Wayne Rogers | |
|---|---|
 Rogers as Trapper inM*A*S*H, 1972 | |
| Born | William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (1933-04-07)April 7, 1933 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | December 31, 2015(2015-12-31) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Princeton University, 1954 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1954–1956 |
| Rank |  Ensign |
| Unit | USSDenebola,navigator |
| Battles / wars | Cold War |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1959–2014 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
William Wayne McMillan Rogers III (April 7, 1933 – December 31, 2015)[1] was an American actor, known for playing the role ofCaptain "Trapper" John McIntyre in theCBS television seriesM*A*S*H and as Dr. Charley Michaels onHouse Calls (1979–1982).
He was a regular panel member on theFox News Channel stock investment television programCashin' In as a result of having built a career as an investor, investment strategist, adviser, and money manager. Rogers also studied acting at theNeighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.
Born inBirmingham, Alabama, Rogers attendedRamsay High School in Birmingham and was a graduate of theWebb School inBell Buckle, Tennessee.[1] He earned a history degree fromPrinceton University in 1954. He was a member of thePrinceton Triangle Club and theeating clubTiger Inn. After college, Rogers served as an officer in theUnited States Navy, as anavigator on theUSSDenebola, and planned to enterHarvard Law School before he became an actor.[1][2]
Rogers appeared on television in both dramas and sitcoms such asThe Invaders,The F.B.I.,Combat!,Gunsmoke,Have Gun Will Travel,Wanted Dead or Alive,Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., andThe Fugitive, and had a small supporting role in the 1967 movieCool Hand Luke. He also appeared onThe Big Valley in 1968.
He played Slim Davis on the soap operaSearch for Tomorrow in 1959. He also played a role inOdds Against Tomorrow, which was nominated for aGolden Globe Award in 1960 as Best Film Promoting International Understanding. He guest starred on an episode of the CBS westernJohnny Ringo.
Rogers co-starred withRobert Bray andRichard Eyer in the western seriesStagecoach West onABC from 1960 to 1961.
Rogers was cast asU.S. Army LieutenantRichard Henry Pratt in 1965 inDeath Valley Days.
He appeared on theCannon episode "Call Unicorn" in 1971.
When Rogers was approached forM*A*S*H, he planned to audition for the role of Hawkeye Pierce. He found the character too cynical, however, and asked to screen test as Trapper John, whose outlook was brighter. Rogers was told that Trapper and Hawkeye would have equal importance as characters. That changed afterAlan Alda, whose acting career and résumé up to that point had outshone that of Rogers, was cast as Hawkeye and proved to be more popular with the audience. Rogers enjoyed working with Alda and the rest of the cast as a whole (Alda and Rogers quickly became close friends), but eventually chafed that the writers were devoting the show's best humorous and dramatic moments to Alda.[citation needed]
When the writers took the liberty of making Hawkeye athoracic surgeon in the episode "Dear Dad" (December 17, 1972), even though Trapper was the unit's only thoracic surgeon in the movie and the novel, Rogers felt Trapper had been stripped of his credentials. He decided to leave the show between production of the third and fourth seasons, making his last on-screen appearance in the episodeAbyssinia, Henry, which was also the final episode for fellow cast memberMcLean Stevenson who had portrayed Lieutenant ColonelHenry Blake.[citation needed]
On theM*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion Television Special aired by Fox-TV in 2002, Rogers spoke on the differences between the Hawkeye and Trapper characters, saying, "Alan [Alda] and I both used to discuss ways on how to distinguish the differences between the two characters as to where there would be a variance.... My character [Trapper John McIntyre] was a little more impulsive [than Hawkeye]." Rogers considerably reduced his Alabama accent for the character of Trapper.[3]
He succeededElliott Gould, who had played the character in theRobert Altman movieMASH, and was himself succeeded byPernell Roberts on theM*A*S*H spin-offTrapper John, M.D. After three seasons, Rogers left the show after a contract dispute with the producers.
