Alan Alda- Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce (Hawkeye)
Alan Alda was born as Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo on January 28, 1936. He attended Fordham University in New York City. At the age of 16 he took up acting. (?)Alda joined the United States Army as a reserve.Thus giving him a better idea of what war was truly like. He did a lot of acting in his early years, much of which was movies. However when the TV series version of the movie M*A*S*H was offered to him in 1971, he first wanted to turn it down, because he did not want to be a "backdrop for lighthearted high jinks... He wanted to show that the war was a bad place to be. Therefore Alan had written in his contract, that at least one scene per episode had to be in the O.R. while surgery occurred. To him it brought the reality of war to the forefront of the series.Alda(Hawkeye) was the comic relief, the jester and the all around "morale booster" of the show. Always looking for some way to relieve the stress that accompanies war, he acquired a wonderful sense of humor that can only be described as Hawkeye Pierce. Later in the series,when Burt Metcalfe left the crew of M*A*S*H, Alan took on a new role in the cast,he became more than an actor, he became a producer and writer for the series.
Wayne Rogers- Captain John Francis Xavier McIntyre (Trapper)
Wayne Rogers was born April 7, 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama. Rogers attended Princeton University. Much like his counterpart, Alda, he also was involved in the armed forces. He joined the Navy as a navigator but he got bit by the acting bug and soon became a named actor. He did much of his begining acting on stage, not on television or movies.In 1972 Burt Metcalf did a casting call for the part of "Trapper", and McIntyre got the role. However McIntyre did not feel that his character was appreciated in the series, he felt more like a sidekick to Hawkeye than his own character, so finally after 3 seasons (1975)McIntyre left the show.
Mike Farrell- Captain B.J. Hunnicut
Mike Farrell was born February 6, 1939 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Farrell grew up in L.A. and fell in love with acting at a young age. He too joined the Armed Forces at a member of the Marine Corps, however he only was involved in this for 2 years.In 1975 he joined the cast of the 4077 M*A*S*H, replacing Wayne Rogers. Farrell was not only an actor on the series but he also co-wrote and produced many episodes. Though he enjoyed his time on the set of M*A*S*H, Farrell was reluctant to jump into another television series right away, and pursued his film carreer for many years. Lately he has stepped back from the spotlight and is working more on political issues such as saving wildlife, Greenpeace, National Geographic, and many more such causes.
McLean Stevenson- Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake
McLean Stevenson was born on November 14, 1929, in McLean County, Illinois, where he was born and raised.He too served in the United States Navy.Stevenson attended Northwestern University and received his bachelor's degree in theater arts. After graduation he did not know what to do exactly and worked many odd jobs until he "fell" into acting. He was intending on a political career until he met some people in show business and fell in love with acting. Originally he auditioned for the part of Hawkeye Pierce in the M*A*S*H movie, but was cast instead as Colonel Henry Blake, C.O. of the 4077 M*A*S*H. Burt MEtcalfe felt that Stevenson had done such an amazing job in the film, that when he was auditioning for the television series, he instantly asked Stevenson to replay his character. Stevenson gladly joined the cast of M*A*S*H and played his character for three years. In 1975 he signed with NBC for his own television series, and therefore he left the series that gave him his first real taste of acting. Stevenson wrote on episode of the series, for which he recieved a nomionation for an Emmy. Also he managed to walk away from the series with three more nominations for his role as an actor. Towards the end of his career he too took up different causes such as USAir and First Alert and was very involved with the Children's Burn Foundation in Sherman Oaks, California, serving as its national spokesman until his unexpectant death, on February 15, 1996, at the age of 66.
