Mike Farrell

Michael Joseph Farrell Jr. (born February 6, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his role as Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series M*A*S*H (1975–1983). In addition, Farrell was a producer of Patch Adams starring Robin Williams, and he starred in the television series Providence (1999–2002).

Farrell is also an activist and public speaker for various political causes. He has been the President of Death Penalty Focus since 1994. He is a long-time opponent of the death penalty, and has helped raise defense funds for inmates he believes are innocent.

When he was two years old, his family moved from South St. Paul to Hollywood, California, where his father worked as a carpenter on film sets. Farrell attended West Hollywood Grammar School in the same class as fellow actor Natalie Wood, and graduated from Hollywood High School. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959. After being discharged, he worked at various jobs before becoming an actor.

Acting career Early career

During the 1960s, Farrell guest-starred in a few series. Notable roles included playing a young US Forest Service ranger in the Lassie episode "Never Look Back" (February 1967); Federal Agent Modell in the episode "Monkee Chow Mein" on The Monkees in 1967; as a bellhop (uncredited) in The Graduate in 1967; astronaut Arland in the episode "Genie, Genie, Who's Got the Genie?" on I Dream of Jeannie; an Army doctor in the episode "The Bankroll" of Combat!; and an ex-high school friend turned famous actor of Chet Kincaid in The Bill Cosby Show.

In 1968, Farrell originated the continuing role of Scott Banning in the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives. In 1969 he played a caring elders quorum president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brigham Young University-produced short Worthy to Stand, in which his wife Judy also had her first film appearance. In 1970, he starred as one of the young doctors in the CBS prime-time series The Interns, in a cast led by Broderick Crawford. In 1971, he played the assistant to Anthony Quinn in ABC's The Man and the City. In 1973, while under contract to Universal Studios, Farrell starred with Robert Foxworth in The Questor Tapes. During the years under contract, he guest-starred in a number of shows, including Banacek; Mannix; Marcus Welby, M.D.; The Six Million Dollar Man; and The New Land; and starred in a television pilot with Jane Wyman, which did not sell.

In the early 1970s, Farrell guest-starred in the television Western drama Bonanza and did a number of commercials as a spokesman for Standard Oil of Indiana (later Amoco), Maytag dryers, Butter-Nut coffee, and Plymouth automobiles, among other products.

M*A*S*H (1975–83) and later roles Farrell's big break came in 1975 when Wayne Rogers departed M*A*S*H between the third and fourth season. Farrell was recruited for the newly created role of B.J. Hunnicutt, along with series lead Harry Morgan, who was already signed to replace McLean Stevenson for the fourth season. Farrell won the part of B.J. over two other finalists for the role, Alan Fudge and James Cromwell (both of whom guest-starred in the series subsequently). Farrell stayed with M*A*S*H for its remaining eight years on the air. During that time, he wrote five episodes and directed four. Farrell's then-wife, actress Judy Farrell, appeared eight times in the series as Nurse Able.

Since M*A*S*H, Farrell has guest-starred in Murder, She Wrote; Justice League; Desperate Housewives; and many others. Farrell voiced Jonathan Kent in Superman: The Animated Series (1996) with wife Shelley Fabares voicing Martha Kent.

Farrell hosted several National Geographic Presents specials and starred in a number of television films, including 1983's Memorial Day, which he co-produced. He did two one-man shows: JFK, a One Man Show for PBS and, on stage, a national tour of David W. Rintels' play Clarence Darrow.

In 1985, Farrell partnered with film and television producer Marvin Minoff to create Farrell/Minoff Productions, a production company. Together, Farrell and Minoff produced numerous television films. In 1986, the company had signed a deal with The Walt Disney Studios wherein the Farrell/Minoff company would develop motion pictures and television properties.

Farrell and Minoff executive-produced Dominick and Eugene, a 1988 Orion Pictures film that earned actor Tom Hulce a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. being the first person to be awarded its Human Rights Award, subsequently named after him in 2006. He received PETA's Humanitarian Award in 2001 and narrated a public service campaign for them about animal abuse.

In 1985, Farrell was in Central America, helping refugees from the civil war in El Salvador. A guerrilla commander, Nidia Diaz, had been taken prisoner. She needed surgery, but no Salvadoran doctor would help her, so Medical Aid for El Salvador recruited a foreign doctor. Farrell was present as an observer for Amnesty International but was, in his words, "shanghaied into assisting with the surgery" when the doctor said his help was needed. The in-prison surgery was successful, and Diaz went on to be one of the signatories of the Chapultepec Peace Accords, the peace treaty ending the war.

Farrell has been active in the Screen Actors Guild. In 2002 he was elected first vice president of the Guild in Los Angeles and served in the post for three years.

In 2006, Farrell appeared with Jello Biafra and Keith Gordon in the documentary Whose War?, examining the U.S. role in the Iraq War. He also served on the advisory board of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

In 2014, Farrell workshopped a play by George Shea that brought Charles David Keeling and his scientific work on atmospheric emissions to life.

In 2016, after the US presidential election of Donald Trump, Farrell appeared in a commercial to urge Republican electors to block Trump from becoming president by having 37 electors vote for John Kasich instead.

Publications

Farrell wrote an autobiography, Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist (Akashic Books, ), published in 2007. The book covers his working-class childhood in West Hollywood, his break into show business, his personal life, and his increasing involvement in politics and the human rights movement in the United States, Cambodia, and Latin America. His second book, Of Mule and Man (2009, Akashic Books, ), is a journal of his five-week, 9,000-mile drive around the U.S. to promote the paperback edition of his first book.

Personal life In 1963, Farrell married actress Judy Hayden, who was working as a high school English and drama teacher in Laguna Beach, California. They separated in 1980 and divorced in 1983. They have two children.

He married actress Shelley Fabares in 1984; they remained married until her death in 2026.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Accolades