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'''Captain Benjamin Franklin''' "'''Hawkeye'''" ''' Pierce''' (Jr. in the novel) was played by [[Donald Sutherland]] in the film, and by [[Alan Alda]] in the television series.
Pierce was born and raised in [[New England]], most often mentioning Crabapple Cove, Maine, as a place that his family had a summer home and with a few references (primarily in the early seasons) to Vermont. His father graduated from medical school and settled as a doctor in Crabapple Cove in 1911. His mother is deceased and he has a sister (like Vermont, they are mentioned in some early episodes and then never again; although, in season 4, he says he was an only child), and he is close to his father. In the novel and film, Hawkeye is married with children, but in the TV series, he is a bachelor and something of a ladies' man (although he fakes being married to Vanessa Pierce Girlfriend in episode 1/23 "Ceasefire".)
He was given the nickname "Hawkeye" by his father, Benjy (Sr.), in the novel and in the series from the character in the novel ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'', "the only book my old man ever read".<ref>Hornberger, Richard. ''MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'', William Morrow, 1968, p. 12</ref> His birth name is taken from a member of Hooker's own family named Franklin Pierce.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sherman |first=Dale |date=2016 |title=MASH FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Best Care Anywhere |location=Milwaukee, Wisconsin |publisher=Applause Books |isbn=9781480355897}}</ref>
Although he had a rather unremarkable boyhood, by his own admission he had had several experiences he never forgot. Once when young, he fell overboard in a pond and nearly drowned as a result of a cruel practical joke, leaving him with lifelong claustrophobia. When he was 14, his father was angered to find him in bed with a girl and smoking a cigarette. When he was 12, he discovered his father was dating a female bookkeeper; to keep his father's attention all to himself, Hawkeye selfishly ruined their relationship so they couldn't marry.
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Hunnicutt resided in [[Mill Valley, California]], before he was drafted. He was educated at [[Stanford University]] and was a member of the [[Tau Phi Epsilon]] fraternity. He is a third-generation doctor in his family. He went through his military training at [[Fort Sam Houston]]. When he arrived at MASH 4077 in September 1952 he is 28 years old; later when he meets a medical college friend "Practical Joker" it is revealed that BJ has been both married and practicing medicine for 10 years.
He is devoted to his wife Peg (née Hayden) who writes many letters to him while he is in Korea. The couple has a daughter, Erin, who was born shortly before B.J. left for Korea. In contrast to the philandering Trapper John, B.J. remains generally faithful to his wife and daughter, saying that it's not because he thinks it's morally wrong to do otherwise, but "I simply don't want to." One time he accidentally had an unplanned one-night stand while comforting a nurse, and was also similarly tempted into having an affair with a visiting female journalist. The nine months he spends in Korea caused him to have an [[emotional breakdown]] because of the separation from his wife and child. However, he was later written as a recreation of Trapper when in one episode ("Movie To-night) he and Hawkeye sing a duet about how they ''both'' "work on patients through the day and nurses through the night". He is also more reserved than his predecessor, often serving as the voice of reason when Hawkeye goes too far. Nonetheless, he also participates in and initiates practical jokes, such as secretly switching Major Winchester's clothing for that of other soldiers to make him think he is gaining or losing weight, or filling Frank Burns's air raid foxholes with water and then having the visiting Sidney Freedman yell ''"Air raid!"''.<ref> M*A*S*H, Episode 5/08, "Dear Sigmund." First aired November 9, 1976.</ref> On other occasions, B.J. encourages members of the 4077th to play jokes on each other, starting escalating joke wars for his amusement, with neither side knowing that he is the instigator. Unfortunately, this has often backfired on him when both parties he was pranking find out and retaliate. B.J. is also an inveterate, bordering on compulsive, [[
While he assumes the same general disregard for military discipline exhibited by both Hawkeye and Trapper — going as far as to grow out a moustache at the start of the 7th season in clear violation of [[Uniforms of the United States Army|Army uniform guidelines]] (and would be retained by the character for the rest of the series, though Farrell would shave it off immediately after the series ended)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://metv.com/stories/mike-farrell-had-complicated-feelings-about-bj-hunnicutts-mustache | title=Mike Farrell had complicated feelings about B.J. Hunnicutt's mustache }}</ref>
He actively avoids the finality of farewells, but when the 4077th is disbanded in the series finale, he is last seen riding his [[Indian motorcycle]] away from camp, while Hawkeye sees from a helicopter that B.J. has arranged painted white stones into the word "GOODBYE", visible from the air. On an episode of ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', it was mentioned and implied by Dr. Mark Craig (portrayed by [[William Daniels]]) that B.J. Hunnicutt had remained in Korea where he was reassigned to another unit following the July 1953 deactivation of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital at the end of M*A*S*H's finale and Dr. Craig also mentions serving in Korea with B.J. as his drinking buddy.
