Jamie Farr
Birthday:
Birthplace:
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American actor Jamie Farr was the only son of a Lebanese butcher living in Toledo, Ohio. An easy target for bullies due to his short stature and large nose, Farr became the neighborhood clown to save himself from physical abuse. Humor gave him confidence, and by the time Farr graduated from high school he was a top student, extremely popular and active in numerous extra-curricular activities. Always a big movie fan, Farr harbored dreams of being an actor, and to that end studied at the Pasadena Playhouse. In 1955, Farr was cast in his first film (still billed under his own name, Jameel Farrah), The Blackboard Jungle, playing a redeemable hoodlum named Santini; shortly thereafter, he was cast in the Broadway production of No Time for Sergeants, just before he was drafted. The two years in the Army upset the momentum of Farr's career, and he found himself from 1958 through 1971 rebuilding himself from the ground up in bits and supporting roles. (Farr was not in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians during this period, as has often been reported; the cast of that turkey included a Broadway actor named Al Nesor, who bore a startling resemblance to Farr and played many of the same type roles). One of Farr's one-day bits was for the sixth episode of the new TV series M*A*S*H in 1972; Farr had the almost wordless role of a GI who dressed in women's clothing in hopes of getting out of the Army. The character of "Corporal Klinger" was meant to be a onetime joke, but the producers of M*A*S*H sensed possibilities in the character. By Season Two of M*A*S*H, Farr became a full supporting character; by Season Three he was being given co-starring billing in the series' opening credits sequence. After misguidingly "camping" the character in the earliest rehearsals, Farr played Klinger "straight" in every sense of the word: Neither gay nor transvestite, Klinger was simply a guy who'd go to great extremes to get out of military service. Gradually the character began to become fashion conscious, and before the eighties were over Klinger was making several fashion lists as one of the best-dressed characters on TV! Farr's role was expanded when Gary Burghoff left M*A*S*H in 1979; promoted to company clerk, Klinger began to thrive in the military, and the outrageous costuming was allowed to lapse. By the time M*A*S*H left the air, Klinger had taken a Korean wife, and Jamie Farr had become a true-blue celebrity. Unfortunately neither Farr nor Klinger were able to extend their audience appeal into the sequel series After M*A*S*H, not even when the scripts contrived to have Klinger become a fugitive from justice in a move to repeat his "outsider" status on M*A*S*H. Nonetheless, Jamie Farr has kept busy in the years following the cancellation of After M*A*S*H in 1984 with TV guest spots and stage appearances in such roles as Ali Hakim in Oklahoma and Evil Eye Fleegle in Li'l Abner. Farr would continue to appear regularly on screen in the years to come, appearing in movies like Scrooged, and on TV shows like Diagnosis Murder and Mad About You.
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Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | Angels on Tap |
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— | 2018 |
No Score Yet | A Grandpa for Christmas |
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— | 2007 |
No Score Yet | A Month of Sundays |
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— | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Fearless Tiger |
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— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | Return of the Rebels |
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— | 1991 |
0% | Speed Zone |
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— | 1989 |
71% | Scrooged |
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— | 1988 |
No Score Yet | Curse II: The Bite |
|
— | 1988 |
No Score Yet | Happy Hour |
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— | 1987 |
No Score Yet | Combat High |
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— | 1986 |
13% | Cannonball Run II |
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— | 1984 |
No Score Yet | For Love or Money |
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— | 1984 |
No Score Yet | M.A.S.H. - Goodbye, Farewell, Amen |
|
— | 1983 |
30% | The Cannonball Run |
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— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | The Gong Show Movie |
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— | 1980 |
100% | Kolchak: The Night Stalker |
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— | 1974 |
No Score Yet | Arnold |
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— | 1973 |
89% | Heavy Traffic |
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— | 1973 |
No Score Yet | The Blue Knight |
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— | 1973 |
No Score Yet | With Six You Get Eggroll |
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— | 1968 |
No Score Yet | Who's Minding the Mint? |
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— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | Ride Beyond Vengeance |
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— | 1966 |
41% | The Greatest Story Ever Told |
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— | 1965 |
22% | Santa Claus Conquers the Martians |
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— | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Time for Sergeants |
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— | 1958 |
No Score Yet | Three Violent People |
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— | 1957 |
76% | Blackboard Jungle |
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— | 1955 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
65% |
The Cool Kids
2018-2019
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|
No Score Yet |
Family Guy
1999
|
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24% |
The War at Home
2005-2007
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|
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No Score Yet |
That '70s Show
1998-2006
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Just Shoot Me
1997-2003
|
|
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No Score Yet |
Mad About You
1992-1999
|
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No Score Yet |
Murder, She Wrote
1984-1996
|
|
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No Score Yet |
AfterMASH
1983-1984
|
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No Score Yet |
M*A*S*H
1972-1983
|
|
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No Score Yet |
The Streets of San Francisco
1972-1977
|
|
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No Score Yet |
Get Smart
1965-1970
|
|
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No Score Yet |
I Dream of Jeannie
1965-1970
|
|
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No Score Yet |
The Andy Griffith Show
1960-1968
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|
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No Score Yet |
My Favorite Martian
1963-1966
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No Score Yet |
The Dick Van Dyke Show
1961-1966
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Quotes from Jamie Farr's Characters
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