12 Stars You Might Have Missed on ‘MAS*H’

Ryan Berenz August 27, 10:19 am

George Wendt, MASH

Attention, all personnel!

You already know M*A*S*H had many guest stars over its 11-season run on TV from 1972-83.

There were the likes of Ron Howard, Patrick Swayze, Joe Pantoliano, Alex Karras, Ned Beatty, Blythe Danner, Pat Morita, Shelley Long, Leslie Nielsen and many more who had featured roles in an episode.

But there were many actors who played patients, nurses, soldiers and more who had such small parts, you might have missed them if you blinked. Several of them went on to have long-lasting, high-profile careers in entertainment.

We picked 12 of our favorite stars you might not have noticed at the 4077th.

Joan Van Ark, MASH — 12Joan Van Ark

Nurse Lt. Erika Johnson, Season 2, Episode 3, “Radar’s Report”
Van Ark played a fresh-faced, wide-eyed nurse who got slashed by a scalpel in an operating-room attack. She caught the eye of Hawkeye (Alan Alda), but couldn’t stick around the 4077th: She had orders to report to Tokyo. Van Ark had several small roles until getting high-profile parts in soaps Days of Our Lives, Dallas, Knots Landing and The Young and the Restless.

11Robert Townsend

Patient, Season 11, Episode 6, “Bombshells”
Townsend appeared as a patient at the 4077th in 1982, but he went on to make a big name for himself as a writer, actor, director and producer. He directed the film Hollywood Shuffle and the hit stand-up comedy classic Eddie Murphy Raw in 1987, and has worked consistently since. He recently appeared as Emmanuel Adamu on Hulu’s hit series The Bear.

10Brett Cullen

Pvt. Thomas Anthony McKegney, Season 10, Episode 12, “Blood and Guts”
Cullen played a young soldier who took his motorbike out for a spin, hit a rock, flipped the bike over and ended up at the 4077th with very unheroic injuries. Cullen got his big breakout role in Falcon Crest and has steadily worked in film and TV since then. One of his recent roles was as Los Angeles Lakers general manager Bill Sharman in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.

9George Wendt

Marine Pvt. LaRoche, Season 11, Episode 2, “Trick or Treatment”
Before he gained TV immortality playing Norm Peterson on Cheers, Wendt appeared as a Marine who got a pool ball (No. 6, for trivia buffs) stuck in his mouth on Halloween.

8Mary Jo Catlett

Nurse Becky Anderson, Season 4, Episode 22, “The More I See You”
Nurse Walsh, Season 5, Episode 5, “The Nurses”
Catlett played two different nurses in two different episodes in two different seasons. She would go on to play housekeeper Pearl Gallagher on later seasons of Diff’rent Strokes. Her longest-running role has been as the voice of Mrs. Puff in the SpongeBob SquarePants TV series and films.

7Stafford Repp

Sgt. Clay, Season 3, Episode 23, “White Gold”
Repp had been working in showbiz for decades in small roles mostly as cops or soldiers, and his biggest part was as Gotham City Police Chief O’Hara in TV’s Batman. Repp appeared in this 1975 episode of M*A*S*H as an MP who apprehended a medic suspected of stealing penicillin from the 4077th. Repp was an unusual choice for the part, considering he was 56 at the time. Sadly, he died from a heart attack in 1974 and his episode of M*A*S*H aired posthumously. It was his final TV role.

6Andrew Dice Clay

Marine Cpl. Hrabosky, Season 11, Episode 2, “Trick or Treatment”
Credited in this episode as Andrew Clay, he would later add the “Dice” to his name and become one of America’s most popular and controversial comedians. In this Halloween episode (the same one Wendt appeared in), Clay played a Marine who was racing a Jeep in reverse and suffered a head injury after crashing through a chicken coop.

5John Matuszak

Cpl. Elmo Hitalski, Season 10, Episode 18, “Promotion Commotion”
Matuszak was the first pick of the 1973 NFL Draft, and is remembered mostly for his time playing defensive end with the Oakland Raiders (1976-82). He pursued an acting career after football, and appeared on M*A*S*H as a corporal trying to bully Maj. Winchester (David Ogden Stiers) into recommending him for a promotion. Matuszak’s most memorable role was as Sloth in the 1985 comedy classic The Goonies. Matuszak died unexpectedly in 1989 at the age of 38 after an accidental overdose of medication.

4Brian Dennehy

Sgt. Ernie Connors, Season 5, Episode 23, “Souvenirs”
Before Dennehy became one of the most prolific and versatile stage and screen actors of the 1980s and ’90s, he appeared on M*A*S*H in 1977 as an MP investigating the whereabouts of an 800-year-old Korean vase that was bought off the black market. Dennehy died in 2020 at age 81.

3Bruno Kirby

Pvt. Lorenzo Boone, Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot”
Kirby had such a memorable body of work in some all-time classics, it’s hard to believe he died from leukemia in 2006 at age 57. He appeared in the M*A*S*H pilot in a non-speaking role. Two years later, he was playing the young Peter Clemenza alongside Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Kirby had other prominent roles in films like When Harry Met Sally… and Good Morning, Vietnam. Fun fact: Kirby’s father, Bruce, also appeared on M*A*S*H as Sgt. Kimble in the 1975 “Hey, Doc” episode.

2Rita Wilson

Nurse Lt. Lacey, Season 10, Episode 12, “Blood and Guts”; Season 11, Episode 1, “Hey, Look Me Over”
Wilson had a number of small roles in TV series through the ’70s and ’80s, including two appearances on M*A*S*H as Nurse Lacey. She’s since gone on to act in numerous films (Jingle All the Way, Runaway Bride) and produce many others (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, A Man Called Otto). Wilson has been married to Tom Hanks since 1988.

1Laurence Fishburne

Cpl. Dorsey, Season 10, Episode 15, “The Tooth Shall Set You Free”
Not long after his turn in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), Fishburne, billed as “Larry” back then, appeared on M*A*S*H as a patient wounded in battle. Turns out his racist commanding officer was using Black soldiers as cannon fodder and sending them home because he didn’t want them in his unit. Fishburne has become one of the most accomplished and respected actors of his generation, breaking out in Boyz n the Hood (1991) and nominated for an Oscar for What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993). He famously played Morpheus in The Matrix trilogy, and reunites with Coppola for 2024’s Megalopolis.