Jamie Farr treats Klinger’s elaborate attempts to get out of the army with the seriousness of a man doing necessary work. We value the person he finds beneath the costume, even when the joke has worn thin.
Fi1m perspective
In MASH* (1972), Maxwell Klinger puts on elaborate women’s clothes in the hope of securing a discharge, and Farr takes the business seriously. He plays someone pursuing a workable plan, however unlikely it looks to everyone else. We laughed at the conviction he brings to those attempts, because he makes getting out of the army matter more than displaying the outfit. That straight-faced approach gives a repetitive premise somewhere to go.
His early screen work included a small role in Blackboard Jungle (1955), followed by television parts and regular work with Red Skelton. MASH* initially hired him for a single day in 1972; he became a series regular in 1975. That expansion asked more of Farr than another costume and another attempt to leave. The character gradually grew more mature, and Farr kept him recognisable without making him depend entirely on the original joke.
Not every joke deserves that loyalty. The early premise sometimes expects the sight of a man in women’s clothes to do the work, and that expectation has aged poorly. Larry Gelbart’s series improves as its people become more complicated, with Harry Morgan’s steadiness and Mike Farrell’s quieter company helping the comedy. Farr’s insistence on playing a person belongs with those performances. The ensemble gives us good reason to forgive the dated humour, though we could do without the occasional lectures.
Other work includes the Sheik in The Cannonball Run (1981), but Klinger continued into AfterMASH (1983). The difficulty of finding new leading television work afterwards suggests how firmly the character stuck, though that is no reason to mistake familiarity for a lack of skill. Farr also directed one episode apiece of MASH and AfterMASH, a much smaller part of his work than acting. Start with MASH, and give him time to get past the first round of costume jokes.
Biography
Jamie Farr is an American actor and comedian. Born Jameel Joseph Farah on 1 July 1934 in Toledo, Ohio, he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse and made his film debut in Blackboard Jungle (1955), credited as Jameel Farah.
Farr is best known for playing Corporal Maxwell Klinger on the television series MASH (1972–1983), a role that began as a guest appearance and became a regular part from the fourth season. He also directed one episode of the series. Other credits include films such as The Cannonball Run (1981) and guest appearances on series including The Twilight Zone (1959) and I Dream of Jeannie* (1965). He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1985.