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In the film and novel, he is a career Army physician, having been commissioned before [[World War II]]. In the television series, he is 44 years old and a reservist called up to active duty and taken from his private practice in [[Bloomington, Illinois]]. Henry attended the [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]], where he was the football team's [[athletic trainer]]. He tells Hawkeye he has "a great practice back home", but a "routine" one, and that by serving in Korea, he is doing more doctoring than he would otherwise do in a lifetime.<ref>Gelbart, Larry; Marks, Lawrence. ''M*A*S*H'', Episode 3/5, "O.R." First aired October 8, 1974. Retrieved May 21, 2015.</ref> While Henry is in command of the 4077th, his wife – called Mildred in earlier episodes, Lorraine in later ones (the reason is never explained) – gives birth to a son back in Bloomington. Henry would never meet his son.<ref>Klane, Robert; Gelbart, Larry. ''M*A*S*H'', Episode 1/24, "Showtime". First aired March 25, 1973. Retrieved September 10, 2015.</ref> As shown in Episode 2/16, "Henry in Love", Blake holds a Commendation Medal, a Purple Heart, an Army of Occupation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean War Campaign Medal, and the U.N. Service Medal. He describes his wife in unflattering terms, having very expensive false teeth, varicose veins, a fistful of credit cards, looking like Frank Burns in drag, and that he only married her because she was a good cook. (These terms are quite unfair; in a home movie she sent to him, she is considered more good looking than beautiful). Likewise, when she wrote to him about being tempted to (but not having) an affair with a dentist and that she understood if he was tempted to have an affair, Blake brags to Pierce and Trapper that she had given him permission to have an affair, which she did not. (In fact Blake is a serial adulterer, having interacted with six women, including three M*A*S*H 4077 nurses).
Henry is a good man and a capable surgeon but unfocused and often ineffective as a [[commanding officer]]. In a letter to his father, Hawkeye Pierce
Blake also shows superior skills in assessing medical talent, when he ignores military rank and appoints Hawkeye Pierce as chief surgeon over Frank Burns. (Although junior in rank, Pierce was a specialist surgeon in chest wounds while Burns was a [[General practitioner|General Practitioner]].)
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'''Colonel Sherman Tecumseh Potter''' appears in the ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'' and ''[[AfterMASH]]'' television series. He was portrayed by [[Harry Morgan]] and replaced the departing character of Henry Blake as commanding officer of the 4077th MASH. The character appeared in all but three of the subsequent episodes.
Potter is from [[Hannibal, Missouri]], one-quarter [[Cherokee]]<ref>Folb, Jay. ''M*A*S*H'', Episode 4/12, "Of Moose and Men", first aired November 21, 1975.</ref> and possesses a passion and fondness for horses. In typical ''M*A*S*H'' inconsistency, Potter's birth year was variously mentioned as being
Potter joined the US Army [[cavalry]] as a private during World War I and subsequently rose to the rank of sergeant. Although never deployed as cavalry, the 6th and 15th Cavalry Regiments were sent to France and served in the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] in 1918.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.moore.army.mil/armor/194th/5-15th/History.html | title=Fort Moore | 5th Squadron, 15th Cavalry Regiment }}</ref> As the 15th was dismounted and sent into the trenches as infantry to relieve exhausted doughboys,<ref>https://www.moore.army.mil/armor/194th/5-15th/History.html. Retrieved September 19, 2023.</ref> it seems probable Potter saw combat with this battle-hardened unit in the Great War.
