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Alan Alda had this to say about acting alongside his father in M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H became an Alda family reunion!
The cast of M*A*S*H wasn't just a group of actors who became so close they were like family. On a rare occasion, the series actually did feature family members of the cast.
Robert Alda, father of Alan Alda, appeared in not one, but two different episodes of the hit series. Himself an esteemed actor, Robert Alda was given the opportunity to appear alongside his son in the season three episode "The Consultant" and the season eight episode "Lend a Hand."
The younger Alda spoke on his first M*A*S*H appearance with his father during an interview with The Dispatch. Alda actually believed that the father-son reunion had quite an impact on the episode itself.
"Besides having a father and son acting together, which must have had some kind of subliminal effect, the storyline offered an unusual twist," Alda said. "Here was Hawkeye, called down by another character, the older doctor, on what's always been Hawkeye's strong point - and that is compassion."
Not only did the episode have an effect on both of the Alda men, but it also seemed to resonate strongly with the viewers. "It's the one episode that people mention to me most often," Alda said. "It touched something in everybody who saw it. And my father loved it."
While Alda's wife and children weren't frequent M*A*S*H actors, he explained in an interview with The Buffalo News that he took extra steps to ensure that he saw his family as often as possible. "They all flew out to California while we were shooting," said Alda. "We rented a house and spent the summer together. Then, when school started, they flew back to New Jersey. But I flew back myself most weekends..."
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