(FORTUNE Magazine) – Wayne Rogers is one of those indefatigable entrepreneurs who make you exhausted just listening to all of the businesses they're juggling. But Rogers is more than just some Rotary Club man-of-the-year-ten-years-running type. Wayne Rogers was an actor. A sort of famous actor. Wayne Rogers was Trapper John McIntyre of M*A*S*H. Trapper John was the guy who played opposite Alan Alda's Hawkeye Pierce. (In the TV show, of course. In the movie, which pales next to the small-screen version, Hawkeye was played by Elliott Gould.) And if you remember the show--and who doesn't?--there was real chemistry there, chemistry that dissipated, I say, when Rogers left the show after three seasons.

Trapper John is tricky ground for Rogers. While he makes no bones about his alter ego--he neither hides nor denies it (and you can't beat the residuals)--he doesn't broadcast it either. He'd rather talk business. It's as if Trapper John detracts from the purity of the dealmaking. Today Rogers, 70, is involved with some 30 businesses--mostly in the financing end of things--that include everything from a chain of convenience stores to a housing project in Phoenix to Kleinfeld's bridal store in Brooklyn. I recently spoke with Wayne by phone in Florida. --Andy Serwer

Q: What does Trapper John have to do with business?

A: I have no idea, really. You know, people, kids even, come up to me on the street sometimes and act out scenes, and I often don't know what they're talking about.

Q: Were you always a businessman and an actor?

A: Pretty much. When we were making M*A*S*H, I was always on the phone doing business, and they were always saying, "We're ready. Where is he? Get him over here. We need to shoot this scene."

Q: While you were doing deals, holding up production, Alan Alda was busy writing feminist tracts.

A: (laughs) Poor Alan.

Q: But how'd you get into business?

A: It was a defense mechanism, really. All these actors were getting taken to the cleaners by their business managers. I wanted to learn. Also, Burt Reynolds was the No. 1 box-office draw in the world for five years, and he ended up filing for bankruptcy. I didn't want to be like that.

Q: What businesses do you own now?

A: I have a company called Stop & Save, a chain of about a dozen convenience stores in the Tallahassee area. It was part of a larger company called Swifty Serve, which had over 600 stores. We sold Swifty Serve to FFCA--which is a part of GE--and I bought the Tallahassee piece. We'll probably do about $23 million in sales, with a 10% net margin. You know all about that stuff.

Q: I do. But what could an actor who grew up in Alabama and went to Princeton know about a Brooklyn bridal business?

A: Absolutely nothing. (laughs) No, that was at first. I know a little bit now. My partners, Ronnie and Mara, have the real expertise. But really, what's there to know? You buy something for X, and you sell it for 2X.

Q: Why aren't more actors in business?

A: Interesting. There is a natural bias against business in Hollywood. You know, we are actors, artistes. The distasteful business side is the studios and the agents.... That's too bad, because business is creative. It's about problem solving, just like writing a play or figuring out a role.

Q: What would Trapper John say about your life?

A: I'm not sure he would care.