Hawkeye’s ‘M*A*S*H’ Boots and Dog Tags Sell for $125,000
Money from the sale of the wardrobe items worn by Alan Alda as Hawkeye Pierce during the hit TV series, “M*A*S*H,” goes to benefit a cause dear to the actor’s heart.
DALLAS — The boots and dog tags Alan Alda wore as the playful and charismatic Hawkeye Pierce during the entire 256-episode run of the hit television show, "M*A*S*H," sold for $125,000 in a one-lot event at Heritage Auctions, July 28.
Proceeds from the sale go to what has become Alda’s greatest passion: the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brooks University, a 14-year-old center founded by Alda, Stony Brook and the university’s School of Communication and Journalism.
When Alan Alda, then 36, reported to the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the summer of 1972 he received two items from wardrobe – a pair of scuffed-up combat boots and a pair of dog tags – that became the only “M*A*S*H” memorabilia he kept from the smash TV series that ended its run in 1983.
Alda gained fame playing Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the 14-time Emmy-award-winning TV show. During its run, "M*A*S*H" became one of the most beloved shows of all time. Its finale, “Goodbye, Farewell and Amen,” was the most-watched and highest-rated single television episode in U.S. television history at the time. The finale brought in a 125 million viewers.
