What The Surviving Cast Of M*A*S*H Looks Like Today

In the splintered entertainment landscape of today, few films and television series manage to command the attention of viewers en masse. Outside of the Super Bowl, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and hit streaming dramas like "Stranger Things," productions are largely focused on appeasing their niche fan base. In decades past, however, a sitcom with difficult subject matter could capture viewers in the tens of millions. 

On February 28, 1983, the series finale of CBS' "M*A*S*H" was watched by well over 100 million people, as audiences bid adieu to beloved characters like Hawkeye Pierce, Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, B.J. Hunnicutt, Father John Mulcahy, and others who served at the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War.

Fast-forward to now and the series' 11-season run on network television and historic finale continue to hold a prominent spot in the pop culture zeitgeist. While the show, its characters, and the unique blend of laugh-out-loud comedy, human drama, and social commentary continue to live on, though, many of the stars who brought it all to life are no longer with us. And the surviving cast members have taken a variety of paths since leaving the 4077th. Here's what the surviving stars of "M*A*S*H" look like today.

Picking up where Donald Sutherland left off in the 1970 "M*A*S*H" film, Alan Alda starred as Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the CBS sitcom for all of its 11 seasons. And while his career has spanned seven decades – from his 1950s theater beginnings and 1958 appearance on an episode of CBS' "The Phil Silvers Show" to Netflix's modern adaptation of "The Four Seasons" in 2025-26 — he'll always be best-remembered for his time on "M*A*S*H," and a role that influenced people far and wide.

"You talk about making a contribution, and it makes you feel good. It's not just giving, it's getting," said Alda — who notched several Primetime Emmy nominations and wins for "M*A*S*H" – at a 2026 92NY event promoting Roger Rosenblatt's book "More Rules for Aging" (via People). "One of the ways that I noticed that I must have lived usefully is people — this is really true — people come up to me on the street and they say, 'After seeing you play a doctor on "M*A*S*H," that made me want to become a doctor.'"

Now in his 90s and living with Parkinson's disease, Alda nonetheless continues to work via the "Four Seasons" adaptation and, before that, he appeared in Showtime's "Ray Donovan" and "Ray Donovan: The Movie" as Dr. Arthur Amiot. Now in the winter of his life, the iconic actor isn't afraid to talk about death, revealing during the same 92NY event that he and his wife, Arlene, discuss it all the time.

Mike Farrell portrayed Capt. B.J. Hunnicutt on "M*A*S*H" from Season 4 on. He essentially served as the replacement, both in terms of the show's narrative and the characters' in-universe position with MASH 4077, when the late Wayne Rogers and his character, "Trapper John" McIntyre, exited the "M*A*S*H" roster. (Rogers was just one of several "M*A*S*H" stars who left the show over the years.) Before joining the series, Farrell was perhaps best-known for originating the role of Scott Banning on the NBC soap opera "Days of Our Lives," but "M*A*S*H" was the big break, netting him two Primetime Emmy nominations.

During a 2026 appearance on Steve Kmetko's "Still Here Hollywood" podcast, Farrell praised the way the iconic sitcom managed to balance comedy and serious topics like the price of war. "We always did it with a sense of the rightness of what we were doing," he said. "The wanting to heal, wanting to save, wanting to honor the character and the [Korean War], and the essence of the human beings, whether they were Korean or American, whether they were the North Korean enemy or our own soldiers."

These days, Farrell — who went on to star in the Y2K-era medical drama "Providence," in addition to appearing in dozens of other TV series and films — is in his late 80s. He still works on the rare occasion, too, starring in the 2026 film "The Strawberry," in addition to an episode of ABC's "9-1-1" (his first TV appearance in seven years).

Like Alan Alda, Gary Burghoff was one of the original "M*A*S*H" cast members. He was introduced as Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly in the series' first episode, but Burghoff his "M*A*S*H" role following the Season 8 double episode "Good-Bye Radar." He also owns the rare distinction of having played the same character in the Robert Altman-directed film two years before the TV adaptation came along.

"In the original feature film 'M*A*S*H,' I created Radar as a lone, darker and somewhat sardonic character; kind of a shadowy figure. I continued these qualities for a short time ... until I realized that the TV 'M*A*S*H' characters were developing in a different direction from the film characters," Burghoff explained to Ken Levine in 2012. "It became a group of sophisticated, highly educated doctors (and one head nurse) who would rather be anywhere else and who understood the nature of the 'hell hole' they were stuck in." He won a Primetime Emmy for his efforts as Radar in 1977.

Now in his mid-80s, Burghoff continued to make TV appearances after "M*A*S*H," although his acting career slowed considerably, with only a handful of credits to his name over the last several decades. His final role as of now came via the 2010 drama film "Daniel's Lot."

