Roles and actors of "MESH"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Movies and serials ever made about the war usually do not evoke positive emotions. However, this does not apply to the "MESH" tape. The TV series tells about a small military field hospital, its employees and patients. And although the plot directly affects wartime, the events in it are presented in a comedy genre unusual for such films. Read more about the actors and organizers of the filming process below.

Series Summary

MASH is a unique American television series based on Richard Hooker's MASH: A Novel of Three Army Doctors. The creators of the project themselves speak of it as a weekly half-hour comedy, as about the ridiculous situations that underlie each of the plots.

Despite the fact that the first episode of the film was released 44 years ago, the series has not yet lost its popularity. Moreover, even today it retains fairly high ratings for an old multi-part film. Did the audience get attracted by the plot or the well-chosen actors (MESH)? What is the secret? And what interested the audience in this series?

The plot and meaning of the series

In the series beloved by many, we are talking about a mobile military hospital No. 4077, located in South Korea. The time period described in the serial tape is the Korean War, which began in June 1950 and ended in July 1953.

The characters, about which the series "MESH" tells (the actors here perfectly got used to the image), are ordinary military doctors who save people's lives every day. However, they, like everyone else in Gyeonggi province, are prone to depression.

Therefore, most of them try not to succumb to panic moods, but periodically distract themselves from their difficult and serious work with the help of humor. Let some say that this is black humor, but it helps the heroes avoid trouble and is a great recharge for surgeons and other doctors.

Film "Damn Service in the MES Hospital": actors and roles (main cast)

MESH is a touching and funny show with an almost constant line-up of performers and characters. It has its own stars, with whom the viewer meets in all 11 seasons of the serial film. Four of them stand out clearly:

• Benjamin Pierce.
• Francis Mulcahy.
• Max Klinger.
• Margaret Hooligan.

The following actors played them ("MESH"):

• Alan Alda.
• George Morgan (played in the pilot episode of the project) and William Christopher (played the role of Francis in the rest of the series).
• Loretta Sweet.
• Jamie Farr.

Ah, that unpredictable Benjamin Pierce

Benjamin Pierce is one of the most striking and charismatic characters in the series. Virtually all storylines involve this sympathetic chief surgeon. According to the script, this character, nicknamed Hawk (or Hawkeye), was drafted into service.

However, throughout the series, he makes it clear that the military and he are two incompatible things. For example, he does not carry a weapon and very rarely wears a uniform, and is also familiar with the highest-ranking personalities. And for the same reason, Pierce regularly gets into trouble. In turn, his superiors turn a blind eye to his pranks, as the pampering and unpredictability of the young physician is compensated by his professional activities. In addition, there is simply no one to replace him.

About the artist Alan Alde, the actors ("MESH") and his other colleagues on the set spoke of a positive person with a great sense of humor.

Francis Mulcahy's Sacred Duty

Francis Mulcahy is a remarkable character who truly believes in God. This first lieutenant, and later the captain, first appears sporadically, but later he becomes the second main character suffering from gambling addiction after Hawk. Francis is a soft and weak person.

Such people are usually said to be able to adapt to any situation. For example, depending on the circumstances, Mulcahy may at one moment try on the cassock of a Catholicpriest and immediately change into a righteous rabbi. Here they are - talented and diverse actors ("MESH").

However, despite all his shortcomings, Francis is a great friend, always ready to help those in need. So, in one of the episodes, he has to perform a complex operation with a penknife, and he easily copes with this task.

Max Klinger's military tricks

Max Klinger is a funny character who is trying by all means, as it is now fashionable to say, "to get away from the service." To do this, for example, first a corporal, and later a sergeant, regularly changes into women's clothes. At the same time, the nurse and indispensable orderly does not forget about his masculine character: he smokes and swears like a shoemaker, flirts with women and often forgets to shave. It is noteworthy that the birthplace of this character, as well as the actor who played him, is the city of Toledo in Ohio. As you can see, in MASH, the actors and the roles they play have a lot in common with their real lives.

Fragile and charming Margaret Hooligan

Margaret Hooligan is a charming nurse nicknamed "Hot Lips". This fragile and petite lady was born in the family of a colonel. That is why the head nurse literally idolizes military affairs and dreams of a dizzying career in the army. In general, Margaret is a positive character who knows how to empathize and love. She is endowed with excellent external data, intelligence and an excellent sense of humor.

Other characters of the series and their participation in the plot

As we have already said, inTV series "MESH", also known as "Damn Service in the MES Hospital", the cast was almost permanent. However, other characters were also involved in the film, which appeared only in certain seasons. For example, one of these is Wayne Rogers, who was lucky enough to play one of the key characters in the first three seasons.

His hero is captain and experienced civilian surgeon John McIntyre, nicknamed the Trapper. It was he who was the best friend of Benjamin Pierce, with whom he regularly joked, played poker and drank a lot.

In the first three seasons, actor McLean Stevenson, who played the head of the MASH hospital, Henry Blake, was also seen. His character is a weak and soft person, which is why many subordinates simply ignored his orders. However, at crucial moments, this lieutenant colonel is always ready to show uncharacteristic hardness of character. After completing his military service, Henry plans to fly home, but dies in a plane that is shot down by enemy fighters over the ocean.

The series also stars Larry Linville, a special guest actor for the role of temporary hospital commander and good surgeon Frank Burns. As planned by the writers, it was Frank, nicknamed the Weasel, who became one of the main negative characters, who played from the first to the fifth season. His character is a formidable and arrogant man with strict military restraint. He is married, but this does not prevent him from twisting a promising romance with Margaret Holligan. By the way, Miss Hot Lips has a huge influence on him.

During the filming of the 1st to 8th season, the MES hospital became the home of such an actor as Gary Bergoff. Interestingly, this forty-year-old man had to play the young shy youth W alter Eugene, who is in a military hospital as a clerk, secretary to the commander, postman and bugler. This young man could always solve any issues instead of his commander, for example, when he was drunk, he predicted events a couple of minutes before they happened, for which he acquired the nickname Radar.

Other actors were also involved in the series, for example, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, David Ogden Stiers, etc. They all did a great job and left their mark on this wonderful film.