'M*A*S*H': One Major Character Was Inially Wrten to Be Gay

Contents:

• ‘M*A*S*H’: ONE MAJOR CHARACTER WAS INIALLY WRTEN TO BE A GAY MAN
• ‘M*A*S*H’: CORPORAL KLGER WAS ORIGALLY SUPPOSED TO BE GAY

‘M*A*S*H’: ONE MAJOR CHARACTER WAS INIALLY WRTEN TO BE A GAY MAN

The director then tells me to play Klger ‘gay. This nng joke (and the wrers’ origal plan for him to be a gay character) fed Klger’s character until he hered Radar’s posn as pany clerk, which is when he stopped dog . Twentieth Century Fox Home EntertamentHe was also supposed to be gay.

‘M*A*S*H’: CORPORAL KLGER WAS ORIGALLY SUPPOSED TO BE GAY

Allegedly, the Klger character was fluenced by edian Lenny Bce’s claim that he got discharged om the Navy for claimg to have “homosexual tennci. Thanks to the st’s creasg behd-the-scen fluence (spearhead by Alan Alda, who equently pulled triple duty as a wrer, actor, and director) M*A*S*H transformed to a poignant, potent, anti-war drama that gracefully tackled everythg om racism to homosexualy, whout losg the signature sense of humor that drew viewers to beg wh. For a seri that predat the legalizatn of gay marraige and the abolishment of “don’t ask don’t tell, ” M*A*S*H always held a thoroughly morn attu towards queerns the few tim that was explicly mentned over the urse of the seri.

May not have been able to directly addrs the rampant homophobia the ary whout vokg the ire of work censors, episos like Season 2’s “Gee” leave no doubt the dienc’ md that Hawkeye and the rt of the 4077 have no place for homophobia their mp. However, early drafts, he was also a gay man who was grapplg wh beg on the margs there, too.

His penchant for tryg to get discharged was played for lghs, but ep down si, was meant to be an early example of gay characters entertament. While Klger’s sexualy uld be up for bate even now, the show never explicly stated whether he was gay or not. The show’s creator, Gene Reynolds, even told Farr to play the character as gay, acrdg to Hollywood Reporter.