Scriptwriter Rick Mittleman, who wrote Season Four’s “Hey, Doc” died Wednesday (July 30th) in a traffic accident. He was 84. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mittleman produced You Asked for It in the late 1950s. He then moved to scriptwriting in the early 1960s, penning episodes of sitcoms like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, That Girl, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Bewitched.
In addition to M*A*S*H, Mittleman also wrote an episode of Roll Out, the 1973 CBS sitcom set during World War II that was created by Larry Gelbart and Gene Reynolds. During the 1970s, he started writing for hour-long dramas in addition to sitcoms, including episodes of Emergency!, Gemini Man, CHiPs as well as Remington Steel and MacGyver in the 1980s. According to IMDb, his last credit was for a 1999 episode of Early Edition.
Mittleman was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards (in 1963, 1971 and 1976) and two WGA Awards (in 1967 and 1970). In March 2008, he participated in a reunion of M*A*S*H writers to support a “Fair Market Value” bill in the California State Legislature. Obituaries can be found at The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline Hollywood.
(Thanks to Dan for passing along this news.)
Wow, to make it to 84 and then die in a traffic accident. What a shame.
Hey Doc was a good episode. The bit where the sergeant wants to go home on a boat instead of a plane so that he can haul all his loot is funny. The part where he tells the docs the exact medical condition of his ears is one of the best exchanges of the series.