Off The Record
Beloved M*A*S*H Actor Passes Away At 82 Following Illness
Actor Patrick Adiarte passed away this Tuesday at the age of 82. He starred in a recurring role on season one of the popular sitcom M*A*S*H.
During his illustrious career in musicals, Adiarte starred in the film versions of the Rodgers and Hammerstein productions Flower Drum Song and The King and I.
In the 1970s, the actor from the Philippines also had appearances on iconic television shows including Hawaii Five-O, The Brady Bunch, Bonanza, and Kojak.
His most enduringly popular part during that decade was that of Ho-Jon, the camp houseboy on M*A*S*H, which he played from 1972 to 1973.
Additionally, he was a stunning dancer who showcased his skills on television with Gene Kelly, who praised him as a possible Fred Astaire heir.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Adiarte passed away from pneumonia in a hospital in the Los Angeles region, as confirmed by his niece Stephanie Hogan.
The popular 1970 film of the same name, which was directed by Robert Altman and focused on American military medical personnel during the Korean War, was adapted for television as M*A*S*H.
In the first season of the television series, which debuted in 1973, Adiarte took the role of Kim Atwood’s character, the orphaned houseboy Ho-Jon.
According to the pilot, Ho-Jon has been admitted to a US institution, and the physicians are hosting a rally to raise money for his tuition.
After season one, Ho-Jon vanished from the sitcom, suggesting that he had been successful in getting to America to further his study.
Adiarte was born in Manila in 1943 and, together with his mother Purita and sister Irene, was incarcerated on an island during World War II after losing his father.
Three-year-old Patrick and five-year-old Irene were burned when the Japanese threw grenades at them during their escape attempt.
The remaining Adiartes reached Ellis Island a year after the war ended, and by 1951, Patrick and his dancer mother were performing in The King and I on Broadway.
In 19th-century Bangkok, Patrick, who was then just shy of his ninth birthday, was a stand-in for one of the 15 royal children receiving tutoring from Anna, an Anglo-Indian instructor.
After that, he attended the Professional Children’s School in New York, where he was enrolled with Liza Minnelli and eventually landed the part of the crown prince in the 1956 film The King and I, which starred Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner.
With the help of then-Senator John F. Kennedy, the Adiartes were able to achieve U.S. citizenship in 1956, following years of fear of deportation.
Adiarte’s involvement in the 1958 Broadway premiere of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s play Flower Drum Song further cemented his relationship with the duo.
He played Wang San, a wealthy Chinese immigrant in San Francisco who wants to preserve his culture but has Americanized his younger son.
On the TV show Omnibus, Adiarte promoted the production by performing a medley about tap dancing over the years with Gene Kelly, the director of Flower Drum Song, in which Kelly would dance the original version of a step before Adiarte performed the updated version.
“Patrick is a mighty fine dancer,” said Kelly on the air, warmly wrapping an arm around Adiarte. “If there’s gonna be another Fred Astaire, I think it might well be Pat.”
He costarred with Bing Crosby and Tuesday Weld in the Blake Edwards comedy High Time in 1960. He then starred in the Flower Drum Song film in 1961.
In the 1965 Cold War comedy John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!, starring Shirley MacLaine and Peter Ustinov, he played the prince of a fictional Arab nation. Richard Crenna and Jerry Orbach were in the supporting ensemble.
His career continued to revolve around dance, and he continued to teach the art at places like Santa Monica College in his senior years.
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