# Jamie Farr
**Jamie Farr** (born Jameel Joseph Farah; July 1, 1934) is an American actor and comedian, best known for playing Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger on the CBS comedy series *M*A*S*H* from 1972 to 1983. A Lebanese American from [Toledo, Ohio](https://www.edgepedia.org/toledo-ohio), he began as a prolific character actor in 1950s and 1960s television before the cross-dressing Klinger, originally a one-off guest part, made him a series regular on one of the most-watched shows of its era.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0268026/bio/) • [2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/jamie-farr/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | July 1, 1934, Toledo, Ohio, as Jameel Joseph Farah, son of grocer Samuel Farah and seamstress Jamelia Farah, both of Lebanese descent[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0268026/bio/) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) |
| Signature role | Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger on *M*A*S*H* (CBS, 1972–1983); a guest part that became a series regular role[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/jamie-farr/) |
| Film debut | Santini in *Blackboard Jungle* (1955), credited as Jameel Farah, opposite Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) |
| Military service | Drafted in 1957; served in the Army in Korea and Japan, and entertained troops with Red Skelton[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr) |
| Later work | AfterMASH (1983–84 season), The Sheik in *The Cannonball Run* films, game shows such as The Gong Show and Hollywood Squares, and a Broadway debut as Nathan Detroit in *Guys and Dolls* at age 60[5](https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/collections/HTML_findingaids/MSS-024.htm) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) • [4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr) |
| Honors | Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1547 Vine Street, 1985; never nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for *M*A*S*H*[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) • [13](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/mash) |
| Charity | The Owens Corning Jamie Farr Golf Classic, founded in 1984 in Toledo, raised over $4 million for children's charities[6](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/jamie-farr/umc.cpc.2cjn4frklbl3kwwfwwfjvthy1) |
## Early life and training
Farr grew up in Toledo as the son of a Lebanese immigrant grocer.[5](https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/collections/HTML_findingaids/MSS-024.htm) He later credited humor with carrying him through what he described as a rocky childhood for a short kid with a big nose and an unusual name; in school he performed in variety shows, edited the newspaper, served as class president, and managed the football and basketball teams.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) His acting career began at age 11, when he won $2 in a local talent contest.[7](https://www.kcur.org/community/2009-05-07/actor-jamie-farr)
After graduating, the family moved to [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california) and he enrolled at the [Pasadena Playhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-playhouse). In 1954 he landed his first professional acting job in a stage production of *Mr. Roberts*.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) • [4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr) Soon afterward, an MGM talent scout invited him to screen test for *The Blackboard Jungle* (1955), and he was cast as Santini alongside [Glenn Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-ford) and Sidney Poitier. He was credited under his birth name, Jameel Farah, and subsequently changed it to Jamie Farr so that Hollywood audiences could more easily pronounce and remember it.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/)
## Military service and 1960s television
Farr was drafted in 1957, during the [Korean conflict](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-conflict), and served two years in the Army in Korea and Japan. While in service he entertained troops alongside [Red Skelton](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-skelton), with whom he had begun working shortly before the draft.[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr) Returning to civilian life, he found his momentum interrupted; at one point he worked as a hand at a chinchilla ranch.[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/jamie-farr/)
Through the 1960s he became a fixture of network television as a guest performer, appearing on shows including *The Red Skelton Show*, *The Danny Kaye Show*, *The Dick Van Dyke Show*, *My Three Sons*, *Ben Casey*, *The Lucy Show*, *I Dream of Jeannie*, *F Troop*, and *Get Smart*.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) • [4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr) Regular series work nonetheless remained elusive, and by the early 1970s he had become discouraged with acting.[5](https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/collections/HTML_findingaids/MSS-024.htm)
## Klinger and M*A*S*H*
In 1972 Farr was cast in a guest spot on a new sitcom based on [Robert Altman](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-altman)'s 1970 film *M*A*S*H*, itself adapted from [Richard Hooker](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-hooker)'s 1968 [Korean War](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-war) novel. The character, Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger, pursued a Section 8 discharge (military discharge for mental unfitness) by wearing women's clothing; the scheme was played not as disguise or burlesque but straight, as Farr emphasized in a later interview: "nobody had ever put it on and just played it straight, just as a guy. Klinger was an original."[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr)
