Alda, now 87, is selling the 'M*A*S*H' commemoratives to raise money for his nonprofit: a center to help scientists and doctors communicate better.
American actors Gary Burghoff , as Corporal Walter Radar OReilly, and Alan Alda, as Captain Benjamin Hawekeye Pierce, appear in a scene from an episode of the television series MASH, California, 1976.
. Alda's character, Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce, was a talented surgeon who helped ease the stress of working in a war zone with quick quips and practical jokes. When the show ended in 1983 with an episode written and directed by Alda, it attracted the largest U.S. audience for any TV show in history.
The dog tags carried the names of Hersie Davenport and Morriss D. Levine. Research conducted by the auction house revealed that both men were discharged from the Army in 1945. According to Heritage Auctions' research, Davenport died in 1970. Levine, whose first name was misspelled on the dog tag with an extra ‘s,’ died in 1973.
Alda said that he kept both items on a shelf in his office, and then stowed in a closet. Auctioning them off after all of these decades made sense to him. "I saw this as a chance to put them to work again," he said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Television history for sale: Alan Alda to auction ‘M*A*S*H*’ boots, dog tagsHe’s selling them to help fund the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brooke University.
Read more »
Alan Alda kept his boots and dog tags from 'M*A*S*H' for 40 years. Now he'll offer them at auctionAlan Alda, 87, said he wore the boots and dog tags for the 11-season run of the show centering on a Korean War medical unit.
Read more »
Alan Alda kept his boots and dog tags from 'M*A*S*H' for 40 years. Now he'll offer them at auctionThe stories behind the boots and dog tags have stuck with Alda for 40 years.
Read more »
Alan Alda kept his boots and dog tags from 'M*A*S*H' for 40 years. Now he'll offer them at auctionThe combat boots and dog tags that Alan Alda wore when he portrayed the wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye on the beloved television series “M*A*S*H” meant so much to him that when the show ended 40 years ago, he kept them.
Read more »
Alan Alda kept his boots and dog tags from 'M*A*S*H' for 40 years. Now he'll offer them at auctionThe combat boots and dog tags that Alan Alda wore to portray the wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye on the beloved television series 'M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H' meant so much to him that when the show ended 40 years ago, he kept them.
Read more »
Jan. 6 trial to begin for ex-La Habra Police Chief Alan HostetterHostetter is the highest profile Orange County Jan. 6 defendant to go to trial so far for his alleged role in the breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Read more »