Actor George Lindsey, best known for his portrayal of Goober Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show, passed away on Sunday (May 6th) at the age of 83. Lindsey guest-starred in Season Six’s “Temporary Duty” target=”_blank”>Temporary Duty” as Captain Roy Dupree, a doctor from the 8063rd MASH who participates in a temporary swap, much to the frustration of the 4077th, particularly Charles. Lindsey joined The Andy Griffith Show near the end of its fourth season (1963-1964) as the cousin of Gymer Pyle, played by Jim Nabors. Nabors left The Andy Griffith Show at the conclusion of that season to star in his own series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. When The Andy Griffith Show ended in 1968, it was replaced by a sequel series called Mayberry R.F.D., which ran from 1968 to 1971. Lindsey and much of the supporting cast of The Andy Griffith Show would continue on Mayberry R.F.D. (but not star Andy Griffith). From 1971 to 1992, Lindsey appeared on the syndicated variety series Hee Haw, again playing Goober.

George Lindsey in “Temporary Duty”

Obituaries can be found at The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

Actor Warren Stevens, best known for his role in 1956′s Forbidden Planet, passed away Tuesday (March 27th) at the age of 92. Stevens played Colonel Chaffey in Season Four’s “The Gun,” the man whose missing gun nearly sent Radar to the stockade. He began his acting career in the late 1940s and worked continually for almost six decades (his last credited role at the Internet Movie Database is for a 2007 film called Carts). In addition to M*A*S*H, Stevens made guest appearances on dozens of shows, including The Twilight Zone, Hawaiian Eye, Star Trek, Bonanza, Ironside, Police Woman and ER. He co-starred in Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers from 1956-1957; from 1969-1970 he provided the voice of unseen studio chief John Bracken on Bracken’s World (when the series returned for a second season, Stevens was replaced by Leslie Nielsen, his co-star from Forbidden Planet and also a M*A*S*H guest star).

Warren Stevens in “The Gun”

Obituaries can be found at CBS News and Variety (registration may be required).

(Thanks to Dan).

After reporter Robert Pierpoint, whose voice was heard announcing the end of the Korean War in “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen,” passed away last year at the age of 86, I wondered whether the audio heard in the episode was Pierpoint’s original radio report or a recreation. Two people left comments stating they had heard or read that it was in fact a recreation. I was flipping through Suzy Kalter’s The Complete Book of M*A*S*H the other day and came across the following in Burt Metcalfe’s essay about Season Eleven:

The voice of Robert Pierpoint, which is broadcast over the PA system to give the steps toward the signing of the peace treaty, was real. We had thirty-year-old tapes, but the quality was so bad that Pierpoint agreed to rerecord. Static was later added to make it sound authentic. Pierpoint basically repeated his announcement of the end of the war as it was then.

So there you have it, straight from the executive producer.

Source:

The 2011 Year-End Special issue of Entertainment Weekly included a lengthy section on “The Late Greats,” in which actors, musicians, directors and others who died during 2011 were remembered by those closest to them. One of the celebrities commemorated was Harry Morgan, by Loretta Swit. If you don’t have a copy of the actual magazine, a slideshow is available at EW.com. Here’s what Swit had to say about Morgan, who passed away on December 7th:

Harry…my very dear, close friend…the best colleague you could hope for…an accomplished, committed actor, humble to the extreme, possessed of a brilliant mind, a dazzling sense of humor coupled with impeccable timing… the quintessential colleague, able to lift your spirits with laughter during those long, late hours on the set…often my ­father figure…ever a mensch… always my ”comrade-in-arms.”…

How blessed I am to have had you in my life all this time.

And now, I find myself using the words from the ”Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen” finale of M*A*S*H. Harry and I needed more than just a few takes during our goodbye scene. We could not stop the tears. ”Goodbye, Margaret,” Colonel Potter says. ”Don’t forget to have a happy life.” Margaret says: ”You dear, sweet man…I’ll never forget you.”

Even more so from me, dear Harry, dear friend. I take comfort in knowing that you knew how very much I loved you.

When M*A*S*H came to an end after eleven seasons, Harry Morgan was one of three cast members to make the transition to AfterMASH (the others were William Christopher and Jamie Farr). The spin-off, which followed Potter, Mulcahy and Klinger as they returned to civilian life after the end of the Korean War, was cancelled less than halfway through its second season. The final episode (which was not a true series finale but simply the final episode produced) was never aired. The second-to-last episode was broadcast in May of 1984 after a five-month hiatus but unfortunately I do not have access to a copy. So, here is the final scene from the third-to-last episode of AfterMASH (“Ward is Hell,” originally aired December 4th, 1984):

I apologize for the poor quality. For the record, in the episode, Doctor Boyer (played by David Ackroyd) develops a staph infection in his leg and is admitted to the hospital. He winds up in his own ward, under the supervision of a young intern, Doctor Caldwell (played by Tom Isbell), who is overeager to say the least. In the final scene, Potter gives Doctor Caldwell the good news that Boyer’s infection has cleared up, only to discover that Boyer has disappeared. If you’re not familiar with AfterMASH, you can read all about it here.