Farewell, Harry Morgan

[filkertom]

Time was, when you said "Potter," you didn't mean Harry.

Although you did.

Or -- okay, it's not that complicated. Harry Morgan, one of America's finest character actors, passed away this morning at the age of 96. He was in a heck of a lot of movies and TV shows, and he was excellent in all of them -- The Ox-Box Incident, the judge in Inherit the Wind, Joe Friday's partner Bill Gannon on Dragnet. Heck, I remember an episode of The Partridge Family where he played a man trying to defraud them by pleading whiplash from a rear-end collission.

Without question, though, he's best known as Col. Sherman T. Potter from M*A*S*H (and AfterM*A*S*H).

For years, M*A*S*H was the best show on television by an order of magnitude, and the chemistry of the cast had a lot to do with that. But sometimes that chemistry changed. MacLean Stevenson's Col. Henry Blake was a good doctor thrust into a command situation; Larry Linville's Maj. Frank Burns was a bad doctor, someone who never should have been allowed near command or medicine, but he was conniving and ambitious (hah! Slytherin).

But when Stevenson left the show, Col. Potter came in and changed everything.

He was all military all the time... except that he understood the enlisted men. He valued results over protocol. And he valued life most of all. He was a great doctor, right up there with Hawkeye and B.J. and Winchester. He didn't run the tightest ship of all time, because he knew where to leave things loose -- and, heck, it was under his command that Klinger, of all people, became true regular army.

Such chemistry.

And we loved him, and we loved his wife Mildred and his horse Sophie, and he was the best commander you could possibly have for a mobile army surgical hospital, and I'm tearing up thinking about it because he was so damn good and I loved that show.

Rest well, Mr. Morgan, and thank you for the many years of fine performances. And for making us love an old Army doctor.

Comments

[catalana.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a shame - he was fabulous in so many roles. Thank you for the lovely remembrance of him.

[cainle-bean.livejournal.com]

*sigh* It is SUCH a shame we are losing all of these wonderful actors. Few in the business today have such talent and depth. I did LOVE him in Mash, Dragnet, and all of his guest roles I have seen.

[cathain.livejournal.com]

Much ado was made about the fact that Morgan was arrested for domestic violence in 1997. What isn't known is that, at the time, he was 82 years old and in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Many people think that dementia in the elderly is just memory loss. It isn't. Early dementia is frequently characterized by loss of inhibitions, impulsiveness and extreme irritability. Some never lose the irritability. I have seen people with dementia that could no longer speak but could still walk and would rather hit someone than look at them. They would wander around aimlessly and if approached by staff or family would lash out swinging. This hurts family members and some of them would tell me, "Please don't blame Mom (or Dad). This isn't her. When I was a kid she would have given you the shirt off her back."
Henry Morgan was married for 45 years to his first wife and there was never a peep about this kind of behavior from him. He underwent a six month court mandated domestic violence counseling program. I doubt it did him much good.
Most people think there "is no excuse" for domestic violence but in this case there is. You simply cannot blame someone for the fact that they have actual, physical changes in their brain. Dementia is a terminal illness. It's hard to blame someone for being in the process of dying.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

I grew up an Army brat a stone's throw from base, so I grew up with and loving MASH. If only we all could have superiors/bosses/supervisors as awesome as Potter. And all because Harry Morgan was so awesome at it. I have more than a few memories of watching Dragnet with my dad as well.

RIP, Harry, and the Swamp raises a martini in your honor.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I remember watching MASH with my mom and dad. I always loved Morgan's character, he seemed like a good guy and the kind of person you wanted to work for.

Rest well good sir.

[ericcoleman]

But wasn't he really at his best as Major General Bartford Hamilton Steele?

[stone-bitch.livejournal.com]

I love how complex Harry played Col. Potter . He knew he had a job to do, an insane alyssum to run and still managed to show that, deep down, he was a sensitive soul who didn't feel things lightly. I think it was merely a reflection of a remarkable actor and an all around decent human being.

I'll bet you

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

a lot of people won't remember that particular role, or how truncated that episode was shown in repeats over the years.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hee. Not many people remember that -- I think it was kind of an audition for Col. Potter.

Re: I'll bet you

[ericcoleman]

It's a shame, because he's hysterical in it.

[ericcoleman]

He had been one of my favorite character actors for a long time, so when he came back after in a continuing role, I was a happy happy camper.

Let us also remember his wonderful performance in one of the funniest movies of all time, as Mayor Olly Perkins in Support Your Local Sheriff.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Harry Morgan also played Gen. Stilton in The Cat From Outer Space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_from_Outer_Space)...kind of a silly Disney movie about...well, a talking Abyssinian cat, from outer space...but one cool little detail about it is that it starred both M*A*S*H Colonels; McLean Stevenson was also in it as a gambling, beer-drinking, cigar-smoking sports fanatic.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

He also had fantastic turns in The Glenn Miller Story, High Noon, and Inherit the Wind. He was also in Support Your Local Gunfighter.

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

RIP Harry Morgan... he will definitely be missed. Col. Potter was one of my favorite TV characters.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

That's kind of the "Law & Order effect," where a major supporting player first appears on the show as someone entirely different. Jerry Orbach, who was best known as Lenny Briscoe, first appeared as a (slightly sleazy) defense lawyer. S. Epatha Merkerson, better known as Lt. Van Buren, first appeared as the mother of a murdered 11 year old.

Kind of cool...

In Memoriam: Harry Bratsberg Morgan, 1915-2011

[pingback-bot.livejournal.com]

User thatcrazycajun referenced to your post from In Memoriam: Harry Bratsberg Morgan, 1915-2011 (http://thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com/490039.html) saying: [...] work...but my old pal  beat me to the punch by saying it all and then some on his own LJ page [...]

[jerynn.livejournal.com]

*sniff* Carolinus is gone... I watched M*A*S*H as much as most, but wasn't really old enough to get it until the reruns. I will, however, always have that man's voice in my childhood mind as the old wizard from Flight of Dragons.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

I remember when the domestic violence charge hit the news and I was stunned and upset. My father, who is very good at Teachable Momets and who wasa social worker before he became head of the Welfare Department, sat me down and explained to me that this is actually common among elderly couples, and that it isn't always some nefarious, abusive, horrible situation. Sometimes it's dementia-related, or sometimes you have a spouse who is the caretaker who is also suffering and ill and slowing down and all the things that can come along with old age, and they hit a breaking point and there's a smack or a yank and that while it's not necessarily RIGHT, it's understandable.

I've never forgotten that. And it's something I've been able to transpose onto virtually every other aspect of my life: respect for what happens to people when they reach their limit, when they're overwhelmed.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

I literally cannot remember life with M*A*S*H. My father is the only person I know who loves that show more than I do, and that's only because he's older and he gets the privilege of loving it more: he's the one who began watching it with me when I was a baby.

96 is a good run, but I'm still sad to see him go. Best in what comes after, Mr. Morgan. <3

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

BEST. EARLY. EPISODE. EVER.

Okay, not necessarily BEST, but it's my favourite early episode, hands-down.

[morpheus0013.livejournal.com]

That movie's so much fun.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I didn't think that many people remembered Flight of Dragons. I loved that movie and didn't realize that Mr. Morgan was Carolinus.

But I digress

[alverant.livejournal.com]

Also done with their second-to-last new detective and the ME from SVU also appeared. I also remember two people from LA Law and someone from Married with Children appearing.

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

I'm really sad to hear that. He, and M*A*S*H, were amazing.

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

He also starred in the short-lived Blacke's Magic with Hal Linden.