Larry Gelbart, the man most responsible for bringing M*A*S*H to the small screen, has died at the age of 81. He wrote the pilot episode, which premiered in September of 1972, and stayed with the show through the end of its fourth season in 1976. He wrote or co-wrote several dozen other episodes and directed six. He also created AfterMASH. But his career in television began decades earlier when he was a writer for Caesar’s Hour and Your Show of Shows. In 1980 he created United States, a short-lived sitcom starring Beau Bridges.Gelbart was also involved in theater and movies, co-writing the award-winning play A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as well as the feature film Tootsie. He released his memoir, Laughing Matters:: On Writing M*A*S*H, Tootsie, Oh, God!, and a Few Other Funny Things, in 1998. Gelbart was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in December of 1998 and was present at the 2009 TV Land Awards in April of 2009 to help accept the Impact Award for M*A*S*H.
Also Patrick Swayze dies, who was in 1 MASH episode.
His breakthrough role came in 1987 when he starred in Dirty Dancing but on April 6th, 1981 Patrick Swayze guest-starred on M*A*S*H as Pvt. Gary Sturgis, a terminally-ill soldier more worried about his wounded buddy than himself. Swayze passed away Monday at the age of 57 after battling pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed in March of 2008 but continued working, starring in A&E’s The Beast. The series wrapped its first and only season in April of 2009.