After leavingM*A*S*H, Rogers appeared as an FBI agent in the 1975 NBC-TV movieAttack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan, as Michael Stone in the 1980 miniseriesTop of the Hill, and ascivil rights attorneyMorris Dees in 1996'sGhosts of Mississippi. He also starred in the short-lived 1976 period detective seriesCity of Angels and the 1979–1982 CBS seriesHouse Calls, first withLynn Redgrave (both were nominated for Golden Globes in 1981, as best actor and best actress in TV comedy, but did not win) and then later with actressSharon Gless. Rogers also appeared in the 1980s miniseriesChiefs.
Rogers then was a guest star five times in a recurring role on CBS'sMurder, She Wrote. He has served as an executive producer and producer in bothtelevision andfilm, and as a screenwriter, and a director.
Rogers also starred in several other movies. In 1981, he played the role of anart forger inRoger Vadim'sThe Hot Touch. Then, in the movieThe Gig (1985), alongsideCleavon Little, he was a jazz musician-hobbyist whose group has an opportunity to play aCatskills resort and must confront failure. Also in 1985, he starred oppositeBarbara Eden in the televised reunion movieI Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later based on the 1960s situation comedyI Dream of Jeannie. Rogers took on the role of Major Tony Nelson, which was originally portrayed byLarry Hagman in the television series when Hagman was unavailable to reprise the character he had originated. In 1986, Rogers hosted the short-lived CBS television seriesHigh Risk. He also starred as Walter Duncan in the 1987 movieRace Against the Harvest.In 1990, Rogers co-starred withConnie Selleca in the CBS made-for-television movieMiracle Landing based on the true story of the 1988Aloha Airlines Flight 243 crash landing after an explosive cabin depressurization.
Rogers began to test the stock and real estate markets during his tenure as aM*A*S*H cast member and became a successfulmoney manager and investor. In 1988 and 1990, he appeared before theUnited States House Committee on the Judiciary as an expert witness, testifying in favor of retaining the banking laws enacted under theGlass–Steagall Legislation act of 1933.[4] He appeared regularly as a panel member on theFox Business Network cable TV stocks investment/stocks news programCashin' In, hosted since 2013 byFox News anchorEric Bolling. In August 2006, Rogers was elected to the board of directors ofVishay Intertechnology, Inc.,[5] aFortune 1000 manufacturer ofsemiconductors andelectronic components. He was also the head of Wayne Rogers & Co., a stock trading investment corporation.
On April 23, 2012, Rogers signed as the new spokesman for Senior Home Loans, a directreverse mortgage lender headquartered inLong Island, New York.
Rogers received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.[6]
As a young actor, Rogers met actress Mitzi McWhorter in New York in the late 1950s. They married in 1960, had two children, and divorced in 1983. They had been separated for almost four years prior to the divorce. Rogers married his second wife, Amy Hirsh, in 1988.[citation needed]
In 2001, Rogers and his wife moved toDestin, Florida.[7]
Rogers died on December 31, 2015, from complications of pneumonia in Los Angeles at the age of 82.[8][9] He died exactly one year before fellowM*A*S*H cast memberWilliam Christopher.[10]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Odds Against Tomorrow | Soldier In Bar | |
| 1959 | Gunsmoke | Tom | Season 5 Episode 14: "False Witness" |
