Eileen Detchon is remembered mainly as the first wife of actor Harry Morgan, the beloved star who later played Colonel Sherman T. Potter on MASH*. Yet Eileen also had her own connection to the entertainment world before marriage.
She worked on Broadway in 1939, appearing as an ensemble performer in William Saroyan’s My Heart’s in the Highlands. Her stage work places her story within American theater history as well as classic television history.
This biography looks at Eileen’s early background, acting career, marriage, four sons, MASH* connection, later years, death, and the legacy she left behind.
Who Was Eileen Detchon?
Eileen Ann Detchon was an American stage performer who later became widely known through her marriage to Harry Morgan. She was born in 1913 and lived much of her adult life outside the public spotlight, even as her husband became a successful Hollywood actor.
Her documented professional career was brief. Broadway records list her as an ensemble performer in My Heart’s in the Highlands, which opened in New York in April 1939.
Eileen married Morgan in 1940 and remained his wife until she died in 1985. Together, they raised four sons during a marriage that lasted more than four decades.
Early Life, Age, and Family Background
Eileen Ann Detchon was born on June 26, 1913, in Oregon, United States. Genealogical records identify her parents as Daniel Howard Detchon and Myrtle Elizabeth Clark. She would later spend much of her adult life connected with theater and Hollywood through her marriage.
Public records provide far fewer details about her childhood than about Harry Morgan’s life. Her early family experiences and everyday upbringing were never heavily covered by newspapers or entertainment publications.
What is clear is that Eileen eventually became interested in performing. By her mid-twenties, she had reached Broadway, giving her a documented professional identity before she became known as Morgan’s wife.
Education and Stage Acting Career
Detailed records of Eileen Detchon’s formal education are limited, but her professional stage credit gives a clear picture of her early interest in acting. In 1939, she joined the Broadway production of William Saroyan’s My Heart’s in the Highlands.
The play opened at New York’s Guild Theatre on April 13, 1939. Official Broadway records credit Eileen as a member of the original ensemble cast. Harry Morgan, then performing under the name Harry Bratsberg, also appeared in the production.
No extensive Broadway career followed for Eileen, making this production the best-documented part of her professional acting history.
How Eileen Detchon Met Harry Morgan
Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan moved within the same theater world before they became husband and wife. Their connection can be traced to a period when both were young performers trying to establish themselves in acting.
They appeared in the same 1939 Broadway production of My Heart’s in the Highlands. The cast list identifies Eileen in the ensemble and Harry, still using his birth surname Bratsberg, as Mr. Wiley.
Accounts of Morgan’s early years also connect Eileen to actress Frances Farmer, who reportedly introduced the two. Their relationship developed during this early theatrical period, and they married the following year.
Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan’s Marriage
Eileen Detchon married Harry Morgan on September 1, 1940. Their marriage began before Morgan became one of television’s most recognizable character actors and continued throughout most of the major stages of his professional career.
During their years together, Morgan moved from theater into movies and television. His career eventually included more than 100 film appearances and major television roles in Dragnet, MASH*, and other programs.
Eileen and Harry remained married until her death on February 4, 1985. Their union therefore lasted about 44 years, making it a major part of both their lives.
Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan’s Children
Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan became parents to four sons: Christopher, Charles, Paul, and Daniel. The children were born during the years when Morgan was steadily developing his long career in movies and television.
Unlike their famous father, the Morgan children generally did not become major public celebrities. This helped keep much of the family’s daily life outside entertainment reporting, despite Harry’s growing recognition.
Daniel Morgan later died in 1989, four years after his mother. When Harry Morgan died in 2011, reports noted that three sons from his first marriage survived him, along with several grandchildren.
Family Life and Support for Harry Morgan’s Career
Eileen’s marriage covered nearly the entire period in which Harry Morgan built his reputation as an actor. After his early stage work, Morgan moved into film and became a familiar supporting performer before finding even greater success on television.
His credits eventually included December Bride, Pete and Gladys, Dragnet, Hec Ramsey, and MASH*. Through these changing stages of his career, Eileen remained part of his home and family life.
She rarely sought separate publicity. Instead, the surviving record shows a woman whose public appearances were limited while her husband worked steadily in an industry that often demanded long schedules and frequent productions.
