced with threats from the intimidating Col. Flagg, his response was a withering put-down, leaving the mad man to stand there, nonplussed (if only I could have responded to bullies in the same flippant, confident manner). You were an inspiration, and I don't think I was the only M*A*S*H fan who imagined a Sidney Freedman spin-off show. For my money, I could have watched you as that character for many, many more years after the 4077th packed up and went home.

A few years ago, it dawned on me that I frequently wait too late to make contact with people whose creative work is important to me. So I made an effort to try and track you down, if only just to get the chance to send you a letter and say how large you loomed in my life growing up. I called acting unions and agents; sadly no one ever got back to me and I never got the opportunity. I will always regret not being able to tell you how much Sidney Freedman meant to me.

I realize, of course, that you will never get to read this message, and that writing this blog post is probably a little crazy. But I figured who better than you would understand?

 

Harry Morgan Tribute

This sweet tribute to the late Harry Morgan is by Loretta Swit, and ran in the year-end issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Dear Harry

Dear Harry,

First off, I hope you don't mind me calling you "Harry"; though we never met I feel as though I knew you. You see, in your role as Col. Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H, you were like the grandfather I never had (both of them having long since passed away before I was born)--a wise but impish, authoritative yet kind soul who believed in discipline and order but also had the brains and generosity of spirit to allow those around you to be who they were.

I firmly believe that the character you played was the show's greatest creation (Dr. Sidney Freedman a close second), in that Col. Potter's presence flipped M*A*S*H's established--and popular--dynamic on it's head: as your character said in Season Eight's 'Period of Adjustment', you were no Henry Blake, and never tried to be. While Henry was pliable, Potter was firm. While Henry wanted no more than to be one of the gang, Potter knew the best commander he could be involved keeping a slight distance between himself and his people.

You took what could have been a stock character--the Regular Army commander--and gave it so many sides that it only made sense that when the show ended, you became the main character of the unfairly-maligned AfterM*A*S*H spin-off. You once said in an interview that you would have kept going on M*A*S*H forever if you could have; it was "That kind of role, that kind of show." I agree; I could have kept watching forever, too.

I have never served in the military, and never will. Growing up, I worried if I would be drafted into service for some as-yet-unknown war. And while that thought horrified me, I secretly hoped that if that came to pass, I would end up with a commander like Col. Potter: someone I could have turned to with a problem, and would have tried his best to understand me and what I needed to be able to do my best.

When you're a kid (which is when I first discovered M*A*S*H), the line between actor and role is blurred. Intellectually, you know that the two are different yet you can't help be interested when an actor you like appears in some other TV show or movie. I distinctly remember going with Mom to see Disney's The Cat From Outer Space (which featured you and McLean Stevenson, quite a treat for a seven-year-old M*A*S*H fan!), watching old episodes of Dragnet, and being utterly delighted to see you appear in Inherit The Wind, one of my all-time favorite movies (playing a judge, appropriately enough). Deep down, I knew that it was you, Harry Morgan the actor, in those roles, yet some small part of me was just happy to see Col. Potter again, even if he never uttered anything resembling "Horse Hockey!"

When I started this blog, as I usually do, I start to imagine if I'll be able to contact some of the people who actually worked on the thing I'm blogging about. Thankfully, I've been fortunate enough to do just that with M*A*S*H, which has been an amazing thrill for me. I knew the chances of ever talking to you were probably slim to none; but I held out that hope that maybe, someday, I'd find a way to get in touch with you--maybe not for an interview, but just to have the chance to say "Thank you" for all your work and for giving me a role model that helped guide me through life. You may be gone but Col. Sherman T. Potter always will be with me, whenever I need him to be, and for that I cannot thank you enough.

If God has any taste at all, I imagine He/She has already started commissioning new M*A*S*H scripts from Larry Gelbart; and now Col. Potter can join Henry Blake and Frank Burns back at the 4077th.

Rest in peace.