Mike Farrell

Birthday: 6 February 1939, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Birth Name: Michael Joseph Farrell

Height: 191 cm

Mike is one of four children. His father, Joe, who died in 1956, was a carpenter at Hollywood studios. Mike attended grammar school with Natalie Wood and Ricky Nelson. He entered the Marines in the 1950s for two years. Later, he attended the University of California at Los Angeles and studied acting at the Jeff Corey Workshop. He started getting big parts in movies, which led to a regular role on Days of Our Lives (1965) and, ultimately, to M*A*S*H (1972). When M*A*S*H (1972) went off the air, he resisted series TV for many years until he was offered Providence (1999). In the meantime, he formed his own production company, which made the Robin Williams vehicle, Patch Adams (1998), based on Mike's own acquaintance with the doctor. Mike is very politically involved. He lobbied against the firing of gay teachers. He was outspoken about the US involvement in Ecuador in the 80s. He served as a member of California's Commission on Judicial Performance from February 2, 1998 to February 28, 2001. Show less «

(On his on- and off-screen chemistry with Harry Morgan, who played Col. Sherman Potter): It's harder...Show more »

(On his on- and off-screen chemistry with Harry Morgan, who played Col. Sherman Potter): It's harder for me to separate Harry and Col. Potter because I adore them both so much. Col. Potter was the father figure we all loved and admired. A straight-arrow, regular army, by the book type who, just beneath the surface, was a marshmallow. Harry Morgan is a wonderful guy and a good friend. He's full of stories, jokes, wry humor and is a delight to be around. He is and ought to be a motion picture and television legend. Show less «

I was a bouncer in a bar. That was a terrible, terrible, terrible job. And I used to be a private in...Show more »

I was a bouncer in a bar. That was a terrible, terrible, terrible job. And I used to be a private investigator. I'd have to find people that didn't want to be found. I was shot at, and chased with knives. Most of the cases were really sad more then anything else. Show less «

(On the final episode of M*A*S*H (1972)): It was one of the hardest things I've ever done as an acto...Show more »

(On the final episode of M*A*S*H (1972)): It was one of the hardest things I've ever done as an actor, because there were times when it wasn't appropriate to be crying. Show less «

(Who presided over the largest C.I.A. station in the world, which was Honduras): I mean it's just a ...Show more »

(Who presided over the largest C.I.A. station in the world, which was Honduras): I mean it's just a pathetic thing. I laugh about it now, but Honduras was the base for the Contras against Nicaragua. Honduras was also the repository of a great number of refugees from the horror in Guatemala and the terrible brutality in El Salvador. We were there trying to deal with the needs of the people who were refugees and who were being treated abominably by their own governments and by the United States if every way they could be. I remember coming back from Honduras and talking to the Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs. I told him about the brutality that was being visited on these people. Show less «

[Of Harry Morgan]: He was a treasure as a person, an imp at times, and always a true professional. H...Show more »

[Of Harry Morgan]: He was a treasure as a person, an imp at times, and always a true professional. He had worked with the greats and never saw himself as one of them. But he was. He was the rock everyone depended on and yet he could cut up like a kid when the situation warranted it. He was the apotheosis, the finest example of what people call a 'character actor.' What he brought to the work made everyone better. He made those who are thought of as 'stars' shine even more brightly. The love and admiration we all felt for him were returned tenfold in many, many ways. And the greatest and, most selfless tribute to the experience we enjoyed was paid by Harry at the press conference when our show ended. He remarked that someone had asked him if working on M*A*S*H had made him a better actor. He responded by saying, 'I don't know about that, but it made me a better human being. It's hard to imagine a better one.' Show less «

I think alternative sentencing, if I understand your use of the term, is a good idea for some offend...Show more »

I think alternative sentencing, if I understand your use of the term, is a good idea for some offenders, who can then continue to be useful members of society at the same time as they are having their activities restricted by law, but is not appropriate for those who have demonstrated, for example, a propensity for violence against others. Show less «

(On the death of Harry Morgan): He was an imp. As Alan once said, 'There's not an un-adorable bone i...Show more »

(On the death of Harry Morgan): He was an imp. As Alan once said, 'There's not an un-adorable bone in the man's body.' He was full of fun, and he was smart as a whip. Show less «

(On David Ogden Stiers, who was being reduced by one Harry Morgan, for ridiculous reasons): David wa...Show more »

(On David Ogden Stiers, who was being reduced by one Harry Morgan, for ridiculous reasons): David was like a rock, when he was concentrating, when he was being Charles Emerson Winchester III, you just couldn't get him, except for Harry Morgan. Harry could look at David and reduced him to a puddle of tears, without turning an eye. David said, 'When he [Harry] looks at me and flare those nostrils; and he would be gone.' It would be such a wonderful thing to see this great big guy just reduced to a giggling idiot by Harry, but unfortunately, all I could tell you, we had great fun doing the show; and much of it was laughing at some silly gag that one of us had pulled on the others. Show less «

(On the effect of the programs today): I think there's a terrible dumbing- down of the American cons...Show more »

(On the effect of the programs today): I think there's a terrible dumbing- down of the American consciousness, the drumbeat of ugliness and stupidity and sensationalism, and thoughtlessness and propaganda that is in these stations. I think it's across the border. It's not just in the right wing media. Takings across the board, the dumbing- down that's going on. I worry about it greatly, because I think we have listened to - loosened connections that people feel toward this country and the values of this country. It's as though as took freedom and liberty and the kinds of concepts that built America and put them on a shelf somewhere and said we won them now. As long as they're back there, we can do anything that we want. Forgetting that those have to be living - living values that we practice on a daily basis rather than just having them on a shelf that we polish periodically. Show less «

(On joining the cast of M*A*S*H (1972)): "I began to sweat at the [thought] that if this show fails ...Show more »

(On joining the cast of M*A*S*H (1972)): "I began to sweat at the [thought] that if this show fails in the fourth season, I'm going to wear it around my neck for the rest of my life: the guy who sank M*A*S*H (1972). Show less «

(On besides playing somebody else other than "BJ Hunnicut," he was offered another role): The script...Show more »

(On besides playing somebody else other than "BJ Hunnicut," he was offered another role): The script. I liked the fact that it was serious and a bit wacky and I liked the idea of dealing with family issues. After reading it I told my agent it would be worth a meeting with them and I liked it even better after meeting the people involved. Meeting Melina was the icing on the cake. Show less «

Mike Farrell

Mike Farrell's FILMOGRAPHY

Mike Farrell'S roles

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