Although his career was in the Horse Cavalry until 1924 when he married, he has told stories about being in the Infantry during World War I. During combat in [[World War I]], at the July 1918 [[Battle of Château-Thierry (1918)|Battle of Château-Thierry]], he was [[mustard gas]]sed, leaving him blind for a month in a French hospital.<ref name="auto"/> In the September - November 1918 Battle of the [[Forest of Argonne|Argonne Forest]], he was "lost for three days, taken prisoner, head shaved and beaten to a pulp".<ref name="auto">Hess, John D., Episode 4/7, "The Bus", first aired October 17, 1975.</ref> Several of his teeth were knocked out by his German captors, for which he was later awarded a [[Purple Heart]], one of four he holds: two from World War I, one for his teeth being broken by the Germans and another for having been gassed; one from World War II when his illicit still on Guam blew up on him; and one from Korea, for being shot in the buttocks by a sniper. After the Great War, he went to medical school, and began his service as an Army doctor in 1932,<ref name="Episode 5-11"/> serving in [[World War II]]. One of his most cherished possessions is his [[Good Conduct Medal (United States)|Good Conduct Medal]], an award "only given to enlisted men", Potter explains to Radar while unpacking that he has a "Good Conduct Medal with a clasp."<ref name="Episode 4-02"/> That means he was an enlisted man for at least eight years before he becomes a doctor. It is framed and hung behind his desk during his tenure at the 4077th. However, the earliest a soldier in the army was credited towards this award was 1940, and as a physician Potter would have been a commissioned officer and so ineligible for it at the time. He also has claimed to be in two different theaters of War during World War II: In the summer of 1944 on Guam;<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 4/3, "Change of
Potter is well-liked by his subordinates, especially Radar, who comes to see him as a mentor and father figure after Blake's transfer stateside and subsequent death. Potter receives more respect than Blake did from Major Houlihan, but Major Burns harbors a grudge against him after being passed over for command. In turn, Potter holds Burns's feigned military bearing and subpar medical skills in contempt. Potter takes pride in the competency of the rest of the medical staff despite their antics. Burns's replacement, Major Winchester, has a grudging respect for Potter, even though their personalities are often at odds with one another. Potter initially takes a hard line against Klinger's attempts to get discharged but is convinced to let him continue cross-dressing and eventually assigns him to be his new company clerk after Radar received a hardship discharge. As an indication of their respect for him, in the final episode Hawkeye and B. J. formally salute Potter as he leaves the camp, one of the few times either is shown doing so.
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In the film and the subsequent TV series, Frank Burns's rank is that of major. The film version includes elements of the novel's Major Jonathan Hobson, a very [[Religion|religious]] man who prays for all souls to be saved. In the TV series, he is very high-strung, with a penchant for uttering what are often bizarre or redundant cliches and malapropisms; one example is from "The Interview" (season 4, episode 24), in which Burns describes marriage as "the ''headstone'' of American society".
In the TV series
Among his underhanded schemes are filing misleading complaints about Blake and unsuccessfully preventing Hawkeye and Trapper from testifying in Blake's defense.<ref>
In "[[The Novocaine Mutiny]]", Burns is left in temporary command when the 4077th is inundated with a deluge of casualties. Burns and Hawkeye recount different versions of the events. Burns claims that he was performing superior work, even going so far as to donate blood to a critically wounded soldier in between treating patients and completing the Last Rites benediction in Latin for the deceased after Father Mulcahy passed out from exhaustion. Burns further asserts that the other surgeons could not keep up with him and complained that he was pushing them too hard. In Hawkeye's presumably far more accurate account, Frank was borderline hysterical and performed his [[triage]] duties with singular incompetence, which resulted in the near-deaths of multiple casualties. After being confronted by Hawkeye, Burns was knocked unconscious by the operating room door. The JAG colonel investigating the incident to determine if a court-martial is warranted concluded there were no grounds for a court-martial, and indicated that according to Burns' record, "If you hadn't been drafted as a doctor, I think you'd have been assigned as a pastry chef."<ref name="ReferenceB">M*A*S*H, Episode 4/21, "The Novocaine Mutiny". First aired January 27, 1976.</ref>
A borderline-incompetent surgeon (he twice failed the medical exams and only passed by buying the answers the third time - even so it took him seven years to complete medical school<ref>)M*A*S*H, Episode 2/22, "George". First aired February 16, 1974.</ref>), his reputation for incompetence has spread even to the South Korean Army.<ref>Episode 5/11, "Hawkeye Get Your Gun". First aired November 30, 1976.</ref> He also failed to become a nurse when he couldn't fold bed sheets with [[hospital corners]], and in his hometown the local funeral director sends him Thank You cards every Christmas.<ref>Powell, Richard M. M*A*S*H, Episode 2/10, "The Sniper". First aired November 17, 1973.</ref>
