M*A*S*H* star Harry Morgan died Wednesday morning in his Los Angeles home after having pneumonia.
The 96-year-old Emmy-winning actor, best known for his role as Colonel Potter on the long-running CBS series, also appeared in more than 50 films during his career which spanned sixty years.
Prior to joining M*A*S*H* during it’s third season, Morgan played Officer Bill Gannon, Joe Friday’s partner in the popular crime drama Dragnet from 1967 to 1970.
Daughter-in-law, Beth Morgan, confirmed his death, saying, “He was side-splittingly funny, a very gentle and loving father-in-law,”
“He was very humble about having such a successful career,” she said.
The actor was born in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan and he went on to study pre-law at the University of Chicago in Illinois before taking up a two-year stint on Broadway in the original production of “Golden Boy. “
Morgan later starred opposite Elvis Presley in “Frankie and Johnny,” veteran John Wayne in ‘The Shootist,” actor James Garner in “Support Your Local Gun Fighter, and even Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd in “Dragnet.” He also made a number of guest appearances in TV hits like “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Love Boat” and “The Partridge Family.” He last appeared in a comedy short titled “Crosswalk” in 1999.
Morgan is survived by three sons — Charles, Paul and Christopher, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.