‘M*A*S*H*’ Loretta Swit Wishes a Happy Birthday to Alan Alda: ‘I’m so Glad You Were Born’

The Emmy winning actor, Alan Alda recently turned 84-years-old. His "M*A*S*H" co-star Loretta Swit took a moment to mark the day with a sweet post.

Alan Alda, who has been married to his wife Arlene for over sixty years, rose to fame as an actor, director, screenwriter, comedian, and author. The six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner acted in many notable films over the years.

Most notably he played Hawkeye Pierce in the war television series "M*A*S*H." He also had recurring roles on television programs such as "The West Wing" and "30 Rock."

The actor turned 84 on January 28, 2020. To celebrate his birthday Loretta Swit, who acted with him in "M*A*S*H," took to social media site Instagram to share a sweet tribute to him writing:

"Happy Birthday [cake emoji] to my warm, wonderful friend and colleague. I’m so glad you were born."

She accompanied the sweet message with a throwback picture. The picture was a clip taken from a "M*A*S*H" episode.

In the picture, Loretta and Alan sat next to each other on the ground in their costumes for the film. Both appeared to be laughing at a joke together.

The post caught the attention of more than a thousand fans. Many took to the comments section to also share birthday wishes for Alan. One fan wrote:

"Happy Birthday Alan! What a lucky lady you are to have him as a friend [ heart emoji]"

in 2018, Alan had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. In October last year, he revealed that he was focusing on slowing it down. He told Today:

“I’m good. I shake a little, but I’m good. I work out. You can hold back the progress if you do a lot of specific exercises, so I do a lot of crazy things."

The actor says he now spends his time boxing, juggling, tennis, swimming, bike riding and marching among the activities he does. He added:

"I feel good. I work so hard, I guess that’s part of it. I feel like a kid because I’m working so hard."