The other doctors of the 4077th have little to no respect for Ferret Face. They looked at him with amused contempt when he once referred to himself as the unit's "Deputy Chief Surgeon".<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 3/21, "Big Mac". First aired February 25, 1975.</ref> In one episode, one of Burns's patients had to have emergency surgery because Burns was too lazy to exteriorize a patient's colon during an operation.<ref name="ReferenceA">M*A*S*H, Episode 5/03, "Margaret's Engagement". First aired September 28, 1976</ref> Henry Blake once threatened to bust Burns down to male nurse if he didn't get out of his way.<ref>M*A*S*H< Episode 1/09, "Henry, Please Come Home". First aired November 19, 1972.</ref> Potter once told Burns his light bulb had been out for as long as he had known him;<ref name="Mail Call Again 1975">M*A*S*H, Episode 4/15, "Mail Call Again". First aired December 9, 1975.</ref> and on another occasion, told him that his brain had a charley horse.<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 4/16, "The Price of Tomato Juice". First aired December 16, 1975.</ref> Hawkeye told a court of inquiry that Burns had created more widows and orphans than salmonella,<ref
Frank had a poor relationship with his father, who would strike him at the dinner table if he ever talked out of turn. Furthermore, Burn's father pretended to like his son, but actually hated him. His older brother despised him, pinning the nickname of "Ferret Face" on him as a boy. When the Swampmen learn of this, it becomes Frank's nickname at the 4077th as well, used by most of the unit and even on occasion by Major Houlihan.<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 3/04, "Iron Guts Kelly". First aired October 1, 1974.</ref> The one person who genuinely cares about him is his mother; his parents and brother were his only relations at his wedding.<ref name="Like A Nurse 1974">M*A*S*H, Episode 3/10, "There Is Nothing Like a Nurse". First aired November 19. 1974.</ref> He was scoutmaster of the local Boy Scout troop until he accidentally set fire to himself. He brags about having a large house, an expensive car, a yacht and being a member of two men's clubs.
Burns also has collateral duties as M*A*S*H 4077's Physical Fitness instructor, Food Procurement Officer, Food Inspector (where he came down with a case of [[food poisoning]]), Garbage Officer,<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 3/07, "Check-Up." FIrst aired October 22, 1974.</ref> and Sanitary Disposal Officer, duties normally performed by the most [[junior officer]] of the unit, not a [[Senior officer|field grade officer]]. Every Friday he gives boring, nonsensical orientation lectures to newly arrived enlisted personnel about why the United States is in the Korean War.<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 2/05, "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde". First aired October 13, 1973.</ref>
He was in practice for 12 years before going to Korea in 1950. Based on his age and how long he had been in private practice before he was drafted, Burns appears to be an immigrant to the United States from some unnamed country, stating his family had come to America in 1927.<ref>Stevenson, McLean. ''M*A*S*H'', Episode 2/8, "The Trial of Henry Blake", first aired November 9, 1976.</ref> In the season 3 episode "O.R.", Frank has a quiet, insightful conversation with Trapper, where he admits that he grew up in a strict family where he couldn't talk at meals, and that he became a snitch "so I could talk to somebody."
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Burns' only friend in the unit is head nurse Major Margaret Houlihan, with whom he has an ongoing affair. They believe their romance is discreet, but it is common knowledge in the camp. They share a disdain for the "un-military" doctors, against whom they conspire ineffectively. His wife eventually learns of the affair and threatens him with divorce; he denies it, describing Houlihan as an "old warhorse" and an "army mule with bosoms",<ref name="Mail Call Again 1975"/> beginning a rift that leads to her engagement to Donald Penobscott, a handsome lieutenant colonel stationed in Tokyo.
Burns becomes even more erratic than usual after Houlihan's engagement and even a little before, such as when she was attending a meeting in Tokyo during Season 4 without him. During Margaret's stay in Tokyo, Burns drinks all of Hawkeye's booze, cleans out Hawkeye and BJ's poker winnings of $200, and confesses that he wants to have affairs with two other nurses besides Houlihan: Nurse Kellye, and an unnamed "little red-haired nurse".<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 4/18, "Der Tag". First aired January 6, 1976.</ref> After Margaret becomes engaged, he nearly blows himself up with a grenade in an attempt to prove himself courageous by capturing war prisoners. This leads to him "capturing" a Korean family and their ox, and almost
Following Houlihan's marriage in the fifth-season finale, "Margaret's Marriage" (also Larry Linville's last appearance on camera as Frank Burns), in the two-part sixth-season premiere episode "Fade Out, Fade In" that introduces his temporary (later permanent) replacement, Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, the 4077th learns that shortly after the wedding, Burns suffered a mental breakdown while on a week's leave in [[Seoul]]. He accosted a blonde female [[Women's Army Corps|WAC]] on the street, begging to manicure her toenails; a blonde female Red Cross worker on a bus, whose buttons he tried to bite off; and an army general and his blonde wife in an [[Sentō|offoro]] bath, mistaking the couple for the Penobscots. He is transferred stateside for psychiatric evaluation, but although the 4077th is delighted to be finally rid of him, Burns has the last laugh. He telephones Hawkeye and B.J. as he is being shipped back to the United States and tells them that not only has he been cleared of all charges, but has been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to a veterans' hospital in his hometown.<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 6/02, "Fade Out, Fade In". First aired September 20, 1977.</ref> As Burns was not above misrepresenting events to make himself look better, e.g., "The Novocaine Mutiny", it is unknown if he was telling the truth. However, Hawkeye's and B.J.'s reaction indicates that on this occasion, Frank was indeed stating the facts.
