Saturday, September 12, 2009

Abysinnia, Elsig!

Larry Gelbart, the creator of the M*A*S*H TV series, and writer and director of many shows on the early seasons, has died of cancer. He was 81. It is sad news for me and all who loved his work.

My screen name in this blog is Tuttle, a tribute to M*A*S*H, which is set in Korea during the war. In season 1, Hawkeye and Trapper create an imaginary surgeon to give supplies to the orphans, Captain Tuttle, and eventually have to kill him off when General Clayton wants to meet Tuttle in person to reward his generosity.

I was for years a regular in the newsgroup alt.tv.mash; Gelbart posted there a fair amount, under the nickname Elsig (his initials, LSG). He was always humble, witty, kind and generous.

In addition to his work on M*A*S*H, Larry Gelbart scripted Broadway shows, like A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and movies such as Tootsie and Oh, God!. He will be missed.


So long, Larry!

3 comments:

The Sanity Inspector said...

That's a clever internet handle, and a nice connection for you to have with him. My condolences, and RIP to him.

The Sanity Inspector said...

I loved "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" "You can bring her in here! She's a you-know-what!" "There's something about that you-know-what that you do not know what!"

Kelsey said...

I actually started watching MASH while I was in Korea. It was really a somewhat surreal experience to watch it and look out the window and see a similar scene to what was on my screen (since I lived in a rural area, it was pretty similar - very few buildings, lots of mountains). I got through the third season while I was there, but maybe some day I will finish the series.