The part was intended as a one-off appearance, but audience response made Farr a series regular, and he remained with the show for its full eleven-season run on CBS.[2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/jamie-farr/) • [8](https://www.storylineentertainment.com/mash) Like the actor, Klinger was written as a Lebanese American from Toledo, Ohio.[9](https://www.shafr.org/assets/docs/Passport/2017/September-2017/passport-09-2017.pdf) As the series shifted toward drama in its later years, Klinger settled into the role of company clerk and was promoted to sergeant, and Farr brought a human depth to the character that the Los Angeles Times credited with heightening and relieving the show's war setting.[9](https://www.shafr.org/assets/docs/Passport/2017/September-2017/passport-09-2017.pdf) • [2](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/jamie-farr/) Klinger occasionally spoke Arabic phrases on screen, and a December 1979 episode, "Dear Uncle Abdul" (season 8, episode 12), centered on the character writing home about his experiences.[9](https://www.shafr.org/assets/docs/Passport/2017/September-2017/passport-09-2017.pdf) Farr also directed an episode of the series during its run.[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr)
Farr was one of two members of the original *M*A*S*H* cast who had actually served in the armed forces in Korea, though his tour of duty came after the war itself.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0268026/bio/)
## After M*A*S*H*
Farr reprised Klinger in *AfterMASH*, the sequel series that aired during the 1983–84 season.[5](https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/collections/HTML_findingaids/MSS-024.htm) After it ended he appeared on *The Love Boat* and *Murder, She Wrote*, and played The Sheik in *The Cannonball Run* (1981) and *Cannonball Run II* (1984).[10](https://time.com/5261272/mash-reunion-loretta-swit/) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) He was a frequent game-show presence, appearing on *Match Game*, *Password*, *Hollywood Squares*, and *Super Password*, and was involved with *The Gong Show*; he also co-hosted *The Mike Douglas Show*.[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr)
**Stage work** brought him back to his theatrical roots. At age 60 he made his Broadway debut in the revival of *Guys and Dolls*, taking over the role of Nathan Detroit after [Nathan Lane](https://www.edgepedia.org/nathan-lane)'s departure and earning favorable reviews. In 1997 he toured nationally in *The Odd Couple* with fellow *M*A*S*H* alumnus [William Christopher](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-christopher), playing Oscar, and he later toured with *The Will Rogers' Follies*, *Oklahoma!*, and *Oliver!*.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) • [6](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/jamie-farr/umc.cpc.2cjn4frklbl3kwwfwwfjvthy1)
His screen work continued into later decades with appearances on *Mad About You*, *Just Shoot Me*, *That '70s Show*, *Diagnosis Murder*, and *Family Guy*, and film roles including [Jacob Marley](https://www.edgepedia.org/jacob-marley) in *Scrooged* (1988).[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/)
## Writing and charity
Farr is the author of two books: his autobiography *Just Farr Fun*, and the 2003 illustrated children's book *Hababy's Christmas Eve*, co-written with his wife Joy and based on a story Klinger once told the 4077th about a family of camels carrying the Wise Men to Baby Jesus.[11](https://peteranthonyholder.com/Archives/2016/cjad10.htm) • [6](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/jamie-farr/umc.cpc.2cjn4frklbl3kwwfwwfjvthy1)
An avid golfer, he founded the Owens Corning Jamie Farr Golf Classic, a women's PGA tournament in his hometown, in 1984; the event raised over $4 million for children's charities. He described the city's embrace of the tournament as one of the greatest honors of his career, surpassing even his Emmy nomination for *M*A*S*H*.[6](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/jamie-farr/umc.cpc.2cjn4frklbl3kwwfwwfjvthy1)
## Representation and legacy
Klinger holds a specific place in the history of Arab American representation on American television. A 1997 Los Angeles Times survey noted that only two series had ever featured Arab American characters, one of them *M*A*S*H* with Farr's Lebanese American Klinger.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-29-ca-37315-story.html) Scholars of that representation note that while the show traded in some stereotypes and ethnic slurs typical of 1970s television, Klinger was also a beloved character who spoke Arabic and talked about his family, and that the character's increased profile in the late 1970s coincided with a period when Arab figures became somewhat more acceptable to American audiences.[9](https://www.shafr.org/assets/docs/Passport/2017/September-2017/passport-09-2017.pdf)
Farr received a star on the [Hollywood Walk of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-walk-of-fame) in 1985, at 1547 Vine Street.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/) In 2018 he and [Loretta Swit](https://www.edgepedia.org/loretta-swit) appeared together at the [Daytime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/daytime-emmy-awards) in Pasadena in a reunion 35 years after the series finale.[10](https://time.com/5261272/mash-reunion-loretta-swit/) He married Joy Ann Richards on February 16, 1963; the couple has two children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0268026/bio/)
## References
1. [Jamie Farr – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0268026/bio/)
2. [Jamie Farr – Hollywood Star Walk, Los Angeles Times](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/jamie-farr/)
3. [Jamie Farr – Comedian, Actor, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/jamie-farr/)
4. [Jamie Farr – Television Academy Interviews](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/jamie-farr)
5. [Jamie Farr Scripts, MSS-024, Ward M. Canaday Center, University of Toledo](https://www.utoledo.edu/library/canaday/collections/HTML_findingaids/MSS-024.htm)
6. [Jamie Farr Movies and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/jamie-farr/umc.cpc.2cjn4frklbl3kwwfwwfjvthy1)
7. [Actor Jamie Farr, KCUR](https://www.kcur.org/community/2009-05-07/actor-jamie-farr)
8. [MASH – Storyline Entertainment](https://www.storylineentertainment.com/mash)
9. [Passport, September 2017, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations](https://www.shafr.org/assets/docs/Passport/2017/September-2017/passport-09-2017.pdf)
10. [Two M*A*S*H* Stars Reunited on Stage 35 Years After the Final Episode, Time](https://time.com/5261272/mash-reunion-loretta-swit/)
11. [Transcript of interview with actor Jamie Farr, CJAD](https://peteranthonyholder.com/Archives/2016/cjad10.htm)
12. [Arabs: They're Missing in New TV Season, Los Angeles Times (1997)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-sep-29-ca-37315-story.html)
13. [M*A*S*H, Emmy Awards and Nominations](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/mash)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Ev to F*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license