A glittering Korea
ACTOR David Ogden Stiers, best known as the pompous Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the Korean War sitcom M*A*S*H, has died at 75.
Agent Michael Stubbs said he passed away “peacefully” at home in Newport, Oregon after a “courageous battle with bladder cancer”.
Paying tribute to the star, who was also much loved as the voice of Cogsworth the talking clock in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Mr Stubbs said: “His talent was only surpassed by his heart.”
Stiers joined M*A*S*H, a sitcom about US army surgeons during the Korean War, in 1977.
His character Major Winchester became the butt of many jokes for Hawkeye Pierce, played by Alan Alda, and BJ Hunnicutt, played by Mike Farrell.
M*A*S*H was one of the most successful sitcoms ever written, with 256 episodes produced by the American channel CBS between 1972 and 1983.
The final episode, Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, was watched by a recordbreaking audience of 125 million. TV sets had been placed in car parks, offices and public spaces and the show was screened simultaneously around the globe for troops stationed abroad.
The BBC then bought the rights and ran the show from 1984 to 1995.
Stiers was nominated for two Emmy Awards, in 1981 and 1982, for his a role as Major Winchester.
He was shortlisted again in 1984 for his part as William Milligan Sloane, founder of the US Olympic Committee, in the series The First Olympics: Athens 1896.
Stiers, who was born in Peoria, Illinois, had more than 150 film and TV credits, with roles in Perry Mason, Murder, She Wrote, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Charlie’s Angels and Kojak.
Stiers earned a legion of much younger fans with his Disney voice-over work. He was Jumba in Lilo & Stitch and had parts in Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
He was also the Newport Symphony’s resident conductor and conducted for more than 70 orchestras around the world.
In 2009, Stiers revealed he was gay, and said: “I wish to spend my life’s twilight being just who I am.”
the number of episodes of M*A*S*H between 1972 and 1983