David Ogden Stiers, R.I.P.

Actor David Ogden Stiers, best known for his portrayal of Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H, has passed away at his Oregon home following a battle with bladder cancer. He was 75.

Prior to joining the cast of M*A*S*H, Stiers appeared on TV shows such as Kojak, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Phyllis and Charlie's Angels. Stiers replaced Larry Linville at the start of the sixth season of M*A*S*H in 1977 and remained with the show through its final episode in 1983. In contrast to Linville's Major Frank Burns, Winchester's Boston Brahmin upbringing was a far more worthy adversary to Hawkeye Pierce and B.J. Hunnicutt. While Winchester was generally presented as an antagonistic character, he occasionally showed compassion in memorable episodes where he befriended a wounded soldier who was a concert pianist and another who stuttered. In the series finale, he mentored four North Korean POWs who were aspiring musicians. In real life, Stiers served as a guest conductor with many symphonies all over the world.

After M*A*S*H, Stiers appeared in the mini-series North and South as well as in several Perry Mason TV movies opposite Raymond Burr before settling into voice over work. If you watched animated movies such as Beauty & The Beast, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Lilo & Stich then you heard Stiers' distinctive and resonant baritone.

Let me give Major Winchester one last parting shot. R.I.P.