David Ogden Stiers obituary

There are some actors who have one role against which a whole career is measured. The touchstone part for David Ogden Stiers, who has died of cancer aged 75, was Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the superior TV series M*A*S*H, from 1977 to 1983.

Winchester joined the team of doctors at the mobile army surgical hospital stationed in South Korea at the height of the Korean war, replacing the crass and inept Frank Burns. In contrast, the Harvard-educated Winchester was a highly skilled surgeon, extremely well read and a great lover of classical music. In these and other aspects Winchester resembled Stiers in real life, and his character brought a certain gravitas to M*A*S*H. In fact, Winchester was probably the most cultured and articulate character that ever graced an American TV sitcom, if M*A*S*H can be so called.

The show had a limited laugh track and was not afraid to move from comedy to drama. The tall and balding Stiers created a rounded, believable figure in Winchester, the nemesis of his fellow surgeons Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and BJ Hunnicutt (Mike Farrell), who got rid of their frustration and disgust at the war by playing crazy practical jokes and wisecracking.


Source : foxnews