A popular star of the hit show M*A*S*H has died aged 72.
Actress Kellye Nakahara passed away on Sunday at the family home in Pasadena, California after a short battle with cancer.
She played Lieutenant Nurse Kellye in the comedy drama about the Korean war.
Nakahara was born in Oahu, Hawaii and went on to star in almost 200 episodes of the hit show as Lieutenant Nurse Kellye Yamato from 1973-1978.
The actress’s death comes just two weeks after the show’s creator Gene Reynolds also passed away.
When she first got her big break on M*A*S*H, her role was as Nurse #1 and it was her first professional acting job – before she charmed her way into a regular spot.
In an interview with NPR, Nakahara said: “I was just so thrilled to be on that set. I loved the smell of the tents. I loved the people.
(Image: Getty)
“So I would have a great time with the writers and talk to them and the crew, who I loved.
“And really, we became such great friends that I think I was in every scene because I put myself in every scene… and nobody told me to get out!”
M*A*S*H went on to become one of the most successful sitcoms ever written and its lat episode, named ‘Goodbye, Farewell and Amen’ became the most-watched and highest-rated TV episode in US history with 125million viewers.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2018, Nakahara recalled what it was like to work on stage with the cast.
She described her pride at the show’s diversity and progressiveness.
She said: “I was the first Asian who didn’t play one. I was just an American soldier, a nurse on the same level as everyone else. My true ethnicity never even came up.”
After its last show, the BBC bought the rights to run the sitcom from 1984 to 1995 on BBC2.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
