Wayne Rogers, Trapper John on ‘MASH,’ dies at 82

Actor Wayne Rogers, who played Trapper John on cult TV series “M*A*S*H”, has died, aged 82.

Actor Wayne Rogers of “MASH” arrives at the 7th Annual TV Land Awards held at Gibson Amphitheatre on April 19, 2009 in Universal City, California.

A Princeton graduate and a Navy veteran before finding fame as an actor, Rogers became a household name after playing Trapper in the first three series of the show which ran for 11 seasons between 1972 and 1983. In the film, Trapper was played by Elliot Gould while Donald Sutherland played Hawkeye.

After M.A.S.H., Rogers became a successful businessman – founding an investment strategy firm and a production company. In 1988 and 1990 he appeared as an expert witness before the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee to speak in favour of maintaining the Glass-Steagall banking laws of the 1930s. He is survived by his wife, Amy, his children Laura and Bill, and four grandchildren, Alexander, Daniel, William and Anais.

When Rogers traveled for Swifty Serve, people sometimes recognized him from his “M*A*S*H” days.

Rogers’ final acting roles both came in 2003 in the film comedy “Nobody Knows Anything!” whose cast also included future talk show host Stephen Colbert, and the mad-for-television movie “Miracle Dogs”.

“I made a little money, and I wanted to be sure that if I was going to lose it, I wanted to be the author of my own demise”, he said.