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Jamie Farr | ||
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Jamie Farr was hired for one day’s work during an early episode of Twentieth Television’s hit comedy M*A*S*H, and he was so outrageous as phony transvestite Maxwell Q. Klinger that this day job became an eleven-year career. Corporal Klinger wore dresses to try to convince the Army that he was bucking for a "Section 8" medical discharge. For M*A*S*H’s second season, Farr was asked back for a dozen episodes before becoming a regular in the third year. Farr’s first acting success occurred at the age of eleven when he won $2.00 in a local acting contest. After a stellar high-school career when he was one of the standouts among his class, Farr attended the Pasadena Playhouse where he was discovered by an MGM talent scout who offered him a screen test for "The Blackboard Jungle." He won the role of the mentally-retarded student, Santini. Although Farr was off to a promising start, roles were infrequent for the young actor, and he took jobs as a delivery person, a post-office clerk, an Army surplus-store clerk, an airlines reservations agent and as an employee at a chinchilla ranch. Farr began to carve his niche in television when, in the late 1950’s, he became a regular on "The Red Skelton Show" before graduating to second banana with Harvey Korman on "The Danny Kaye Show." Farr also appeared on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and was a regular on "The Chicago Teddy Bears" before being asked to play the role of Klinger on M*A*S*H. |
 Jamie Farr - Just Farr Fun
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After the enormously successful comedy finished its eleven-year run, Farr and co-stars Harry Morgan and William Christopher spent two years starring in AfterMASH, the sequel that explored how civilian life treated their characters. During his stint on M*A*S*H, Farr found time to do some work on the silver screen. He appeared in "Cannonball Run" and "Cannonball Run II" with Burt Reynolds. In 1988, he offered an amusing turn as Jacob Marley in "Scrooged," an adaptation from Dickens’ classic "A Christmas Carol." He also appeared in three telefilms: "Murder Can Hurt You," "Return of the Rebels" and "For Love or Money." In 1991, Farr joined the entire cast for the successful TV reunion, "Memories of M*A*S*H." He appeared in the TV series "Port Charles," in 1999, and in the independent film drama "A Month of Sundays, in 2001, with Rod Steiger and Sally Kirkland. In May, 2001, he celebrated the "M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion," a Fox two-hour TV special, once again, reuniting the cast and producers.
The Lebanese son of a Toledo grocer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985. | ||
