Major Franklin Delano Marion "Frank" Burns is a fictional character in the M*A*S*H film and television series. Burns first appeared in the original M*A*S*H novel by Richard Hooker, where he had the rank of captain. The character was then portrayed in the film by Robert Duvall, and in the television series by Larry Linville.
The character is only slightly different in all versions; the original Burns was a borderline incompetent and egotistical do...
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Major Franklin Delano Marion "Frank" Burns is a fictional character in the M*A*S*H film and television series. Burns first appeared in the original M*A*S*H novel by Richard Hooker, where he had the rank of captain. The character was then portrayed in the film by Robert Duvall, and in the television series by Larry Linville.
The character is only slightly different in all versions; the original Burns was a borderline incompetent and egotistical doctor who blamed others for his own shortcomings (a trait also shared by both his film and television portrayals). In the film he is also a brooding religious fanatic, and on television he was an officious, frenetic, pompous twit obsessed with military order.
In the original novel, Captain Burns is described as a well-off doctor who had attended medical school but had no true formal training as a surgeon other than a long apprenticeship with his father in Indiana. He comes off as being, therefore, dismissive of those (such as the Swampmen) who...
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