Actor David Ogden Stiers, best known for portraying Major Charles Winchester III on the long running TV show M*A*S*H has died aged 75.
Ogden Stiers joined the hit TV show in 1977 at the beginning of its sixth season, filling to void left by actor Larry Linville who had played the character of Frank Burns. He stayed with the show until its final episode in 1983.
Aside from his best known work in M*A*S*H, the actor was also was a successful voice actor lending his voice to many Disney productions including Beauty and the Beast, Lilo and Stitch, Pocahontas  and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.Â
During his career the actor appeared in many well known TV shows including Charlie’s Angles, Murder She Wrote, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Matlock. The Practice and Frasier.
He also appeared in the landmark miniseries North and South. In the 1980’s he appeared in a series of Perry Mason TV movies, his character District Attorney Michael Reston repeatedly losing to Ramond Burr’s Mason.
The actor also appeared in several Woody Allen movies including Shadows and Fog, Mighty Aphrodite, Everybody Says I Love You and Curse of the Jade Scorpion.
In 2009 the actor shared that he was gay and said that he’d kept his sexuality a secret throughout most of his career out of fear that it would stop him getting roles on the family friendly TV shows he was best known for.
Ogden Steirs died at his home in Newport, Oregon. He had been battling bladder cancer. He is survived by his son.
OIP Staff
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