Burt Metcalfe

Burt Metcalfe
Burt Metcalfe
	From TV series Father of the Bride (1961). Back row, L-R: Ruth Warrick and Leon Ames. Front row, L-R: Myrna Fahey and Burt Metcalfe
Born	March 19, 1935 (age 89); Saskatchewan, Canada
Nationality	Canadian American
Occupation(s)	Television and film producer, director, actor, and writer
Notable work	MAS*H

Burt Metcalfe (born March 19, 1935 in Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian American television and film producer, director, actor, and writer.

Biography

In 1956–1957, Metcalfe was drafted as an enlisted man into the United States Navy, serving two years. He was stationed at Ream Field, San Ysidro, California, where he held a public relations position. During this period, Metcalfe acting as the lead, working closely with some of his fellow enlisted comrades created the "Miss Angel" beauty contest. An "Angel" in Navy terms meaning a helicopter that would swoop in saving downed pilots who ditched their aircraft in the sea and in some cases on land. Ream Field at that time was virtually the "helicopter capitol of the world".

In 1959, Metcalfe had a small role in the movie Gidget, as Lord Byron, the existentialist surfer, hanging 10 with The Big Kahuna's crew. That same year, he was cast as Tom Easton, a young United States Army officer, in the episode "Indian Emily" on the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days.

Metcalfe was cast as Don Martin, one of the neighbors thrown into a panic in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone episode titled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" which aired on March 4, 1960, season 1, episode 22 (imbd.com).

In 1960–1961, Metcalfe landed an acting role as Joe Brigham in the NBC sitcom Happy. Between 1962 and 1965, Metcalfe made three guest appearances on Perry Mason: as Richard Campion in "The Case of the Polka-Dot Pony," murderer John Lathrop in "The Case of the Careless Kidnapper," and Jeffrey Mills in "The Case of the Thermal Thief."

His most notable work was as a writer for the hit CBS series M*A*S*H, and he was the only producer to stay with the TV series during its entire run from 1972 to 1983. Originally the series' associate producer, Metcalfe was promoted to line producer in 1976 when Larry Gelbart left the series and then to executive producer in 1977, when Gene Reynolds moved on.