Harry Morgan:HARRY MORGAN, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Col Potter in the long-running television series M*A*S*H, has died in Los Angeles. He was 96.
In more than 100 movies, Morgan played western bad guys, characters with names like Rocky and Shorty, loyal sidekicks, judges, sheriffs, soldiers, thugs and police chiefs. On television, he played officer Bill Gannon with a phlegmatic but light touch to Jack Webb's always-by-the-book Sgt Joe Friday in the updated Dragnet,from 1967 to 1970.
He starred as Pete Porter, a harried husband, in the situation comedy Pete and Gladys(1960- 62), reprising a role he had played on December Bride(1954-59). He was also a regular on The Richard Boone Show(1963-64), Kentucky Jones(1964-65), The D.A. (1971- 72), Hec Ramsey(1972-74) and Blacke's Magic(1986).
To many fans though, he was first and foremost Col Sherman T Potter, commander of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital unit in Korea. With a wry smile, flat voice and sharp humour, Morgan played Col Potter from 1975 until 1983, when M*A*S*Hwent off the air.
He replaced McLean Stevenson, who had quit the series, moving into the role on the strength of his performance as a crazed major general in an early episode.
In an interview for the Archive of American Television, Morgan said of his M*A*S*Hcharacter: "He was firm, he was a good officer and he had a good sense of humour. I think it's the best part I ever had."
Col Potter’s office had several personal touches. The picture on his desk was of Morgan’s wife, Eileen Detchon. To relax, the colonel liked to paint and look after his horse, Sophie – a sort of inside joke, since the real Harry Morgan raised quarter horses on a ranch in Santa Rosa.
Sophie, to whom Col Potter says goodbye in the final episode, was Morgan’s own horse.
In 1980 his Col Potter earned him an Emmy Award as best supporting actor in a comedy series. During the shooting of the series’ final episode, he was asked about his feelings. “Sadness and an aching heart,” he replied.
Harry Morgan was born Harry Bratsburg on April 10th, 1915, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were Norwegian immigrants.
After graduating from high school, he intended to become a lawyer, but debating classes in his pre-law major at the University of Chicago stimulated his interest in the theatre. He made his professional acting debut in a summer stock production of At Mrs Beam's in Mount Kisco, New York, and his Broadway debut in 1937 in the original production of Golden Boy,starring Luther Adler.
After moving to California in 1942, he was spotted by a talent scout. Signing a contract with 20th Century Fox, he originally used the screen name Henry Morgan, but changed Henry to Harry in the 1950s to avoid confusion with the radio and television humorist Henry Morgan.
Morgan attracted attention almost immediately. In The Ox- Bow Incident(1943), he was praised for his portrayal of a drifter caught up in a lynching in a western town. He went on to appear in All My Sons(1948), The Big Clock(1948), Yellow Sky(1949) and High Noon(1952). In How the West Was Won(1962), he played Gen Ulysses S Grant.
There were eventually a number of comedies, among them John Goldfarb, Please Come Home(1965), The Flim-Flam Man(1967), Support Your Local Sheriff!(1969) and The Apple Dumpling Gang(1975).
He returned as Bill Gannon, by now promoted to captain, in the 1987 movie Dragnet, a comedy remake of the series starring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks.
Morgan’s television credits were prodigious. He once estimated that in one show or another, he was seen in prime time for 35 straight years. Regarded as one of the busiest actors in the medium, he had continuing roles in at least 10 series, which, combined with his guest appearances, amounted to hundreds of episodes.
He reprised the role of Sherman Potter in AfterMASH(1983-85), a short-lived spin-off.
Morgan’s first wife, Eileen Detchon, died in 1985 after 45 years of marriage. He is survived by his wife Barbara Bushman, whom he married in 1986; three sons from his first marriage, Christopher, Charles and Paul, and eight grandchildren.
A fourth son, Daniel, died in 1989.
Harry Morgan: born April 10th, 1915; died December 7th, 2011.