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 |
Read more about this topic: M*A*S*H (TV series)
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“No one of the characters in my novels has originated, so far as I know, in real life. If anything, the contrary was the case: persons playing a part in my life—the first twenty years of it—had about them something semi-fictitious.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)
“The major men
That is different. They are characters beyond
Reality, composed thereof. They are
The fictive man created out of men.
They are men but artificial men.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“His leanings were strictly lyrical, descriptions of nature and emotions came to him with surprising facility, but on the other hand he had a lot of trouble with routine items, such as, for instance, the opening and closing of doors, or shaking hands when there were numerous characters in a room, and one person or two persons saluted many people.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)