VIDEOS: MASH, Dragnet star Harry Morgan, 96, dies in Los Angeles

The Takeaway

Character actor Harry Morgan, 96, died Wednesday morning in Los Angeles.

He was perhaps most well-known for two roles, Colonel Sherman Potter on the long-running TV show MASH, as well as Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet.

But he had other roles. In fact, he appeared in more than 100 movies playing all manors of characters, heroes and villains. He was also in a some half-dozen other TV shows over the course of his career.

And that’s probably what’s he best known for, the 4077th’s Col. Potter. He won an Emmy for that role in 1980.

Morgan was born on April 10, 1915, in Detroit, and was named Harry Bratsburg. He changed his name in the 1940s when he first got into performing.

Mike Farrell, who played Captain B.J. Honeycutt on MASH, tried to get Morgan a life-time achievement award, according to the Associated Press. He said, though they often go to stars, they also often go to character actors like Morgan with “the grit and the substance and the context.” 

“Harry has been that, par excellence, for many years,” he said to the AP.

Morgan’s family said that he had recently been treated for pneumonia.

Do you support journalism that strengthens our democracy?

At The World, we believe strongly that human-centered journalism is at the heart of an informed public and a strong democracy. We see democracy and journalism as two sides of the same coin. If you care about one, it is imperative to care about the other.

Every day, our nonprofit newsroom seeks to inform and empower listeners and hold the powerful accountable. Neither would be possible without the support of listeners like you. If you believe in our work, will you give today? We need your help now more than ever!