Wayne Rogers, Trapper John on M.A.S.H., dies at 82

Mash star Wayne Rogers, who played United States army surgeon “Trapper” John McIntyre in the cult 1970s TV series, has died.

Wayne Rogers, Broadway producer, Fox News contributor and original star of the iconic CBS comedy series M*A*S*H, died Thursday, his publicist Rona Menashe told Reuters.

Rogers was on the show for just the first three of its 11 seasons, starring as the cohort of Alan Alda’s “Hawkeye Pierce”, but his character is stilled revered by show devotees.

I got to know him a little at a small conference we both attended several years ago high up in the mountains outside of Bozeman, Montana.

The Alabama native graduated from Princeton with a degree in history in 1954 and served in the U.S. Navy, where he became involved in theater.

Rogers’ career went back to the 1950s, with roles on Stagecoach West, Law of the Plainsman, Gunsmoke and The F.B.I. before he was cast in M*A*S*H.

He additionally had recurring roles in TV exhibits “City of Angels“, “House Calls”, and “Murder, She Wrote”. He was initially considered for Alda’s character, but he preferred Trapper’s sunnier disposition to Hawkeye’s darkly acerbic personality. It was based on Robert Altman’s 1970 film of the same name, which saw Elliot Gould play Trapper opposite Donald Sutherland’s cynical Hawkeye.

Alan Alda remembered his “M.A.S.H.” co-star Wayne Rogers with a touching post on Twitter on Friday.

He was also the head of Wayne Rogers & Co., a stock trading investment corporation.

Rogers leaves behind wife, Amy, his two children, Bill and Laura, and four grandchildren.