Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Larry Linville and Harry Morgan

Rest in Peace
Larry Linville
Sept 29, 1939~April 10, 2000

As a kid I thought he was just evil. As an adult I can see the craft behind the character. Sure, Frank Burns is an evil jerk, but the actor behind him certainly wasn't.
I had the good fortune of hearing Larry Linville speak at my college in 1984 or so. He was entertaining and fun. I'll never forget it, or him.
I'm off to watch one of his MASH episodes, the best way to honor him.

Ironically, today is also the birthday of Harry Morgan. On MASH he and Larry Linville portrayed polar opposites for two years. However, by all reports I've read they were both wonderful, generous actors. I'm sure it was terrible for Morgan to have Linville pass on his birthday.

Harry Morgan portrayed a crazy colonel in season three of MASH before joining the regular cast in season four. However, before that he was very well-known as Sgt Joe Friday's partner on DRAGNET, and he was a character actor in hundreds of films (such as in HIGH NOON with Gary Cooper). Colonel Sherman T. Potter was one of TV's most unique characters, and Morgan said on several occasions that he could have continued to play that character forever. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Morgan passed in 2011.

Happy Birthday, Harry Morgan!
April 10, 1915

No comments:

Post a Comment