RIP David Ogden Stiers, aka Major Charles Emerson Winchester III

[Just Jack]

David Ogden Stiers, Emmy nominee from 'M*A*S*H,' dead at 75

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/03/david_ogden_stiers_mash_actor_dies.html

[Augie]

Well that just sucks. RIP. 

[Chef Jim]

I'm a very big MASH fan.  Charles was probably the best character in the later years of the show.

 

RIP Mr Stiers.  

 

   

[Augie]

34 minutes ago, Chef Jim said:

I'm a very big MASH fan.  Charles was probably the best character in the later years of the show.

 

RIP Mr Stiers.  

 

   

 

There were certain days in college when we could view 5 episodes a day, and we usually did. That speaks volumes about my life....

[Misterbluesky]

Just now, Augie said:

 

There were certain days in college when we could view 5 episodes a day, and we usually did. That speaks volumes about my life....

But they never get old.The comedy/drama mix shows on these days couldn't hold a candle to MASH. Just a FYI..Margaret was the parade leader at the polish festival in  Cheektowaga for the past few years..obviously the younger generation had no clue who she was...she has already been replaced.I wish I would have walked up to her and talked..but I figured I would see her later where the live music was playing..near the beer tent and the so many good vendors where set up (Polish Villa,Nowaks etc.)..hundreds of people doing the Polska lifestyle...she was a no show.She rode on the back of a Basil Chevy donated convertible 'vette..smiled and did the game wave like beauty pageant winners do..did a interview for the local stations near the old Peter K's eatery..then split.p.s.-she was oddly ghostly white in july..she looked creepy.

[boyst]

1 hour ago, Chef Jim said:

I'm a very big MASH fan.  Charles was probably the best character in the later years of the show.

 

RIP Mr Stiers.  

 

   

Too bad you missed Tony Packo's 

[Augie]

9 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

Too bad you missed Tony Packo's 

 

All the best things come from Toledo.

 

Or, maybe, not all the worst things? 

[mead107]

RIP.   Bladder cancer Sucks. A guy at ge only lasted 2 yrs after retiring.  

[boyst]

5 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

All the best things come from Toledo.

 

Or, maybe, not all the worst things? 

I'm not technically from Toledo.  So the worst things can come from Toledo.  

[Augie]

4 minutes ago, Boyst62 said:

I'm not technically from Toledo.  So the worst things can come from Toledo.  

 

I had a very good friend in college from Toledo and used to visit fairly often. My wife is Lebanese. That whole thing made a lot of sense to me. One of the best shows ever. 

[KD in CA]

RIP

 

He did a lot of great voice work on PBS.

 

 

4 hours ago, mead107 said:

RIP.   Bladder cancer Sucks. A guy at ge only lasted 2 yrs after retiring.  

 

Yup.  It got my Dad at 75 too.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by KD in CA

[Mark Vader]

He did a lot of voice work for Disney in movies and cartoon shows as well.

 

RIP, Sir

 

Gentlemen...

[Billsfansinceday1]

RIP, David.  I loved you work.

[Uncle Joe]

RIP.  Passed away in Newport. Oregon and would conduct orchestra there.
 

"Stiers was also a gifted musician. He was the resident conductor of the Newport Symphony and had guest conducted for more than 70 orchestras across the world."

Edited March 4, 2018 by Uncle Joe

[Dr. Who]

The early MASH is better, imo.  The anarchic energy is sharper and the humor doesn't descend into preachy bathos.  You can't give a comic character depth or nuance.  When one does that, a certain kind of humor becomes sadistic.  For this reason, Frank Burns was more suited as the butt of jokes.  Show took a different direction with Stiers.  He's an interesting character with intellect to challenge Hawkeye.  I liked the character, and the actor, a lot, but it swung the comedy away from the ethos introduced in the movie.

Edited March 4, 2018 by Dr. Who

[KD in CA]

2 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

The early MASH is better, imo.  The anarchic energy is sharper and the humor doesn't descend into preachy bathos.  You can't give a comic character depth or nuance.  When one does that, a certain kind of humor becomes sadistic.  For this reason, Frank Burns was more suited as the butt of jokes.  Show took a different direction with Stiers.  He's an interesting character with intellect to challenge Hawkeye.  I liked the character, and the actor, a lot, but it swung the comedy away from the ethos introduced in the movie.

 

Agreed, but that change was well underway before Charles arrived.

 

Initially the show resembled the movie -- 3 funny, irreverent guys (Hawkeye, Trapper, Henry) vs. two up-tight foils in Frank and Margaret, with very sharp, biting humor.  Everyone else was in the background.  They clearly decided to get away from that to appeal to a broader audience, so they drove off Trapper and Henry, turned Margaret into a more sympathetic character, and let Alda and his whiny sidekick Mike Farrell turn it into a preachy show.  Once that happened, Frank's humor was wasted anyway.

[Dr. Who]

3 hours ago, KD in CA said:

 

Agreed, but that change was well underway before Charles arrived.

 

Initially the show resembled the movie -- 3 funny, irreverent guys (Hawkeye, Trapper, Henry) vs. two up-tight foils in Frank and Margaret, with very sharp, biting humor.  Everyone else was in the background.  They clearly decided to get away from that to appeal to a broader audience, so they drove off Trapper and Henry, turned Margaret into a more sympathetic character, and let Alda and his whiny sidekick Mike Farrell turn it into a preachy show.  Once that happened, Frank's humor was wasted anyway.

Yeah, you're spot on.

[B-Man]

RIP Mr Stiers. 

 

The funny thing is, to this day,  I cannot say the name Margaret, without saying it like Charles. 

 

Admit it, you heard that in his voice 

.

[RochesterRob]

23 hours ago, Just Jack said:

David Ogden Stiers, Emmy nominee from 'M*A*S*H,' dead at 75

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/03/david_ogden_stiers_mash_actor_dies.html

  I do one thing, I do it well, and then I move on (if I remember the line correctly).  Stiers did many things well as it turns out.

[RochesterRob]

8 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

The early MASH is better, imo.  The anarchic energy is sharper and the humor doesn't descend into preachy bathos.  You can't give a comic character depth or nuance.  When one does that, a certain kind of humor becomes sadistic.  For this reason, Frank Burns was more suited as the butt of jokes.  Show took a different direction with Stiers.  He's an interesting character with intellect to challenge Hawkeye.  I liked the character, and the actor, a lot, but it swung the comedy away from the ethos introduced in the movie.

  They already deviated considerably from Hooker's vision when the series started so they could have made Frank more three dimensional if they wanted to.  But the show wanted to be an anti-cpaitalist anti-authority show so anybody with those values had to be done as a stereotype.  I still think although better than Frank Winchester was made too toothless on many occasions.  If I was Winchester I would have been pushing on Potter for a transfer even if it was to another MASH.  You would think that Charles had no right to his money whatsoever the way Pierce, Hunnicutt, and Potter thought.