Who played Hawkeye Pierce in the 1970 M*A*S*H film?

Donald Sutherland played Hawkeye Pierce in the 1970 M*A*S*H film.

Sutherland portrayed Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce in Robert Altman’s satirical war comedy. In the film, Hawkeye is one of the irreverent surgeons assigned to the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. His medical competence contrasts with his contempt for military formality, producing much of the film’s rebellious comic energy.

The film was adapted from Richard Hooker’s 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. It also stars Elliott Gould as Trapper John McIntyre and Tom Skerritt as “Duke” Forrest, making those actors easy to confuse with Sutherland when recalling the ensemble cast. Robert Duvall, another option here, played Major Frank Burns.

Sutherland’s performance belongs specifically to the film version. Alan Alda later played Hawkeye in the television adaptation, which premiered in 1972 and developed the character into the central figure of its much longer dramatic story.