In October 1972, he was hired for one day’s work as Corporal Maxwell Klinger on the "M*A*S*H" episode "Chief Surgeon Who?" His character wore dresses to try to convince the army that he was crazy and deserved a Section 8 discharge. Comedy writer and playwright Larry Gelbart has said that comedian Lenny Bruce's attempt to be released from military service in World War II by dressing in a WAVES uniform was the original inspiration for the character of Klinger on the sitcom. He was asked back for a dozen episodes in the second season, and he became a regular in the fourth.