#mash nurses

[a-rayneart]

Which character from MASH should I do a page for next

Trapper

Henry

Frank (please don’t make me)

Assorted nurses

Other (lmk)

Sydney

Voting ended onJan 10, 2025

[animnightmare]

The M*A*S*H spinoff shows served their purpose but there shouldve been one about the nurses.

[mash-notes]

This one hurts. Farewell Kellye Nakahara, age 72. MASH the TV series was at its best when it told the stories of women; Kellye was the quintessential MASH woman, full of grace, strength, and joy. And the real Kellye was her inspiration.

[mash-notes]

(*PERSONNEL FILE*) Lt. Kellye Yamato “Nurse Kellye”

Competent, cheerful, and true-blue, Kellye is both a model nurse and a model servicewoman. Laboring in the background for much of the series, she appears in over 150 MASH episodes, her presence steady, occasionally delightful, but slight. A pretty Hawaiian woman with pigtails or a bucket hat, she dances at the O Club, diligently fetches instruments in surgery, and offers her sweet, concerned expression in camera pans across the crowd. It is only in season 11’s “Hey, Look Me Over,” the final season premiere, that Kellye is elevated to main-character status—here she gets the star treatment and shows us, truly, what we’ve been missing.

Nurse Kellye was never given a consistent first and last name; fans have cobbled “Kellye Yamato” together from various credits. Actor Kellye Nakahara inspired her first name, and in at least one episode the character is credited as Lt. Nakahara. It seems as though, as happened more and more on MASH as time went on, the character Kellye and the real person Kellye were almost indistinguishable from each other.

It also seems as though the real person Kellye was worth immortalizing. After “Hey, Look Me Over,” in which the lieutenant scolds Hawkeye for never seeing her as an exciting love interest like the other nurses, Nakahara began getting fan mail. In a 2016 interview, she said, “I have people coming up to me that say… you’re the first role model that I have of an Asian that wasn’t portrayed as an Asian, just as a person.” She went on to describe the pot-luck dinners she hosted for the cast. (I’m linking the interview, very worthwhile: xxx but since Tumblr is bad with links, it’s also easy to search for “Kellye Nakahara NPR” in case it doesn’t show up here.)

A year ago I wrote about Lieutenant Dish, the nurse Hawkeye uses as a sexual pawn in both the movie and the TV pilot. She had no real personality, and her character was symptomatic of MASH’s sexism in the early years. Part of Kellye’s triumph in season 11 is that she shows herself to be the anti-Dish: developed, genuine, autonomous, and strong. When she angrily rattles off the list of her attributes, we cheer her on—she is a terrific dancer; she does have a great sense of humor. Kellye is adorable, not as an object, but in the best sense of the word. Many fans, luckily, make sure she is rightfully adored.

[mash-notes]

Sam Weisman as Barney Hutchinson, who complains that because of his gender he was never assigned his proper rank, despite coming into the service as a registered nurse. Out of respect for his skill, Margaret makes Hutchinson an honorary first lieutenant and gives him her old lieutenant’s bars.

[mash-notes]

Rita Wilson as Nurse Lacey (no first name!). When writer Clayton Kibbee tries to romance her out from under Hawkeye, as it were, Hawk begins to sour on the charming guest. Lacey never shows her hand as to whom she prefers, but Hawkeye does come out in the right about Kibbee and his needlessly glorifying the war. (”Blood and Guts,” s10e12)

[mash-notes]

Marilyn Jones as Patty Haven, the girl Radar meets in Tokyo as he’s waiting for his flight back to Korea. It seems to be true love, but the connection is fleeting, never to be resumed (at least not in canon).

[mash-notes]

Peggy Lee Brennan as Lt. Linda Nugent, the girl Radar is too shy to ask out until almost the end of the episode (“Hot Lips is Back in Town,” for which this provides a cutesy B-plot). As they dance in the Officers’ Club and he complains about his bad knee, Nugent says, “Radar, I’m a nurse. If anything happens, I’ll take care of you.”