تولد
April 7, 1933 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA
محل تولد
New York City , New York , USA
Tough around the edges and with a handsome durability, Alabama-bred Wayne Rogers was born in Birmingham on April 7, 1933. He graduated from Princeton with a history degree in 1954 and joined the Navy before giving acting a thought. During his military service, however, he became associated with theater by happenstance and decided to give it a try after his discharge. Studying with renowned acting teacher Sanford Meisner and dancer Martha Graham at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Rogers toiled for years in off-Broadway and regional plays ("Bus Stop", "No Time for Sergeants") and had a short stint on the daytime soap The Edge of Night (1956) before making a minor dent in films, including small roles in Wenig Chancen für morgen (1959), Die glorreichen Reiter (1965) and Der Unbeugsame (1967). Rogers finally hit co-star status opposite Robert Bray in the short-lived TV western series Stagecoach West (1960) and co-produced and wrote the script for the cult sci-fi cheapie Astro-Zombies, Roboter des Grauens (1968) in-between. It wasn't until 1972, when the 39-year-old actor nabbed the role of "Trapper John," a Korean War surgeon, in the classic comedy series M*A*S*H (1972), that he found elusive stardom. Alongside Alan Alda's "Hawkeye Pierce", the TV show was a huge hit and the two enjoyed equal success at the beginning. Slowly, however, Wayne's character started getting the short end of the stick as the wry, sardonic, highly appealing Alda became a resounding audience favorite. Frustrated at turning second-banana to Alda, he quit the series (his character was discharged) after three seasons amid a contractual dispute. Mike Farrell replaced him in the cohort role of "B.J. Hunnicut" and the show enjoyed several more award-winning seasons TV movies came Wayne's way throughout the late '70s and a couple more comedy series, including House Calls (1979), in which Wayne received a Golden Globe nomination, but nothing would equal the success he found during the M*A*S*H (1972) years. Sporadic filming in Ein Mann, eine Frau und ein Film in Paris (1978), The Hot Touch (1981), Sechs Jazzer im Dreivierteltakt (1985) and The Killing Time (1987) also failed to raise his standard, nor did his starring work in the TV movies Er ist gefeuert - Sie ist geheuert (1984), Im Angesicht der Wahrheit (1985), One Terrific Guy (1986), American Harvest (1987), Mutter kriegt die Kurve nicht (1988), Katastrophenflug 243 (1990). Broaching the millennium, Rogers was lesser seen, but found some featured roles in such films as Das Attentat (1996), Love Lies Bleeding (1999), Im Labyrinth der Angst (2001) and Three Days of Rain (2002). He would be last glimpsed in the Hollywood-themed comedy Nobody Knows Anything! (2003) in which he also served as producer. Wayne found renewed respect as a businessman and investor in later years, managing the affairs of such stars as Peter Falk and James Caan, among others. He died on New Year's Eve of 2015 of complications from pneumonia. He was 82. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / [email protected]
