While doing the MASH Trivia thread, I accidentally ran across an actress that I’ve seen in something more recently. Then after watching an old episode of Monk I ran across another. This got me to thinking that the producers of MASH had a huge pool of Asian actors from which to cast various nameless, replaceable Asian characters in that show. Of which there were many. Some of these may very well have gone on to bigger and better things.
Who are they? So far I have:
Jack Soo, in the episode where Henry gets a new desk and Hawkeye and BJ steal it to buy medications. He went on to be on Barney Miller.
Sylvia Chang, who played a prostitute that Charles fell for. She did a lot of Chinese movies, and was recently the star in the Chinese portion of the multinational film The Red Violin.
Rosalind Chao, who played Soon Yee, who married Klinger in the last episode. Was in Mr. Monk Goes Back to School, What Dreams May Come (as Robin Williams’s dead daughter’s “new look”), and I Am Sam.
Mako played, according to the IMDB"Li Chan" in episode: “The Best of Enemies” (episode # 9.1) 17 November 1980
“Lt. Hung Lee Park” in episode: “Guerilla My Dreams” (episode # 8.3) 1 October 1979
“Major Choi” in episode: “Hawkeye Get Your Gun” (episode # 5.10) 30 November 1976
and -
“Dr. Lin Tam” in episode: “Rainbow Bridge” (episode # 3.2) 17 September 1974Of course, Mako was an established actor before MAS*H and continues to act today.
Was he the guy that played the North Korean surgeon who shaved his beard and switched sides? And was outed by a suspicious Margaret?
Who was the guy who played Kim Luck? The one who carved the two-by-four (“Used to be round”) and who attended the auction (“You wish us all a prostitute?”)?
So I got the right episode, but the wrong actor. The title character was played by Soon-Teck Oh. Who was in Mulan and Beverly Hills Ninja and a million other things I’ve never seen.
Looking for some other entries, I ran across this: In the 1982 episode where Charles gets his tooth pulled, there is a young corporal, credited to a young actor named Larry Fishburne. Yes, that Larry Fishburne.
Also mentioned in the cast list of “The Korean Surgeon” is one Robert Ito, whom we all should remember as Quincy 's assistant, Sam Fujiyama, and still acts and does voice work for animation.And how can we forget Kellye Nakahara (Nurse Kellye)? Her most recent appearance was in Eddie Murphy’s ** Dr. Dolittle** in a minor role.
What about the uncredited actress in the opening montage? Was she an Asian? I don’t think she was a regular cast member, and I remember reading an article many years ago where they tracked her down (sorta like Hazel Frederick in “The Mary Tyler Moore” show—except that her friends and family recognized her immediately when that show debuted).