Return to the Nurses of the 4077th, Main Page
The brief scene in the opening credits of M*A*S*H in which a group of nurses are seen running towards the chopper pad has intrigued and confounded fans for years. I have dubbed these woman the "running nurses," which seems like an accurate and descriptive name. Despite being shown at the start of every episode, very little is known about the actresses who appear in this scene.
In the extended opening sequence and credits to "M*A*S*H - The Pilot," which run roughly two and a half minutes, Lt. Dish (Karen Philip) is seen leading a large group of nurses out of the nurses quarters. Later, Dish is seen alongside Hawkeye at the chopper pad tending to incoming wounded. This scene is only in the first episode.
Nearly every episode from the second episode on included a very short (roughly two seconds in duration) scene with five nurses running with determination towards an unknown destination -- although fans know they are dashing to the chopper pad and incoming wounded. Only a handful of episodes during Season Eleven did not use this scene; they were trimmed down to make room for more commercials and the "running nurses" got the boot.
According to several mesaages at the alt.tv.mash newsgroup from M*A*S*H creator Larry Gelbart (see this message and this message, both from 1998, via Google Groups), one of the "running nurses" is Gwen Adair, who went by Gwen Farrell during her time on M*A*S*H. She is on the far left in the "running nurses" scene and later appeared in dozens of episodes over the course of the series, although she was only credited in nine (more on Gwen Farrell here). Gelbart also stated that four of the five actresses (including Gwen) were in other episodes.
During the closing credits to E! TV Tales: "M*A*S*H," Gene Reynolds explains that while working on the opening credits, each time the sequence with the "running nurses," the brunette would wind up in front. He ran into her two years later, asked where she had been, and was told that she had had a baby. This brunette is likely the one actress Larry Gelbart was referring to who did not continue appearing in M*A*S*H.
At the start of the Season One episode "Sticky Wicket," the camp is seen responding to a call of incoming wounded. Footage that appears to have been shot at the same time as the opening credits is shown, including a few seconds with the "running nurses" bursting out of the nurses quarters.
It is interesting (and totally pointless) to note that while four of the nurses are shown wearing their hats in "Sticky Wicket" as they exit the nurses quarters, in the footage from the opening credits, only the two nurses in the back are wearing hats while Gwen Farrell and the tall blonde in the middle are holding theirs.
With one of the "running nurses" positively identified as Gwen Farrell and another potentially identified as Michele Lee, there still remain the three nurses at the back of the pack. The actress in the middle, who is obscured by the tall blonde at times, looks an awful lot like Marcia Gelman, who was credited in the episodes "The Sniper" and "The Incubator" during Season Two.
Unfortunately, it is tough to get a good look at the nurses at the back of the group due to the brevity of the scene and we may never know for sure who they are. Nevertheless, the "running nurses" are an important part of M*A*S*H, shown at the start of just about every episode. They represent the steadfast nurses who were ready at the drop of a hat to rush off to save lives. We salute you, unidentified "running nurses" of the opening credits.
Last updated July 6th, 2008