Although, admittedly, our beloved MASH TV show became the Hawkeye show in later seasons, he wasn’t the first character to speak in the show. That honor went, fittingly, to the only actor playing a main character who also appeared in the film version. Now, technically, I’m playing fast and loose with the truth if I say this is the first character to speak. So, to be clear, I’m talking about the first character to actually speak a significant line of dialogue. Technically, the first character to speak is Trapper John McIntyre. But he only shouts one word. So, who spoke the first line in MASH? The very first line of real dialogue is spoken by Gary Burghoff as Radar O’Reilly.
The pilot episode opens with Hawkeye and Trapper hitting golf balls into the mine field, with Ho Jon as their caddy. We then see a glimpse of Henry Blake appearing to be operating with a nurse, Father Mulcahy sleeping outside while making the sign of the cross in his sleep, and Margaret and Frank reading books while playing barefoot footsie under the table. We then see Spearchucker Jones, a star football player, tossing a football to Radar and another soldier. The scene switches back to Henry Blake and the nurse, in surgical garb, to reveal that what Blake had been doing was opening a bottle of champagne. Trapper then hits a golf ball into the minefield and hits a mine, triggering an explosion. Trapper yells the first spoken word of the show, “Fore!”
Back to Jones and Radar playing football. Radar catches the ball thrown by Jones, stops, and yells, “Here they come.” Jones says “I don’t hear nothin.” And Radar waves him off and says “Wait for it,” while looking up at the sky through his signature dirty glasses. The helicopters were coming with wounded. Right off the bat, we see Radar’s ability to forecast events before they happen. Or, does he just have very good ears? It’s a little of both, I think.
So, there you have it. You could argue that Trapper, played by Wayne Rogers, speaks the first line, if you consider “Fore!” a line. But, I’d say the first line is spoken by Radar, played by Gary Burghoff. It may be no coincidence that Radar appears first with Spearchucker Jones.
Gary Burghoff Was Not the Only Actor From the Original MASH Film to Appear in the Show
Contrary to popular belief, Gary Burghoff wasn’t the only actor to appear in both the film and the series. Timothy Brown, who played Dr. Jones with the troublesome nickname, played Corporal Hudson in the movie. As well, G. Wood played General Hammond in both the movie and the TV series, while Corey Fischer appeared as Captain Bandini in the film and Captain Phil Cardozo in the series, although only appearing in one episode.
In those days, bonafide movies stars absolutely did not go from the movies to a tv show. It was unheard of and considered basically the end of your career. Donald Sutherland, who played Hawkeye Pierce in the movie and Elliot Gould, who played Trapper John, were never going to be in the show and they would have been much too expensive for the producers to afford. Both Gary Burghoff and Timothy Brown, however, were unknown actors who probably welcomed the opportunity.
