Actor Harry Morgan died 7 December 2011 at his home in Los Angeles. Born Harry Bratsberg on 10 April 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, he was best known for playing Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H, and before that, Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet. He won an Emmy for his role on M*A*S*H in 1980, and was nominated for eight other times for the same role. He also earned an Emmy nomination in 1959 for his role on December Bride. Like many actors, Morgan also tried his hand at directing a few television episodes, and was nominated for a directing Emmy for M*A*S*H in 19890, and a Directors Guild of America Award in 1982.
In school, he planned to be a lawyer, but left the University of Chicago for a job with an office equipment maker. While working in Washington, DC, he joined a community theatre group. During summer stock theatre, he met actress Frances Farmer, who introduced him to acting classes with Elia Kazan and to her classmate Eileen Detchon, whom he married in 1940. His burgeoning stage career brought him to the attention of Hollywood agent Charlie Feldman, who signed him to a studio contract with Twentieth Century Fox, where he changed his name to Henry Morgan. His first film role was in 1942’s To the Shores of Tripoli. He later changed his name to Harry Morgan, to avoid confusion with a popular comedian.
Morgan worked simultaneously in film, television, and radio. His supporting role in December Bride led to his first television lead, in the spin-off series Pete and Gladys (1960-62). In 1974, he had a guest-starring role as Major General Steele on M*A*S*H, which earned him an Emmy nomination, and an invitation a year later to join the show with a demotion, as Colonel Potter. He revived the Potter role in the short-lived spin-off series AfterMASH.
His genre roles include: three appearances on 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-97), The Twilight Zone (1988), 14 Going on 30 (1988), The Flight of Dragons (1982), The Wild Wild West Revisited (1979), The Cat from Outer Space (1978), The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa (1977), Exo-Man (1977), Charley and the Angel (1973), and Rod Serling’s Night Gallery (1972).
His first wife, Eileen, died in 1985. The next year, he married Barbara Bushman. He is survived by his second wife, three sons from his first marriage (one son died in 1989), and several grandchildren.