Jamie Farr had the difficult task of playing what essentially began as the comic relief character, Cpl. Maxwell Klinger, on one of the most groundbreaking comedy series of all time in "M*A*S*H." While Hawkeye Pierce, "Trapper John," and most of the other main characters tried to make the best of their bad situation, Klinger actively schemed to get out of the war, wearing women's clothing in a desperate attempt to be declared mentally unfit for service and sent home.

While Klinger was an iconic character and Farr was lauded for his portrayal, he is of the belief that playing such an outrageous part nonetheless hurt him professionally. "In a sense, it ruined my career," Farr once told the St. Petersburg Times (via MeTV). "I was accurate in that because I haven't had a television series since then. It's been hard to shake that character. ... People, they don't separate the character from Jamie Farr the actor. The first thing they do is hit you with dress jokes."

Farr continued to work as an actor into the late 2010s, most recently appearing as Dudley in several episodes of the 2018-19 Fox series "The Cool Kids." In 2024, his 90th birthday was celebrated in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, where a city park and the performing arts wing of a local high school are named in his honor.

Although he wasn't the only actor to play the character – Peter Riegert also played him in a handful of episodes — Jeff Maxwell is notable for having played one of the most prominent recurring characters on "M*A*S*H," Pvt. Igor Straminsky, across multiple seasons and dozens of episodes. Like Klinger, Straminsky provided comic relief to the series (albeit on a much smaller scale) as a mess hall cook/server. He also served as Alan Alda's stand-in when the series was in production.

Outside of "M*A*S*H," Maxwell's screen credits are few and far between, with just 15 film and television projects listed on his IMDb page. And his most recent credit comes via the 2001 film "Divorce: The Musical." However, he's still remembered fondly by "M*A*S*H" fans, whom he continues to interact with to this very day.

Like many celebrities, Maxwell maintains a Cameo account where fans can pay to receive personalized messages from the actor. His profile contains preview clips where he delivers such messages in military-style attire while channeling Igor (he even carries a ladle) and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from his time on the legendary sitcom.

In terms of raw episode count, Rosalind Chao was far from a core or even recurring cast member on "M*A*S*H." However, she broke out as a performer while playing an important role in a pair of final-season episodes, including the series' legendary finale. Chao famously portrayed Soon-Lee — a Korean refugee who ultimately marries Maxwell Klinger in the final episode of "M*A*S*H," and her run didn't end there. Chao continued to play Soon-Lee in CBS' "AfterMASH," which chronicled the post-war exploits of Jamie Farr's Max Klinger, William Christopher's Father John Mulcahy, and Harry Morgan's Sherman T. Potter.

While "AfterMASH" failed to resonate with fans and critics, the veteran actor Chao continued to have success in the wake of its 1985 cancellation. After just missing out on the role of Tasha Yar on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," she went on to play Keiko O'Brien on the show's later seasons and on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Chao also played Rose Hsu Jordan in the acclaimed 1993 drama "The Joy Luck Club" and Mulan's mother, Hua Li, in Disney's 2020 live-action remake of "Mulan," in addition to appearing in 2003's "Freaky Friday" and its 2025 sequel. More recently, Chao — who's approaching her 70s — captured a Children's & Family Emmy for outstanding supporting performer in a preschool, children's or young teen program for her performance in the Netflix fantasy series "Sweet Tooth."

In the "M*A*S*H" TV series, Odessa Cleveland's Lt. Ginger Bayliss was one of several nurses under the charge of Loretta Swit's Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan. Unlike many of the nurses who appeared on the show, though, Bayliss appeared in several episodes and was given dialogue and involved in storylines. One such storyline saw Bayliss, a Black woman, care for a wounded white soldier who only wanted to receive blood from another white person. In the end, the soldier salutes Bayliss after recognizing the error of his ways.

After appearing in the early seasons of "M*A*S*H," Cleveland returned to the show's universe in 1986 via an uncredited appearance as a nurse in the spin-off series "Trapper John, M.D." Save for an appearance in the 2010 horror film "Death and Cremation," that would prove to be one of her final screen roles. That's not to say, though, that Cleveland stopped making an impact.

For decades, Cleveland was an educator for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The "M*A*S*H" alum is also an artist and author, having written the books "Water Colored Soul," "Thank You," and "Of Age and Edges."

While he was rarely seen on the screen, Todd Susman's presence on "M*A*S*H" was nonetheless memorable, as he provided the voice for the base's unseen public address announcer on and off, across several seasons. He also portrayed Pvt. Danny Baker in the Season 2 episode "Operation Noselift." 

Susman has been on the Hollywood scene as a character actor for decades, racking up some 146 IMDb credits as of this writing. Aside from his work on "M*A*S*H," he's probably best-known for playing Officer Shifflett on several episodes of CBS' "Newhart." More recently, he played Howard Bloom on several episodes of the hit Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black."

In addition to his work on screen, Susman is an accomplished theatre actor, who has passed his knowledge of the stage on to the next generation of thespians. The Royal Academy of Music currently lists him as a teacher in the area of acting for camera and voiceover.