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Early on in the TV series, she is a stern "by-the-book" head nurse but willingly goes against regulations for personal gain. She uses her sex appeal to her professional advantage as well as personal satisfaction, as shown by her relationship with Frank Burns. In early seasons she had several liaisons with visiting colonels or generals who were "old friends". She is an experienced surgical nurse, so although she thoroughly disapproves of the surgeons' off-duty tomfoolery, she can set her personal feelings aside to appreciate their skills, such as when she came down with appendicitis and asked that Hawkeye, not Burns, perform the surgery if needed.<ref>Episode 5.11, "The Colonel's Horse".</ref>
In later years, she becomes a more relaxed and less criticizing member of the unit, tempering her authority with humanity. Key episodes in this development include the season 5 episode "The Nurses", in which she plays the role of a stern disciplinarian but breaks down in front of her nurses, revealing how hurt she is by their disdain for her; and "Comrades In Arms" (season 6), in which Hawkeye and Margaret make peace as they endure an artillery barrage together while lost in the wilderness, though they had also shown more mutual respect for one another before, when they have to go to a front-line aid station in "Aid Station" (season 3). She confesses to Klinger that she envies him for having a hometown — as an [[army brat]] she has moved around so much she could never make any friends. Drinking problems appear to run in her family. She once told Frank that half of her salary went to support her mother; half of that money went towards drying her out, the other half for bail money (her mother was a [[kleptomania]]c).<ref name="
Her long-standing affair with Frank ends after she finally realizes that Burns has no intention of divorcing his wife to marry her; she does have an engagement and subsequent marriage to Lieutenant Colonel Donald Penobscott. The marriage does not last long; she later finds out a visiting nurse had had an affair with him. Though he promises to work things out with her, he has himself permanently transferred to San Francisco. She divorces him, regaining her self-confidence. In the wake of her split with Burns, she becomes more comfortable with at least some of the unit's more unorthodox ways and as time progresses, becomes a willing participant in some of the hijinks. Despite their long-running mutual antagonism, Hawkeye and Margaret came to develop respect and affection for each other, reflected in a long passionate farewell kiss in the final episode. She returns to the US to take a position in an Army hospital.<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 11/16, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen. FIrst aired February 28, 1983.</ref>
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Charles Winchester was born in his grandmother's house in the [[Boston, Massachusetts]] neighborhood of [[Beacon Hill, Boston|Beacon Hill]], and is part of a wealthy family of Republican [[Boston Brahmin]]s. After finishing his secondary studies at [[Choate Rosemary Hall|Choate]], he graduated ''[[Latin honors|summa cum laude]]'' class of 1943 from [[Harvard College]] (where he lettered in [[Rowing (sport)|Crew]] and [[Polo]]), completed his [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] at [[Harvard Medical School|Harvard Medical]] in Boston in 1948 (graduating first in his class<ref>Episode 7/08, "They Call the Wind Korea". First aired October 30, 1978.</ref>), and worked at [[Massachusetts General Hospital]]. Before he was [[Conscription|drafted]] to join the [[United States Army|US Army]] during the [[Korean War]], he was on track to become chief of [[cardiothoracic surgery]].