Eileen Detchon’s Connection to MAS*H
Eileen Detchon has an unusual and memorable connection with MASH*, even though she was never a regular cast member. Harry Morgan joined the series as Colonel Sherman T. Potter during its fourth season after first appearing in another role.
A photograph of Eileen was used on Colonel Potter’s desk as a picture connected with Potter’s fictional wife, Mildred. This small production detail linked Morgan’s real family life with one of his best-known television characters.
For longtime fans, the photograph remains an interesting piece of MASH* history and one of the reasons Eileen’s name continues to attract attention today.
Private Life and Later Years
Eileen Detchon lived differently from many people associated with famous Hollywood actors. Her own Broadway career did not develop into a long public entertainment career, and she largely disappeared from professional theater records after her 1939 appearance.
Her later life centered around her marriage and family while Harry Morgan continued working. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Morgan reached another level of fame through his portrayal of Colonel Potter on MASH*.
Eileen nevertheless remained mostly outside celebrity publicity. That privacy explains why detailed interviews, personal opinions, and accounts of her everyday life are difficult to find compared with information about her husband.
Eileen Detchon’s Death
Eileen Detchon died on February 4, 1985, at the age of 71. Records place her death in Los Angeles, California. Her passing ended a marriage to Harry Morgan that had begun in September 1940 and continued for more than four decades.
Her death came during the later phase of Morgan’s television career. MASH* had ended in 1983, while Morgan continued playing Colonel Potter in the follow-up series AfterMASH, which ran into 1985.
Eileen’s documented public story remained closely connected to her family, her early Broadway work, and her long marriage.
Harry Morgan’s Life After Eileen’s Death
Harry Morgan continued living and working for many years after Eileen died. In December 1986, he married Barbara Bushman Quine, granddaughter of silent-film actor Francis X. Bushman. Their marriage continued until Morgan’s death.
Morgan remained active professionally into the 1990s. His long career included films, television comedies, dramas, westerns, and guest appearances, making him one of the familiar character actors of his generation.
He died in Los Angeles on December 7, 2011, at age 96. Reports said he had recently been treated for pneumonia and died in his sleep.
Eileen Detchon’s Legacy
Eileen Detchon’s legacy comes from several different parts of her life. She was a Broadway performer before becoming Harry Morgan’s wife, and her appearance in My Heart’s in the Highlands remains preserved in official Broadway records.
Her marriage also connects her closely with Morgan’s long career. They spent more than four decades together and raised four sons while he moved from theater and film into some of television’s best-known programs.
For MASH* viewers, Eileen has another lasting connection through the photograph displayed on Colonel Potter’s desk. It turned a small piece of Morgan’s real family history into part of a classic television series.
Conclusion
Eileen Detchon lived a mostly private life, but her story reaches into both Broadway and classic American television. Born in Oregon in 1913, she became a stage performer and appeared in the original 1939 Broadway production of My Heart’s in the Highlands.
She married Harry Morgan in 1940, raised four sons with him, and remained his wife until her death in 1985. Their marriage covered much of Morgan’s rise from stage actor to television star.
Today, Eileen is remembered through her theater credit, her family history, and the personal photograph that quietly connected her with MASH*.
(FAQs)
Who was Eileen Detchon?
Eileen Detchon was an American stage performer best known as the first wife of actor Harry Morgan. She appeared in the 1939 Broadway production My Heart’s in the Highlands and married Morgan in 1940.
Was Eileen Detchon an actress?
Yes. Eileen Detchon worked as a stage performer early in her life. She was part of the original Broadway ensemble of William Saroyan’s My Heart’s in the Highlands, which opened in New York in 1939.
How long were Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan married?
Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan married in 1940 and remained together until Eileen died in 1985. Their marriage lasted about 44 years and covered much of Morgan’s successful film and television career.
How many children did Eileen Detchon have?
Eileen Detchon and Harry Morgan had four sons together: Christopher, Charles, Paul, and Daniel. Their children generally remained outside the Hollywood spotlight, although their father became a well-known film and television actor.
What was Eileen Detchon’s connection to MAS*H?
Eileen had a special connection to MASH* through Harry Morgan, who played Colonel Sherman Potter. A photograph of Eileen was reportedly used on Potter’s desk in connection with his fictional wife, Mildred.
When did Eileen Detchon die?
Eileen Detchon died on February 4, 1985, at the age of 71. Her death came after more than four decades of marriage to Harry Morgan, who lived until December 2011.
