William Christopher
American actor (1932-2016)
William Christopher (October 20, 1932 – December 31, 2016) was an American actor and comedian, best known for playing Private Lester Hummel on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. from 1965 to 1968 and Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy on the television series M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1983 and its spinoff AfterMASH from 1983 to 1985.
Early life
Christopher was born in Evanston, Illinois, in a family believed to be descendants of Paul Revere. He spent his youth in several of Chicago's northern suburbs, including Winnetka, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School. Christopher graduated from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, with a Bachelor of Arts in drama, focusing on Greek literature. While at university, he participated in fencing, soccer, and the glee club, and was initiated as a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Career
Christopher moved to New York and appeared in a variety of regional productions and later a number of off-Broadway productions such as The Hostage at One Sheridan Square. His Broadway debut came in Beyond the Fringe, a British revue, acting alongside Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.
Christopher left New York City for Hollywood to attempt to gain work in television where he guest-starred in several well-known series, including The Andy Griffith Show, Death Valley Days, The Patty Duke Show and The Men from Shiloh. He made several appearances (each time as a different character) on Hogan's Heroes, and had recurring roles on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and That Girl. Christopher was a student at Harvey Lembeck's famed L.A. improvisational workshop in the early 1970s during which time he performed improv skits (with two other performers, Carole White and Shelia Bartold, both also Lembeck students) during a January 1972 episode of The Carol Burnett Show.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “William Christopher” is american actor (1932-2016). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through William, Christopher and American, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q429391. VIAF identifies the subject as 148092331. The Library of Congress control number is n88014267. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1932, 2016, 1965 and 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “William Christopher” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.