A former “M*A*S*H” actor had his final on-screen appearance alongside his fellow co-star from the classic show, sadly, you’ve never seen it.
“M*A*S*H” alum Harry Morgan made his screen debut as a soldier. He was billed as Henry Morgan before he decided to change his name to avoid any confusion with the comedian and “I’ve Got a Secret” judge with the same name.
Morgan, whom you’ll most notably remember from the classic war-comedy sitcom, M*A*S*H, landed his first acting gig as “Mouthy” in To the Shores of Tripoli. He starred as a soldier in a 1942 film about the Marines.
Before booking his gig on M*A*S*H, he would go on to star in one of the first sitcom spinoffs in the history of TV, titled “Pete and Gladys.” The show was set around his character on the hit series from the 1950s, “December Bride.”
He soon proved that he could take on roles that were both humorous as well as serious, such as when he played Officer Bill Gannon in “Dragnet.” Thus, once he was established in his craft, he used all of his acting skills when he took on the role of Col. Sherman T. Potter of the 4077th.
After his M*A*S*H days, he reprised the character in the show’s spinoff, “AfterMASH.” Thus for the rest of his acting days, he was forever remembered as Potter.
Decades later, in 2001, he gave his final acting performance, which, sadly, no one got to see. CBS created two shows in 1999: “Work with Me” and “Love & Money.”
At the time, reality TV was getting newfound attention, which ultimately contributed to the demise of the two new shows.
Two ‘M*A*S*H’ Veterans Make an Appearance Together Decades Later
To make matters worse, “Love & Money” had the unfortunate times slot of Friday nights. At the time, most of the reality TV shows were on the air at the time.
Though the show was ultimately a flop, in retrospect, “Love & Money” had an impressive cast. David Ogden Stiers and Swoosie Kurtz played the wealthy parents of Paget Brewster.
In the show’s ninth episode, “Career Daze,” Harry Morgan was featured as a guest star. He played the older patriarch of the wealthy Conklin family. The show also cast him as the father to David Ogden Stiers. As a result, M*A*S*H veterans Potter and Winchester appeared on screen together again— this time, Morgan played Stiers’ father.
However, there was a catch: CBS canceled the show after five episodes, leaving eight finished episodes unseen. Sadly, “Career Daze” was one of these unaired episodes.
As a result, audiences never got to see the “M*A*S*H” reunion. Sadly that ended up being his final television appearance. He passed away in his sleep a decade later, on December 7, 2011, at the age of 96.
