Donald Penobscot
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| M*A*S*H character | |
| Donald Penobscot | |
|---|---|
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Brown |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Home city | |
| Film portrayer | None |
| Television portrayer | Beeson Carroll and Mike Henry |
| First appearance | |
| Last appearance | |
Donald Penobscot is a fictional character from the TV series M*A*S*H, played by two different actors, Beeson Carroll, and former football player and Tarzan actor Mike Henry. His last name is perhaps inspired by the Penobscot River in Maine, the state from where the novel's author, Richard Hooker, hails.
[edit] Early mention
Donald is introduced in name only at the start of the fifth season. Tall, dark, handsome, and physically very durable, he is a Lieutenant Colonel that Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) meets while she is on leave in Tokyo. She falls madly in love with him on the spot, and he asks her to marry him right away. Margaret promptly accepts, leading to a falling out with her former flame Frank Burns.
[edit] Marriage to Hot Lips
Donald is not seen until the end of the season (played by Carroll) when he comes to marry Margaret at the 4077th. Hawkeye and B.J. have a bachelor party for him, and after he passes out from drunkenness, the hosts, also inebriated, decide to play a joke on Penobscot by plastering him from his chest and his toes, intending to tell him that he had broken both his legs during the night. The cast is still on during the wedding ceremony, and he is unable to move without assistance. The wedding is cut short by incoming wounded, which leaves Donald in the Mess Hall, unable to move in his body cast.
He is not seen again until he arrives to take part in the 4077th's amateur Olympics (this time played by Henry), and he almost wins a race against portly Sgt. First Class Ames, but trips over himself while showing off.
He also possibly appears in Margaret's dream in the "Dreams" episode.
[edit] Divorce and effect on Hot Lips
Donald and Margaret's long-distance marriage falls apart after she learns that he's been unfaithful to her and has requested a transfer without telling her. Becoming engaged to him initially made her a happier, friendlier woman, but divorcing him made her even stronger.
After their divorce, Margaret becomes noticeably kinder to Hawkeye and B.J., especially by the 9th and 10th seasons.
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