Published: 10:46 AM, Fri Jan 27, 2012
Jamie Farr reflects on time with 'M*A*S*H' and lessons in 'Tuesdays with Morrie'
During Jamie Farr's 11-year run as Cpl. Klinger on the hit TV show "M*A*S*H," the actor was sometimes seen wearing a dress in an ongoing attempt to win a discharge from the Army.
The dresses have long since been stashed away, but Farr is still in the acting game. Today through Sunday, he will star as Morrie Schwartz in "Tuesdays with Morrie," a production from the new Judson Theatre Company.
The play, based on the best-selling Mitch Albom book, will be staged at Owens Auditorium on the campus of Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst.
Farr, 77, began his career in the 1950s in movies including "Blackboard Jungle" and "Kismet." In the late '50s, he became a regular on "The Red Skelton Show" and later "The Danny Kaye Show."
In the early '70s, Farr was hired for what was intended to be a one-shot appearance as Cpl. Klinger on "M*A*S*H," which was set during the Korean War. Klinger, who was eventually promoted to sergeant, was always trying in vain to get a military discharge by dressing in women's clothing. As the character became well established, however, the cross-dressing gimmick was dropped.
Farr stayed with the show through its 1983 finale, which set a record for most-watched television show. He appeared in a short-lived spin-off called "AfterM*A*S*H" while resuming a movie career.
More recently, Farr has kept busy with stage work, making about 200 appearances in "Tuesdays with Morrie" in Canada. This is the first time his play has been presented in the United States, he said. He plays the title role, an aging college professor facing the end of his life.
Farr recently spoke with Weekender by phone from his southern California home. Here are excerpts from that conversation.
Weekender: What do you like about the play and the part?
Farr: Oh, the simplicity of it. The humor of it. One of the pitfalls when you do "Tuesdays with Morrie" is that people want to play the death of Morrie and not the life of Morrie. And what we do is we don't play this as a tragedy, we play it as a comedy, because Morrie was a very funny man and he had a great, deprecating wit. And he had a very simple philosophy that we sometimes forget, and it's nice that you have a little memo once in a while reminding you to stop and smell the roses.
That's what Morrie does, he keeps reminding Mitch and tries to show him that it's important to enjoy life. He has one line where he says, you know, dying is only one thing to be sad over, but living unhappily is something else.
Weekender: What kind of audience reaction do you get?
Farr: We've gotten terrific audience reactions, and I say this with humility. We've had incredible reviews. The Toronto Star gave us four stars, and that reviewer is a tough, tough reviewer. And the Hamilton Spectator, which is the newspaper in Hamilton, Ontario, at the end of the year said that the best shows that played in 2011 were Liza Minelli when she was there, Bernadette Peters in a show that she was in, Christopher Plummer in a one-man show and Jamie Farr and Rejean Cournoyer in "Tuesdays with Morrie." I was in very nice company.
Weekender: Do people still recognize you as Cpl. Klinger from "M*A*S*H"?
Farr: Yes, of course. It's not as often as you think. I went into a golf store the other day, I was looking for a golf club. ... The young man didn't know who I was based on television or based on my golf tournament so he got all excited and went online and looked me up.
But then again, I'm in a department store prior to Christmas, I'm standing talking to a friend and people are going, "Oh my God, there's Jamie Farr." So you never know. Sometimes you live in anonymity, and other times you don't realize how famous you are. And of course, I'm kind of used to it. Whether you recognize me or not, I go about my business.
Weekender: Do you enjoy your association with the show?
Farr: Oh, I love it. What's not to like? That's a classic, iconic show. The writing, the acting, the directing. If you watch it today, it still stands up. It was a fabulous, fabulous television show. If that was the only thing I ever did in my life that would be quite an achievement.
Weekender: Do you still keep up with any of your "M*A*S*H" castmates?
Farr: Oh yes. Recently we had a tragedy from our show when Harry Morgan (who played Col. Potter) passed away, and so we were all united via email talking about Harry and what a wonderful actor and wonderful man he was.
And it reminded us of a particular episode that Harry did called "Old Soldiers." He had made a pact with some of his early friends when he joined the Army. They had a bottle of brandy, and they said the one remaining soldier would get that bottle of brandy. And in that episode, Col. Potter is acting mysterious and we find that he is the last reminder of the friends. And he opens the bottle of brandy to share with us. It's funny, we all picked that particular episode out.
When we shot it, there wasn't a dry eye because we knew even though Harry was talking about the characters in the series, he was really speaking to each of us as an actor, how much he loved us and how much he treasured our friendship. It was powerful.
Weekender: What is your life like these days? Do you spend a lot of time on the road in shows like "Tuesdays with Morrie"?
Farr: Oh my goodness, last year I did two plays, and one of them was the farce "Lend Me a Tenor." It closed, I was home two weeks and I opened in, I think, Calgary to do "Tuesdays with Morrie." And then it closed, and I was home for a short period of time, did "Lend Me a Tenor" again down in Jacksonville, Fla. (It) closed, I was home a short period of time, next thing I know I was up in British Columbia doing "Tuesdays with Morrie" again.
Fortunately, I didn't get the two plays mixed up. I didn't turn "Lend Me a Tenor" into a tragedy, and I didn't turn "Tuesdays with Morrie" into a farce!
Staff writer Rodger Mullen can be reached at mullenr@fayobserver.com or 486-3561.