A brilliant man and an actor, Jamie Farr, 89 at the moment, is still a happy man.
He came from a middle class, a small grocery store owner family from Ohio. His parents taught him well with morals and ethics. “In those days, you didn’t call them homeless – they were tramps or hobos – and they would stop in, and my dad would make them sandwich. They would ask if they could do anything in return, and my dad would say, ‘No that’s perfectly all right.’” He said back in 2022, in an inteview.
In 1992, he became and actor as he was dreaming when he was a little boy, and starred in in the Broadway revival of “Guys and Dolls” as Nathan Detroit, in replacement with Nathan Lane.
“[..] I believed God had called me to be an actor, to entertain – even help – people. And I’d worked hard at it,” he said.
“Hey Jamie, you don’t need to snuffer to put out the candles; just nod your head.” He explained that he was being mocked for his big nose, and how he turned it to become a comedian. Before his deployement, he starred in “No Time for Sergeants” and “The Blackboard Jungle.” After the movies, he received his deployement and went to Japan and Korea. When he come back to the States, he was forgotten. Many of his old friends became iconic actors during his serving time. Clint Eastwood, Dennis Weaver, and Robert Blake were became big names, while he was struggling with financial situations.
All he had was his fiance, Joy Richards. He even couldn’t afford an engagement ring for her. “Lord, You gave me the feeling that I should be an actor. I know it is honorable work, but I can’t even find work.” He prayed after one day he had enough.
“Well, I was sure hopeless. I wished he could perform a miracle for me,” Farr explained.
After that he heard that there was a movie about the life of Jesus, The Greatest Story Ever Told. He immediately called his agent and said,
“Meyer, they’re putting on this movie about the Bible. Look, with my great Middle-Eastern face, there’s got to be a part in it for me.”
“Look, this movie is terrific. I’m just right for it. There’s got to be something for me in it and you have to help me because I know you’re the saint of the hopeless,” he explained how he prayed to the “Patron of the Hopeless,” St. Jude. But he received bad news, he didn’t got the part. “I was shattered,” he says about his experience.
“I drove home feeling more hopeless than ever.”
But when he was on the road, he got called again and learnt that the studio changed their minds and wanted to see him as Nathaniel Bartholomew in the movie.
As he called his fiance and tell the news, he was called again and said that the plans are changed again, at first he thought that he was cancelled again. “Oh no! I cried, collapsing inside,” he said.
But his agent, Meyer, told him that his role was changed, and he needed to play Apostle Thaddeus.
He asked Apostle Thaddeus to one of his friends, Mitch. “Well, it’s Jude Thaddeus. Saint Jude, the Apostle of the Hopeless, the one you’ve been telling me about all this time,” Mitch answered.
“Lord, if you wanted to show me how dumb I am, how little faith I have, You, have done it.” Farr said.
“It’s like a recurring dream because I still remember the days when I was hoping to make enough money to buy a can of tuna for dinner. I think what has happened to me is not real but fake. I’m still frightened it will end.”
“I like to think that he was my best man,” Farr said about St. Jude.
He returned with, Cannonball Run II, and after that he got his break with, M*A*S*H. His prayers are accepted.
“Those women go crazy for me. They run to me at airports or wherever and kiss me.” He joked about the love he was receiving.
Back in 2022, M*A*S*H, celebrated its 50th anniversary, and people who saw him after 50 years, made some comments, “You still look great even after 50 years. Congratulations” “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’RE LOOKING GOOD.” “He still looks good!” Were some of them.
“I do so enjoy life that I’d hate to leave it.” He said about his age.
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