Winchester's commanding officer in Tokyo, Colonel Horace Baldwin ([[Robert Symonds]]), transferred him to the 4077th on [[temporary duty]] in retaliation for the major's gloating attitude about beating him at [[cribbage]] for $672.17 (equivalent to about $7,130 in 2022).<ref>{{cite web |url= https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=672&year1=195201&year2=202201 |title=CPI Inflation Calculator |work=Data.BLS.gov}}{{When|reason=Link broken due to lack of month in citation. Please give the month and year for the character's debt.|date=November 2019}}</ref> After Burns ran amok in Seoul on leave and was promoted and transferred back to the United States, Colonel Potter
Assigned to quarters in "the Swamp" with Hawkeye and B.J., Winchester found the conditions there appalling, calling the camp upon his arrival "an inflamed boil on the buttocks of the world." Keeping with the show's tradition of replacement characters who are in some way the antithesis of their predecessors, Winchester is as skilled a surgeon as Burns was inept — although he had to learn how to perform [[battlefield medicine]], a.k.a. meatball surgery, to increase his efficiency with the large number of critical patients that typically arrived at one time. Winchester does adjust accordingly, although his skill as a surgeon inadvertently frustrates his hope of being transferred back to Tokyo since Colonel Potter considers him too valuable to lose. He is as cultured as Burns was lowbrow; in one episode during a verbal joust with Pierce and Hunnicutt, Winchester matches them true story for true story due to his cultured upbringing and skill, culminating in him revealing he even once dated actress [[Audrey Hepburn]] (producing a candid photograph of them as proof) to the astonishment and chagrin of B.J. and Hawkeye.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Major Topper |series=M*A*S*H* |network=CBS-TV |date=March 27, 1978}}</ref> However, Winchester still has to adjust to the realities of field medicine. Although the character was originally intended to develop a romance with Houlihan,{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} the chemistry between the two was not there, so Charles and Margaret maintain a platonic, professional friendship. This showed through when Col. Baldwin came to the camp on an official visit and Winchester tried to curry his favor in hopes of being reassigned. However, when Baldwin mistook Major Houlihan as a prostitute Winchester procured for him and tried to sexually assault her, Baldwin offered to reassign Winchester if he supported his false accusation that Houlihan made advances on him. After much internal struggle, Winchester refused to cooperate and told Colonel Potter everything while finally giving Baldwin his true opinion of him as an insufferable superior, forcing him to leave in public humiliation while Winchester's comrades applauded his act of conscience.
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| data21 = [[Ottumwa, Iowa]]
}}
'''Corporal''' (briefly, and unofficially, '''Second Lieutenant''' and '''Corporal-Captain''') '''Walter Eugene''' "'''Radar'''" '''O'Reilly''' appears in the novels, film, and TV series. He also appeared in two episodes of ''[[AfterMASH]]'', and starred in the television pilot ''[[W*A*L*T*E*R]]''. The character was portrayed by [[Gary Burghoff]] in both the film and on television, the only regular character played by a single actor. His full name is never given in the original novel or film, but on the TV series it is Walter Eugene O'Reilly,
Radar is from [[Ottumwa, Iowa]], and joined the army right out of high school. (He has a brother who was rejected by the draft as [[Selective Service System|4F]].<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 3/03, "Officer of the Day. First aired September 24, 1974.</ref>) He seems to have [[Extrasensory perception|extra-sensory perception]], appearing at his commander's side, with whatever paperwork is required, before being called
In the film, Radar was portrayed as worldly and sneaky, a characterization that carried into the early part of the series. He carries with him a pocketful of passes for any potential scam that might arise and has a racket of selling tickets for spying through a peephole into the nurses' shower. Another time, he cons nearly every member of MASH 4077 into buying mail-order shoes. As was allegedly done a couple of times in World War II,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ewillys.com/2015/12/06/mailing-home-a-jeep/ | title=Mailing Home a Jeep | date=December 6, 2015 }}</ref> he successfully mailed a [[Willys MB|jeep]] home, one piece at a time.<ref>M*A*S*H, Episode 1/12, "Dear Dad". First aired December 17, 1972.</ref> He is known for his tremendous appetite for heaping portions of food, is not averse to drinking Henry Blake's brandy and smoking his cigars when the colonel is off-duty, and
Soon after the pilot episode, Burghoff noted that the other characters were changing from the film portrayals and decided to follow. He and writer [[Larry Gelbart]] evolved Radar into a naïve farm boy,<ref name="levine20120530">{{cite web |url= http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2012/05/gary-burghoff-explains-radar.html |title=Gary Burghoff explains Radar |work=... by Ken Levine: The World as Seen by a TV Comedy Writer |date=May 30, 2012 |access-date=May 30, 2012 |last=Levine |first=Ken |author-link=Ken Levine (screenwriter)}}</ref> who still sleeps with his [[teddy bear]] and whose favorite beverage is [[Nehi]] brand grape soda. He has a virginal awkwardness with women and a fondness for superhero comic books. In season 3, he remarked that he would be glad to live past age 18, though other ages are given in other episodes, and by then the actor was pushing 30. The show continued to portray him as very young even as his hairline receded (all of the actors would age a decade during this protracted retelling of a three-year war).
