While viewers over the years have fallen in love with the main cast members of M*A*S*H, there were plenty of guest stars. Boy howdy, were there guest stars. It’s interesting if you are a fan or casual viewer of the reruns that you will see someone pop up. And it might be someone you know from another TV show or movie or something like that.

A number of guest stars had recurring appearances on the CBS sitcom. For us, though, let’s take a look at five stars who had memorable guest appearances on the show.

Ron Howard

In the show’s first season, Howard appeared in a M*A*S*H episode titled Sometimes You Hear The Bullet. Howard plays Walter Peterson, who is an underaged soldier. He ends up being treated by “Hawkeye” Pierce, played by Alan Alda.

When Hawkeye learns that Peterson is underage, he thinks about turning him in. But another soldier’s death gives Hawkeye a reason to second guess himself. He decides to send Peterson home from the war. When this episode first aired in 1973, Howard was back in film school.

John Ritter

Ritter played Private Carter in a second-season M*A*S*H episode. He played a wounded soldier in Post-Op and tells Frank Burns that he’s not going to go back to the front. We see Carter get agitated when observing Burns’ own brand of American patriotism. Carter interrupted a late-night poker game by shooting a gun.

In this episode, we also see psychiatrist Sidney Friedman in the 4077th. It’s Sidney who settles Carter down. It’s not much longer after this episode that we’ll see Ritter back on TV as Jack in Three’s Company.

Rita Wilson

While she’s probably best known these days as being the wife of Tom Hanks, Wilson has put in her time as an actress. On M*A*S*H, she played Nurse Lacey in two episodes. The first one is titled Blood and Guts, while the second one is titled Hey, Look Me Over. The appearances were back in 1982 and Wilson had scenes with Alan Alda.

Pat Morita

He became known for his portrayal of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid movies. But in the previously mentioned Deal Me Out episode, Morita’s character is one of those at the poker game. He plays Capt. Sam Pak, who also shows up in another M*ASH episode titled The Chosen People. For Morita, he would soon go on and play Arnold on Happy Days. Classic TV fans also know that Morita had a recurring character on Sanford and Son.

Robert Alda

Before you ask if Robert and Alan Alda are related, the answer is yes. Robert was Alan’s father in real life. He appeared in two M*A*S*H episodes. They were The Consultant in 1975 and Lend a Hand in 1980.

A Few More ‘M*A*S*H’ Guest Stars to Consider for the Memorable Classic Show

In trying to keep the guest star number down to five, it leaves out some other stellar appearances by other actors. Among the other ones to show up include George Wendt, Teri Garr, Laurence Fishburne, Leslie Nielsen, Shelley Long, Ned Beatty, Jeffrey Tambor, and Marcia Strassman.