R.I.P. David Ogden Stiers

http://ew.com/tv/2018/03/03/david-ogden-stiers-dies-mash/

 

Died of cancer.

 

R.I.P.

 

I'm a fan. Rest In Peace Sir.

 

RIP

 

Winchester was so much better than Frank Burns. Burns was just a punchline -- a one-dimensional shell of a character whose sole purpose was to set up jokes at his own expense. You loved to hate Burns, but you also hated Burns, because Burns had no redeeming qualities.

But Winchester........that guy had soul. Sure, he was an elitist, and sure, he was condescending to the other guys, and sure, he deserved to be the butt of a joke now and then. But he was a real human being, with depth. Stiers played the role to perfection -- making you hate the character when he deserved to be hated, but also making you care when you should be caring.

I still remember the scenes with the Korean musicians.

 

Also, Kelsey Grammer owes his entire career to David Ogden Stiers. Without Winchester, there is no Frasier.

 

Rest easy, Mr. Stiers.

 

RIP David Ogden Stiers (Major Winchester) , terribly sad news. A fine actor!

 

Half the main cast of M*A*S*H is now gone (McLean Stevenson, Larry Linville, Harry Morgan, Wayne Rogers, William Christopher, and David Ogden Stiers).

 

The "We only like the first three seasons" crowd says they loathe Alan Alda & Mike Farrell.

 

Sad to hear. In addition to M*A*S*H, he was was really good in The Dead Zone TV show.

 

And in a lot of his voice work, which is how I Discovered him.

Definitely a big loss.

 

Stiers, and Winchester, were probably the best part of M*A*S*H during its last few seasons. He actually landed the role after the producers saw him do a guest spot on The Mary Tyler Moore Show as a stuttering station manager and were duly impressed.

And let's not forget him playing John Cusack's dad in Better Off Dead!

 

This article about the 35th anniversary of the M*A*S*H finale, which coincidentally enough was just a few days ago, includes a great anecdote from Loretta Swit about Stiers during the filming of the episode:

 

So sad!

 

Emmy-winning writer Ken Levine, who was part of the M*A*S*H writing team that created Stiers' character, wrote a very touching tribute to the actor:

By Ken Levine: RIP David Ogden Stiers

 

That scene/episode got to me every time.

 

Sad news. R.I.P.

 

A very fine actor. Sad to see another cast member gone.

 

Since I know him best for MASH, I'd like to say that was my favorite period of that show. A lot of that is due to him.

 

Loved the show where the guy that exiled him to the Mash unit (Col. Horace Baldwin) showed up.

 

I thought it was one of his finest moments.