| 1960 | Death Valley Days | George Schmidtlein | Season 8 Episode 36: "Mission to the Mountains" |
| 1960 | The Millionaire | Allan Merrick | Season 6 Episode 17: "The Story of Sylvia Merrick" |
| 1960 | Wanted Dead or Alive | Ash Langford | Season 2 Episode 18: "Angela |
| 1960 | Stagecoach West | Luke Perry | Main cast; 38 Episodes |
| 1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Kenneth | Season 7 Episode 37: "The Big Kick" |
| 1962 | Gunsmoke | Brack | Season 7 Episode 17: "Cody's Code" |
| 1963 | Have Gun Will Travel | Daniel | Season 6 Episode 19: "The Debutante" |
| 1964 | Dr. Sex | Raincoat Man | Uncredited |
| 1964 | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | Captain | Season 1 Episode 10: "A Date for the Colonel's Daughter" |
| 1965 | Gunsmoke | Stretch Morgan | Season 11 Episode 5: "Taps for Old Jeb" |
| 1965 | Death Valley Days | Lieutenant Richard H. Pratt | Season 13 Episode 24: "The Journey" |
| 1965 | The Glory Guys | Lieutenant Mike Moran | |
| 1965 | Honey West | Jerry, the Photographer (villain) | Season 1 Episode 14: "Invitation to Limbo" |
| 1966 | Chamber of Horrors | Sergeant Jim Albertson | |
| 1966 | Combat! | Reiser | Season 5 Episode 1: "The Gun" |
| 1966 | The Fugitive | Sergeant Fred Bragin | Season 3 Episode 23: "The Chinese Sunset" |
| 1967 | Cool Hand Luke | "Gambler" | |
| 1967 | The Invaders | Lieutenant Matteson | Season 2 Episode 7: "The Spores" |
| 1968 | The Big Valley | Don Jarvis | Season 4 Episode 6: "The Jonah" |
| 1970 | WUSA | Minter | |
| 1971 | Cannon | Steve | Season 1 Episode 3: "Call Unicorn" |
| 1972 | Pocket Money | "Stretch" Russell | |
| 1972–1975 | M*A*S*H | Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre | Main cast; Seasons 1 through 3 |
| 1973 | Barnaby Jones | Gil Atkens | Season 2 Episode 3: "Echo of a Murder" |
| 1975 | Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan | FBI Special Agent Don Foster | |
| 1976 | City of Angels | Jake Axminster | 13 episodes |
| 1977 | It Happened One Christmas | George Hatch | TV movie |
| 1978 | Once in Paris... | Michael Moore | |
| 1979–1982 | House Calls | Dr. Charley Michaels | 57 episodes |
| 1981 | The Hot Touch | Danny Fairchild | |
| 1983 | Chiefs | Will Henry Lee | TV miniseries |
| 1985 | I Dream of Jeannie... Fifteen Years Later | Colonel Tony Nelson | TV movie |
| 1985 | The Gig | Marty Flynn | |
| 1987 | The Killing Time | Jake Winslow | |
| 1987 | Race Against the Harvest | Walter Duncan | TV Movie |
| 1989 | Passion and Paradise | Raymond Schindler | TV movie |
| 1990 | Miracle Landing | Bob Schornstheimer | TV movie |
| 1993 | The Goodbye Bird | Ray Whitney | |
| 1993 | Murder, She Wrote | Charlie Garrett | Season 9 Episode 13: "Dead Eye" |
| 1994 | Murder, She Wrote | Charlie Garrett | Season 10 Episode 14: "Deadly Assets" |
| 1994 | Murder, She Wrote | Charlie Garrett | Season 11 Episode 7: "Fatal Paradise" |
| 1995 | Murder, She Wrote | Charlie Garrett | Season 12 Episode 2: "A Quaking in Aspen" |
| 1995 | Murder, She Wrote | Charlie Garrett | Season 12 Episode 9: "Dedaly Bidding" |
| 1996 | Ghosts of Mississippi | Morris Dees | |
| 1997 | Diagnosis: Murder | Dr. Ken Morrisay | Season 4 Episode 22: "Physician, Murder Thyself" |
| 1999 | Love Lies Bleeding | Inspector Abberline | |
| 2000 | Coo Coo Cafe | ||
| 2001 | Frozen with Fear | Charles Sullivan | |
| 2002 | Three Days of Rain | Business Man | |
| 2003 | Nobody Knows Anything! | Gun Schnook | (final film role) |
| Preceded by | "Trapper John" Actor September 17, 1972 – March 18, 1975 | Succeeded by |
