There has always been more to Alan Alda than M*A*S*H. While the average person is no doubt most familiar with the lanky actor from his portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce on the seminal TV sitcom, Alda has quietly spent the past two decades distancing himself from the character, with notable forays into both film and stage.
Over 11 highly rated seasons, Alda collected five Emmys for his portrayal of Hawkeye, the wisecracking but talented surgeon serving a tour of duty in the Korean War. He also wrote or co-wrote 19 scripts and directed 32 episodes.
During the show's run, he also took leading-man roles in breezy big-screen fare and, following M*A*S*H's signoff in 1983, continued to expand his creative horizons in movies, onstage and on TV.
He's also become an unofficial spokesman for the scientific community, hosting the PBS programs Scientific American Frontiers and The Human Spark.
And most recently, at the age of 74, he has become an occasional guest on NBC's 30 Rock, playing the role of Milton, the long-absent father of driven studio executive Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).
Alda took time for a phone chat from New York last week.
Has your M*A*S*H role of Hawkeye been a blessing or curse in your career?
I don't think I've been typecast. Even while I was doing M*A*S*H, I was able to do other characters in movies, so people didn't come to think of me as Hawkeye. I've tried to make every character a little different. It doesn't bother me.
Until last year's Super Bowl, the M*A*S*H finale was the most-watched program in U.S. TV history. Are you still aware of the show's impact?
I'm semi-aware of it. Most of us didn't really understand the kind of impact the program had until that last show. The night the show ended, some of us drove around and saw that the streets were empty, because half the population were watching the finale. It was a shock to us.
You also directed that finale, along with dozens of M*A*S*H episodes and several films. Any desire to direct again?
I don't think so. It makes me happy now when someone else has to worry about where to put the camera. So many people want to be directors. You know the old joke about someone meeting Mother Teresa and telling her how wonderful she is, and she says, "Yeah, but what I really want to do is direct." But I did that already. For the experience itself, I don't really need to do it any more.
How do the M*A*S*H days compare to the creative comedy process on 30 Rock?
30 Rock is shot on film, like we used to do M*A*S*H, but moves at a much faster pace. Usually there are six or seven writers at a table read, but for the recent holiday episode there were about 50 people, all involved in creating the show. It was really exciting because you got live reactions to the humour and it sparked everyone to another level of energy. It was like we were doing an off-Broadway play that morning.
And working with Tina Fey?
Tina amazes me. She can satirize, she can impersonate, she can write like a dream and she's a wonderful actress. And she's a mother. She's doing as least as much as I did when I was doing M*A*S*H, and she doesn't look as exhausted as I used to look. I'm full of admiration for her.
Which of your films stands out for you?
The Four Seasons was one of the happiest experiences in my memory. I wrote and directed, and the script came out of experiences in my own life. And my family was involved. My wife was taking pictures and wrote a book on it. Two of our daughters were in the movie. It was a very happy time. I think the movie probably turned out better than any other picture I wrote and directed.
What's your opinion of Bill Hader's impression of you on Saturday Night Live?
He's very talented, but there's something wrong with the way I hear my own voice. I've heard people do me, and I've never heard the similarity. Everybody tells me I have such a distinctive voice, but it doesn't sound distinctive to me. I don't think I hear my own voice the way other people do. I actually think I sound more like Laurence Olivier.
Are there any shows on TV today that make you laugh?
I don't watch that much TV, so I can't compare one show to another. Usually when I watch television it's one person talking to another on the news. Or it's a science show, where they show me microbes. Microbes actually communicate quite a bit, so there's a lot of talking going on.
What's the current big buzz in the science world?
Well, I'm hoping the supercollider in Switzerland will throw some light on string theories and maybe prove some of the ideas that have been postulated before. I'm really interested in scientists trying to figure out how the universe works.
Would you ever consider a M*A*S*H reunion show or movie?
No. We did the best we could and our time has passed. I would hate to see it raked over again. Somebody said recently they're thinking of doing The Wizard of Oz again. That's nuts! You want to see the Judy Garland version, you don't want to see someone new doing it. I don't.
This interview has been condensed and edited.