Born Jameel Farah in Toledo, Ohio,Jamie Farr was of Lebanese heritage and broke into show biZ in 1955 with a part in the movie "Blackboard Jungle."
His celebrity, however, is derived from his one great TV role: Corporal Maxwell Klinger on the fantastic series "M.A.S.H."
Klinger was willing to do darn near anything to get sent home from war-torn Korea and did his best to appear mentally unstable. His most frequent such device was dressing like a woman, and the show's audience chortled at the silly spectacle of Farr's hairy legs with his dress and high heel shoes.
He landed character actor parts in several other quite notable movies and began appearing on TV on shows starring Danny Thomas, Danny Kaye and Dick Van Dyke. He also appeared in "My Three Sons," "The Lucy Show," "I Dream of Jennie," "The Andy Griffith Show," "F Troop," "Get Smart," "The Flying Nun," "Love, American Style," "Barnaby Jones," " The Love Boat," and other shows.
But the one role ideal for him was Max Klinger, which he played to perfection--never quite managing to get that Section 8 discharge.
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