Jamie Farr (born July 1, 1934) is an American television and film actor and popular game show panelist. He is best known for playing the role of cross-dressing Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Klinger in the 1970s and 1980s television sitcom M*A*S*H.
Farr was born Jameel Joseph Farah in Toledo, Ohio, to Lebanese American parents Jamelia M. (née Abodeely), a seamstress, and Samuel N. Farah, a grocer. He was raised in the Antiochian Orthodox relig...
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Jamie Farr (born July 1, 1934) is an American television and film actor and popular game show panelist. He is best known for playing the role of cross-dressing Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Klinger in the 1970s and 1980s television sitcom M*A*S*H.
Farr was born Jameel Joseph Farah in Toledo, Ohio, to Lebanese American parents Jamelia M. (née Abodeely), a seamstress, and Samuel N. Farah, a grocer. He was raised in the Antiochian Orthodox religion. Farr's first acting success occurred at age 11 when he won $2 in a local acting contest. After a stellar high school career at Woodward High School, where he was one of the standouts among his class, Farr attended the Pasadena Playhouse where an MGM talent scout discovered him, offering him a screen-test for Blackboard Jungle. He won the role of the mentally challenged student, Santini.
Farr's first film roles were in 1955, in Blackboard Jungle (billed as Jameel Farah) and as a fruit vendor in Kismet (uncredited).
Although Farr was off to...
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