'This Thing Could Run A Whole Year': Why Alan Alda Nearly Passed On M*A*S*H

It's hard to imagine the 1970s television landscape without "M*A*S*H," and it's hard to imagine "M*A*S*H" without Alan Alda in the lead role. From 1972 to 1983, Alda starred in all 11 seasons of the show as Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, having taken over the role from Donald Sutherland, who played the same character in the original "M*A*S*H" film from 1970. And while Sutherland — whose heartbreaking death in 2024 left fans devastated — is undeniably a legend in his own right, it's also undeniable that, at this point, Alda is the actor most people associate with Hawkeye. That's why it's all the more surprising that Alda very nearly passed on the role when it was initially offered to him.

During a big retrospective interview piece published by The Hollywood Reporter in early 2018, Alda recalled that, when he first got the script for "M*A*S*H," he had been filming a movie at a prison in Utah (he was most likely referring to the 1972 made-for-TV feature "The Glass House). "'M*A*S*H' was by far the best script I'd ever read in prison," Alda said. But while he was impressed by the material, the East Coast-born actor was also worried that accepting the role of Hawkeye could have completely upended his life. After all, shooting a movie far away from home for a few months is one thing, but shooting an entire season of television even farther away is an entirely different beast in terms of the commitment involved.

"I said to my wife, Arlene, 'I can't do it because it's going to be made in California and we live in New Jersey. Who knows, this thing could run a whole year,'" Alda told THR. Fortunately for "M*A*S*H" fans, he ultimately said yes, and one year became 11.

Alan Alda's life was quite different before the success of "M*A*S*H," and it's clear that taking on the part was the right decision. He managed to balance his work and home life by flying home to New Jersey whenever he had a couple of days off. 

And it's clear the cast also approved of him taking on the role. Over the years, plenty of Alda's "M*A*S*H" co-stars have spoken about what it was like to work with him, with most of them praising how he conducted himself both in front of and away from the cameras. For example, Larry Linville — who played Major Frank Burns on "M*A*S*H" — had the following to say about Alda during a 1986 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer (via MeTV): "He was pretty much what you see on the screen — terrific."

Alda himself looks back on his time starring in "M*A*S*H" fondly. Not only that, but he's had the chance to witness the positive impact his character has had on the real world, which no doubt makes him all the more happy he got over his initial apprehension about starring on the show in the first place. "You talk about making a contribution, and it makes you feel good. It's not just giving, it's getting," Alda said at an event in New York City in May 2026 (via People). "One of the ways that I noticed that I must have lived usefully is people — this is really true — people come up to me on the street and they say, 'After seeing you play a doctor on M*A*S*H, that made me want to become a doctor." In other words, it's safe to say the show's legacy has endured far beyond the "what ifs" Alda had weighed way back in the beginning.