# Asian actors on MASH -- where are they now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090 "2005-08-29T13:37:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/1 "2005-08-29T13:37:13Z")
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_. Who else? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/2 "2005-08-29T13:58:13Z")
Larry Hama, who IMDB says was in only one episode, has spent most of the last 30 years writing and editing comics. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/3 "2005-08-29T14:06:43Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > **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_. She also had a long-term recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Keiko O’Brien. ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/4 "2005-08-29T14:07:56Z")
**Mako** played, according to the [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0538683/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxrdz0xfHE9bWFrb3xmdD0xfG14PTIwfGxtPTUwMHxjbz0xfGh0bWw9MXxubT0x;fc=1;ft=48;fm=1)"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 M_A_S\*H and continues to act today. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/5 "2005-08-29T14:10:33Z")
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?”)? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/6 "2005-08-29T14:13:12Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Was he the guy that played the North Korean surgeon who shaved his beard and switched sides? And was outed by a suspicious Margaret? I’m referring to Larry Hama. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/7 "2005-08-29T14:23:43Z")
Rosalind Chao was also excellent in The Joy Luck Club. The only times I’ve cried since I was 14 have been watching that movie. **tdn** , I don’t know who Hama played. I know him from comics and have never seen the episode he was in. IMDB says he was in the fifth season. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/8 "2005-08-29T14:48:34Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > **tdn** , I don’t know who Hama played. I know him from comics and have never seen the episode he was in. IMDB says he was in the fifth season. > [@MASH Episode Guide](#): > > 1. The Korean Surgeon (U-814) > November 23, 1976 > Written by Bill Idelson > Directed by Gene Reynolds > Guest Stars: Soon Tech Oh, Robert Ito, Larry Hama, Richard Russell > Ramos, Dennis Troy 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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/9 "2005-08-29T15:20:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/10 "2005-08-29T16:59:05Z")
No love for [Kellye Nakahara](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619990/)? (I guess Nurse Kellye wasn’t nameless or replaceable. Read the OP, **Doug** …:rolleyes:) Kellye lives in Pasadena, has 2 children, and paints. She last did TV in 1999, guesting on _Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch._ ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/11 "2005-08-29T17:00:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/12 "2005-08-29T17:21:02Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > No love for [Kellye Nakahara](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0619990/)? (I guess Nurse Kellye wasn’t nameless or replaceable. Read the OP, **Doug** …:rolleyes:) Haven’t forgotten about her, I just haven’t gotten to her yet. But yeah, I consider her a regular cast member and not an anonymous one-off guest. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/13 "2005-08-29T17:22:25Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > Also mentioned in the cast list of “The Korean Surgeon” is one Robert Ito Who did he play? I remember there were some North Koreans who showed up in a jeep and then took Frank as a hostage. Was he one of them? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/14 "2005-08-29T17:35:47Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-actors-on-mash-where-are-they-now/319090/15 "2005-08-29T17:35:50Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Who did he play? I remember there were some North Koreans who showed up in a jeep and then took Frank as a hostage. Was he one of them? Checked the IMDB–he is credited in that episode as “North Korean”, so he probably was one of the guys in the jeep.