Characters
Main article: List of M*A*S*H characters See also: List of notable guest stars on M*A*S*H and List of M*A*S*H cast membersM*A*S*H maintained a relatively constant ensemble cast, with four characters—Hawkeye, Father Mulcahy, Margaret Houlihan, and Maxwell Q. Klinger—on the show for all eleven seasons. Several other main characters left or joined the show midway through its run. There were also numerous guest and recurring characters. The writers found creating so many names difficult, and used names from elsewhere; for example, characters on the seventh season were named after the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers.
- Note: Character appearances include double-length episodes as two appearances, making 260 in total.
| Character | Actor/Actress | Rank | Role | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Seasons 1–11) |
Alan Alda | Captain | Chief Surgeon | 260 |
| Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Seasons 1–11) |
Loretta Swit | Major | Head Nurse, Temporary Adjutant |
243 |
| Maxwell Q. Klinger (Seasons 1–11) |
Jamie Farr | Corporal, later Sergeant |
Corpsman, later Company Clerk |
219 |
| John Patrick Francis Mulcahy (Seasons 1–11) |
George Morgan (Pilot Episode), replaced by William Christopher | First Lieutenant, later Captain |
Chaplain | 218 |
| John Francis Xavier "Trapper John" McIntyre (Seasons 1–3) |
Wayne Rogers | Captain | Surgeon | 74 |
| Henry Braymore Blake (Seasons 1–3) |
McLean Stevenson | Lieutenant Colonel | Commanding Officer, Surgeon |
70 |
| Franklin Marion "Frank" Burns (Seasons 1–5) |
Larry Linville | Major, later Lieutenant Colonel (off-screen) |
Surgeon, Executive Officer Temporary Commanding Officer (following the discharge of Henry Blake) |
118 |
| Walter Eugene "Radar" O’Reilly (Seasons 1–8) |
Gary Burghoff | Corporal (one episode as Second Lieutenant) |
Company Clerk, Bugler |
156 |
| B. J. Hunnicutt (replaced Trapper; Seasons 4–11) |
Mike Farrell | Captain | Surgeon | 187 |
| Sherman Tecumseh Potter (replaced Henry Blake; Seasons 4–11) |
Harry Morgan | Colonel | Commanding Officer (after Lt. Col. Blake), Surgeon |
188 |
| Charles Emerson Winchester III (replaced Frank Burns; Seasons 6–11) |
David Ogden Stiers | Major | Surgeon, Executive Officer (after Major Burns) |
137 |
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“The first glance at History convinces us that the actions of men proceed from their needs, their passions, their characters and talents; and impresses us with the belief that such needs, passions and interests are the sole spring of actions.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“Of all the characters I have known, perhaps Walden wears best, and best preserves its purity. Many men have been likened to it, but few deserve that honor. Though the woodchoppers have laid bare first this shore and then that, and the Irish have built their sties by it, and the railroad has infringed on its border, and the ice-men have skimmed it once, it is itself unchanged, the same water which my youthful eyes fell on; all the change is in me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“My characters never die screaming in rage. They attempt to pull themselves back together and go on. And that’s basically a conservative view of life.”
—Jane Smiley (b. 1949)