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'''Corporal''' (later '''Sergeant''') '''Maxwell Q.''' "'''Max'''" '''Klinger''' appears in the television series ''M*A*S*H'' and the spin-off ''AfterMASH'', played by actor [[Jamie Farr]]. He serves as an orderly/sentry and later company clerk assigned to the 4077th. Klinger was the first main character introduced on ''M*A*S*H'' not to have appeared in either the original novel or the subsequent film. Klinger is an [[Arab-American]] of [[Lebanese-American|Lebanese descent]] from [[Toledo, Ohio]] (like Farr himself). As for Klinger's religion, in an early show, Klinger said he gave up being an [[atheist]] for [[Lent]]. In real life, Jamie Farr is a devout [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian (Greek) Orthodox]].<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P4cUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AwQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6297,4257550&dq=the-farahs-attended "A soldier in a dress put Toledo into America's living rooms"]. Toledo, Ohio: ''The Blade''. March 28, 2000.</ref> In other episodes, Klinger pleads with [[Allah]] to help him out of a jam.
In the sixth season episode "What's Up, Doc?", Klinger is indicated to be 30-years-old. While talking to Colonel Potter, Klinger insists that he needs a hardship discharge, due to him having nine children to support, and shows Potter photos of nine children. Potter points to one of Klinger's alleged children and remarks: "This kid has got to be at least 19. That would mean you were a father at 11."
The character's original defining characteristic was his continual attempts to gain a [[Section 8 (military)|Section 8]] psychiatric discharge from the Army, by habitually wearing women's clothing and engaging in other "crazy" stunts. His first appearance was in the fourth episode, "[[Chief Surgeon Who?]]"; in that episode's original script, Klinger was an effeminate gay man ("a silly fag character" as stated by Farr in the documentary ''Making M*A*S*H''), but the writers later agreed that it would be more interesting to have Klinger be heterosexual, but wear dresses in an attempt to gain a [[Section 8 (military)|Section 8]] discharge.<ref name="watch29">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CMPx-jksa6IC |title=Watching M*A*S*H, Watching America: A Social History of the 1972–1983 Television Series |last=Wittebols |first=James H. |page=29 |access-date=May 16, 2009 |isbn=978-0-7864-1701-8 |date=2003 |publisher=McFarland}}</ref> Among the characters Klinger has tried to dress up as include [[The Statue of Liberty]], [[Moses]], [[Zoltán of Hungary|Zoltan King of the Gypsies]], [[Cleopatra]], [[Snow White (Disney character)|Snow White]], [[Dorothy Gale|Dorothy from the ''Wizard of Oz'']], [[Scarlett O'Hara]] from ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone With the Wind]]''; a ballerina, a U.S. Army female nurse, a 1920s [[flapper]], a nun, two Korean women and a [[bride]]. He makes it a point to play up his antics to visiting high-ranking officers in an attempt to gain their sympathy and convince them that he is unfit to serve. When Colonel Potter takes command, Klinger immediately tries the same with him, but Potter sees through the scam immediately. Series writer [[Larry Gelbart]] stated during the ''M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion'' special that Klinger's antics were inspired by stories of [[Lenny Bruce]] attempting to dodge his military service by dressing himself as a U.S. Navy [[WAVES|WAVE]].
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In both the novel and the film, he is a surgeon assigned to the 4077th, who arrives with Hawkeye. Hailing from the fictional small town of Forrest City, Georgia, Duke ends up sharing a tent with Hawkeye, Frank Burns, and Trapper John.
In the film, when it is proposed that Oliver Harmon "Spearchucker" Jones will bunk with the other surgeons in the Swamp, Duke treats him with disrespect (implied to be because of his Southern heritage), until Hawkeye and Trapper rebuke him. Duke later comes to appreciate Spearchucker's skill as both a surgeon and a former professional football player.
