| “ | Horse hockey. I've seen these dodges for forty years, all the tricks. I knew one private said he was a mare, carried a colt in his arms for weeks. Another fella said he was a daisy, insisted we water him every morning. No, corporal, it ain't gonna go with me. Now you get out of that fru-fru and into a uniform and you STAY in uniform. Dismissed! | „ |
| ~ Col. Potter laying down the law with Cpl. Klinger |
Colonel Sherman T. Potter was a primary character in the television series M*A*S*H from seasons 4 through 11.
Early History[]
Prior to assuming command of the 4077th MASH, Potter had a long career in the US Army. A native of Missouri, Potter first joined the army in World War I as an enlisted soldier. He was at one point captured by the Germans and spent time in a POW camp before being released. Following his service in World War I Potter went to medical school and became a doctor. He also married Mildred during this time and had children with her. Potter was devoted to his wife, and felt a great deal of guilt the one time he was unfaithful. It took him a very long time to get over his guilt of betraying her trust.
Being 1/8 Cherokee, Potter had much more open-minded views than many of his contemporaries - especially when it came to racial matters. When Frank Burns compared the North Koreans to Native Americans, Potter informed him of his ancestry.
Potter served as a surgeon in World War II and was stationed in Guam. Following the war he moved in to administration for two years before being assigned as the commanding officer of the 4077th.
Command of the 4077[]
| “ | They were pretty shaky going in, I gotta tell ya. Sitting behind a desk for two years, I thought I might've lost my touch. I guess surgery's like a bicycle. Once you learn it, you never forget. Nice to know there's a little pizzazz left in the old digits. | „ |
| ~ Potter, after his first surgery session at the 4077. |
Potter knew that command of the MASH 4077th would likely be his final assignment for the Army. He ordered the people at the 4077th to keep their noses clean for the next 18 months, which he thought would be the length of his stay at the 4077th.
As he himself would later say, no one was too thrilled about his arrival at the camp after the departure and subsequent death of the beloved Henry Blake. His first days at the camp were a bit uneasy as he and his staff tried to figure each other out. However Potter soon showed his prowess as a surgeon, leading to the first bonds of friendship between him and Captains Pierce and Hunnicut. Even Major Houlihan came to think very highly of Potter. Major Frank Burns did not like Potter too much, and the feeling was quite mutual. When Major Burns had a nervous breakdown and was confined for psychiatric evaluation, Potter arranged for the much more capable Major Charles Emerson Winchester III to be assigned to the unit. At first Winchester did not like Potter very much due to the way he was assigned to the 4077th, but the two men came to respect each other. At the conclusion of the war, Winchester was heading off to a new job in the states leading other surgeons, and told Potter than he would try to follow Potter's example in his new role.
Potter soon settled into his role as commanding officer, becoming a father figure to Radar O'Reilly and others in the camp. Pierce and Hunnicut respected Potter and were much more likely to follow his orders than they were the relaxed Col. Blake's. Potter decided to put up with Klinger's antics as they didn't really harm anything, but refused to discharge him on a Section 8. Eventually Klinger gave up wearing dresses and performed well enough that Potter promoted him.
Potter was high strung and had a collection of faux profanities that he used when surprised, stressed, or upset. Potter did not suffer fools lightly and did not hesitate to correct people when they made mistakes. Potter had no tolerance for old army buddies who made mistakes that resulted in people getting hurt or killed, and on more than one occasion reported them to their superiors.
Potter was an accomplished painter, and spent a lot of his free time painting various people and objects around the camp. He also enjoyed riding horses, and was thrilled when he was given a horse by Radar, which he named Sophie. In his off hours Potter enjoyed drinking with his officers, either from his cabinet or the still Pierce and Hunnicut had built. Having once built a still himself in Guam Potter offered them both tips on how to improve the quality of the product, and related that during WW II the still he had blew up in his face.
AfterMASH[]
After the war Potter retired from the army and returned home to Hannibal, Missouri. He intended to be a semi-retired doctor who would spend most of his time being Mrs. Potter's Mr. Potter. However he found that retirement was boring. When a friend of his died while they were playing bridge with Mildred's blessing he went to work as the chief of the General Pershing (aka General General) VA hospital.
Potter was able to have Max Klinger and his wife Soon-Lee join him at General General after the couple faced discrimination and rejection in Toledo. Potter learned Fr. Mulcahy was having a hard time dealing with his hearing loss and not receiving a parish upon returning home. He arranged for Mulcahy to receive treatment in St. Louis that restored most of his hearing. Mulcahy quit drinking and joined General General as the hospital's Catholic chaplain.
Quotes[]
| “ | They keep inventing new ways to kill each other! Why can't they invent a way to end this stupid war?! | „ |
| ~ Potter, to a young officer briefing the 4077 medical staff on new weapons. |
| “ | Y'know, I had a still, on Guam. One night, it blew up! That's how I got my Purple Heart. | „ |
| ~ Potter, on how he got his Purple Heart. |
Trivia[]
- Sherman Potter was played by the late Harry Morgan. Morgan had guest starred earlier in the series as General Steele, and the producers were so impressed by Morgan that they brought him back when McLean Stevenson left the series at the end of the third season.
- Potter's exact age in the series is debatable. Upon first arriving at the 4077 Potter claimed that he lied about his age to join the army to fight in World War I, which would have meant he would have been in his 50s during the Korean War. Later, however, the episode Pressure Points established Potter was 62 years old during the Korean War. If that was the case he would have been in his early 20s when World War I broke out and well past the minimum age needed to join the army.
- Harry Morgan, William Christopher (Father Mulcahy), and Jamie Farr (Max Klinger) were the three cast members that voted in favor of continuing the series after the 11th season. As such they were invited to reprise their roles on the spinoff series AfterMASH.