Jamie Farr

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Jamie Farr (2012)
Jamie Farr 2007

Jamie Farr (* 1. July 1934 as Jameel Joseph Farah in Toledo , Ohio ) is an American actor . He became known through the role of Corporal Klinger in the television series M * A * S * H .

Childhood and youth

The son of Lebanese-American parents Jamelia and Samuel N. Farah, a trader, had his first acting success at the age of eleven. He won two dollars in prize money in a local drama competition. In high school he is said to have been an exceptionally good student. Jamie Farr was active at the Pasadena Playhouse, where he was discovered by an MGM scout and invited to audition for The Seed of Violence . He got the role and played the retarded student Santini.

Career

In the credits of The Seed of Violence (1955) Farr was still referred to as "Jameel Farah". In the same year he played a role in Kismet . He then took on several jobs, including as a clerk at the post office, an airline, an army store and a chinchilla ranch . But he also continued to refine his TV career. He joined the Red Skelton Show in the late 1950s and became the second man behind Harvey Korman on the Danny Kaye Show . Following this, a supporting role in the TV series, he was M * A * S * H available. When it turned out that the character he portrayed "Corporal Klinger" was very popular with viewers, he was permanently integrated into the series and "promoted" to a leading role. Farr played a Toledo-born corporal who kept doing everything possible to get out of the Army. He mainly refers to §8, according to which a soldier must be dismissed as a madman because of his bad mental state. To achieve this, almost nothing is sacred to him; The wearing of women's clothing becomes a mesh. He's trying to catch pneumonia or set a pole sitting record; he sends pictures of himself in the most beautiful clothes to the President of the United States and his commander in chief, invents the death of family members and much more. Klinger later becomes a company clerk and takes off the women's clothes. This is said to have been done at the actor's insistence, as he no longer wanted to perform in front of his children. Farr was one of three actors who voted for a sequel to M * A * S * H in 1983 . He also played in the spin-off After MASH , which, however, did not match the success of its predecessor.

Farr then took on roles for the film Hell's Losing On the Highway and its second part. He was also involved in some TV productions and in commercials for the “Mars” chocolate bar. In 1985 he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . He was also a judge on the gong show . In addition, he played theater with his M * A * S * H colleague William Christopher ("Father Mulcahy") until the mid-1990s.

Away from acting

Jamie Farr touring the USS Norfolk

Farr hosted an annual professional golf tournament for women on the LPGA tour, the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in Ohio. The tournament raised over $ 4.8 million for local child charities. He was also one of three cast members from MASH (alongside Alan Alda and Mike Farrell ) who wrote an autobiography he called "Just Farr Fun". Farr did his military service in the United States Army from 1955 after the filming of the film Blackboard Jungle . During his two-year service he was stationed in Japan and Korea .

The park, in which the Farr family spent a lot of time, was renamed "Jamie Farr Park" on July 5, 1998. Farr himself said of the park, “I wanted to be an actor, a famous actor, and I wanted my hometown, Toledo, Ohio, to be proud of myself.” The New York Post quoted another sentence: “Jamie Farr Park is with Security is a highlight of my career and my life. ”The TV series M * A * S * H also expressed his love for his hometown: Corporal Klinger was also born in Toledo in the series, which he often mentioned affectionately.

Jamie Farr in pop culture

  • In the song Everything You Know is Wrong by Weird Al Yankovic it says: "And soon I was abducted by some aliens from space who kinda looked like Jamie Farr" (German: "And soon I was kidnapped by a couple of aliens from space, who looked something like Jamie Farr). "
  • In the American version of the comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway? In an Irish drinking song play with the improvised title Sleeping with an ugly woman, performed by Wayne Brady , the last line says: "She looked like Jamie Farr".
  • On Family Guy: Live in Vegas, Stewie tells Brian that in the right light he looks a little like Jamie Farr.
  • During the episode "A Victim of Love" of the series The Wild Seventies , the genders take part in a knowledge quiz on a show. When a defeat for the men became apparent, Farr, who appeared as himself, switched to the women's team. He says he can do this because he used to wear women's clothes.
  • In an episode of the comedy series The Larry Sanders Show , Jamie Farr is named in a list in a row with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Sally Struthers when the station management explains to the producer of the show how yesterday the guests of the talk show were .

Filmography (selection)

In the credits of the films he is sometimes listed as Jameel Farah or Jamsel Farah.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Farr, Jamie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Farah, Jameel Joseph (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 1, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Toledo , Ohio , USA