The Duke Forrest character did not appear in the TV series. Skerritt reportedly turned down the offer from 20th Century Fox to reprise his role as Duke on the series because he doubted that a half-hour sitcom adaptation of the film would succeed. In a [[M*A*S*H season 3|season 3]] episode, when asked what happened to "that surgeon you had from Georgia", Trapper answers, "He got sent stateside!"{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
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Donald is introduced in name only at the start of the fifth season. Tall, dark, handsome, and muscular, he is a graduate of [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] whom [[#Margaret Houlihan|Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan]] (Loretta Swit) meets while she is on leave in Tokyo. She falls in love with him on the spot, and he quickly asks her to marry him. Margaret promptly accepts, leading to a falling out with her former flame [[#Frank Burns|Frank Burns]].
Penobscott is not seen until the season-ending episode "Margaret's Marriage", wherein Donald (played by Carroll) arrives to marry Margaret at the 4077th. Hawkeye and B.
He is not seen again until the sixth-season episode "The M*A*S*H Olympics", in which Donald (played this time by Henry) arrives to visit Margaret and ends up taking part in the 4077th's amateur Olympics competition; he almost wins a race against portly Sgt. First Class Ames, but Penobscott gets tangled
He is mentioned frequently throughout the sixth and seventh seasons, particularly about problems Margaret and Donald are having. For example, in the episode "In Love and War", a new nurse arrives at the 4077th. After saying she was recently involved with a colonel named Donald, Margaret comes to conclude he has cheated on her, and she flies into a rage against the nurse. In "Comrades in Arms", Margaret receives a letter from Donald that was meant for another woman — a letter that says unkind things about Margaret and hints at Donald having an affair with the other woman. Finally, in the season seven episode "Peace on Us", Margaret announces she's getting a divorce due to Donald arranging a transfer to San Francisco without telling her. Margaret receives her official divorce decree from Donald in the episode "Hot Lips is Back in Town".
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'''Major Sidney Theodore Freedman''', played by [[Allan Arbus]], is a psychiatrist summoned in cases of mental health problems. In the ''M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Special'' that aired on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] in 2002, Arbus was the only non-regular cast member to be featured on the special.
Freedman's first appearance was in the episode "[[Radar's Report]]", as ''Milton Freedman''. He visited the camp to do a psychiatric evaluation of [[#Maxwell Klinger|Klinger]], who was aiming for a [[Section 8 (military)|Section 8]] [[military discharge|discharge]]. After Freedman had finished the report, he quietly took Klinger in for an interview and told him that while Klinger was not mentally ill, he was willing to declare him a transvestite and a homosexual. These labels would not leave him, though; as Sidney put it: "From now on, you go through life on high heels." Klinger vociferously denied, "I ain't any of those things! I'm just crazy!" Klinger's discharge was dropped, and Freedman left the camp.
Freedman appears in 12 ''M*A*S*H'' episodes: "Radar's Report" (as Milton Freedman), "Deal Me Out", "O.R.", "[[Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?]]", "Dear Sigmund", "Hawk's Nightmare", "War of Nerves" (in which he qualified for a Purple Heart by being wounded while performing therapy follow-up on one of his patients), "The Billfold Syndrome", "Goodbye, Cruel World", "Bless You, Hawkeye", "Pressure Points", and the series finale, "[[Goodbye, Farewell and Amen]]". He is also mentioned, but does not appear onscreen, in the episodes "Mad Dogs and Servicemen", "Heal Thyself", "A Holy Mess", and "Trick or Treatment".
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'''Staff Sergeant Luther Wilson Rizzo''' was played by [[G. W. Bailey]]. In the show, he was the sergeant in charge of the [[fleet vehicle|motor pool]]. While originally written to be from New York City, when the producers heard Bailey's [[Southern American English|southern accent]] in his first [[dailies]] his character was moved to [[Louisiana]].<ref>'' Memories of M*A*S*H: 20th Anniversary'' (CBS, 1991), interview with G. W. Bailey</ref> He was known for his slow, deep, Louisiana drawl (Bailey himself is in fact [[Texas|Texan]]) and his slightly disheveled look. Though the motor pool seemed to function well, it did so despite Rizzo's casual work style and frequent naps. His philosophy on success in the army was that it was possible to never do work, so long as your superiors don't see you enjoy yourself: "Where else [but the Army] can you be a bum and get paid for it?"
In the Season 10 episode "Promotion Commotion", Rizzo was one of three 4077th enlisted who appeared before a promotion board consisting of [[#Hawkeye Pierce|Hawkeye]], [[#B. J. Hunnicutt|B.
Rizzo enjoys shooting craps and seems to win more than he loses. He also is the camp [[loan shark]], getting Charles on his hook at one point to the extent he had to have money sent from home to clear his debt with the cigar-chewing sergeant.
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