ALAN ALDA - ALDA WENT AWOL

MASH TV star ALAN ALDA has confessed he used to go absent without leave while in boot camp in the 1950s, so he could visit his wife.

The actor was never caught, despite travelling 640 kilometres (400 miles) from his Georgia base each weekend to see then-fiancee ARLENE - with whom he recently celebrated his 48th wedding anniversary.

Alda - who is currently starring in HOWARD HUGHES biopic THE AVIATOR - explains, "When I was at boot camp at Fort Benning, Georgia, I went AWOL on weekends to see my then-fiancee, ARLENE, who was 800 miles away in Houston, where she was in their symphony orchestra.

"She met me halfway at a motel in New Orleans. It was high-risk, but I never got caught because I was clever; otherwise, I could have been thrown in solitary for a month. They don't care about romance.

"I just hope the Army doesn't have the right where if they read me bragging about it now, they can jail me retroactively."