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A TV mega-star from the 1970s was pictured this week going incognito while running errands in Los Angeles in a rare sighting.
Emmy-nominated actor Mike Farrell looked almost unrecognisable as he appeared outside while sorting his rubbish bins, rocking a baseball cap with the pointed message: ‘Make America normal again.’
The 85-year-old of course starred in the beloved US sitcom M*A*S*H, which ran from 1972 to 1983, and followed the day-to-day lives of doctors and support staff at an American mobile army surgical hospital in South Korea during the Korean War.
Over 40 years later, M*A*S*H is still understood to boast the most-watched TV episode of all time with its finale, with somewhere between 105 and 120million viewers.
Farrell, whose most recent acting credit was a two-episode guest stint on NCIS in 2019 as Judge Miles Deakin, appeared sprightly as he tackled his jobs in a casual outfit of jeans, black trainers and a long-sleeved blue top on his tall frame.
He tucked his top in to reveal a black buckled belt and wore a chain hanging from his belt loop.
Comedy drama series M*A*S*H was a highly praised spin-off series adapted from the 1970 film of the same name starring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, itself adapted from Richard Hooker’s 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors.
Farrell played Captain B.J. Hunnicutt, joining the series in 1975 to replace co-lead Wayne Rogers after his exit as ‘Trapper’ John McIntyre.
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B.J. was a talented surgeon and close friend of the wise-cracking Benjamin ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce, played by series star Alan Alda.
The show also starred Loretta Swit, McLean Stevenson, Harry Morgan, Larry Linville, David Ogden Stiers, Gary Burghoff and Jamie Farr, and was nominated for over 100 Emmys during its 11-series run – winning 14.
Farrell, who prior to M*A*S*H had made appearances on classic shows like The Monkees, I Dream of Jeanie and Ironside – as well as a 157-episode stint as Scott Banning on daytime soap Days of Our Lives between 1968 and 1970 – went on to become the Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild.
He continued acting over the following decades, racking up TV credits with Matlock and Murder, She Wrote guest episodes, as well as voice work on Superman: The Animated Series as Jonathan Kent.
The popular actor and activist also had a major role in medical drama Providence from 1999 to 2002 as Dr Jim Hansen, a vet and father to protagonist Syd Hansen (Melina Kanakaredes), who gives up her job as a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon to come home to her family in Rhode Island.
Desperate Housewives and Supernatural also make appearances on his CV in more recent years, while Farrell also made a name for himself campaigning for causes close to his heart such as animal rights, abolishing the death penalty and raising awareness of cults.
Farrell married fellow actor Judy Hayden in 1963, with whom he later acted alongside on M*A*S*H; she sporadically played the generic character of Nurse Able on the show from 1976 until 1983.
The couple, who divorced in 1983, had children Michael and Erin together. Since 1984, Farrell has been married to retired actress and The Donna Reed Show star Shelley Fabares, 81.
She has also voiced Martha Kent opposite Farrell in his Superman projects.
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