Former ‘M*A*S*H’ star says he is gay

[Roon]

LOS ANGELES - David Ogden Stiers, the actor who is best known for playing Major Charles Winchester on TV’s “M*A*S*H,” has come out.

“I am (gay),” the 66-year-old actor said in an interview with the blog Gossip-Boy.com. “Very proud to be so.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30607382/

[applegrove]

1. Good for him for coming out.

[underpants]

2. If only he had tanked the cribbage games against Col. Baldwin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Charles_Emerson_Winchester_III

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. He did — when it was too late

But he refused to set up the lecherous Baldwin with Maj. Houlihan. :thumbsup:

[no name no slogan]

3. Yay! Good for him!

I always liked him as Winchester, and in the other various parts he's played. :toast:

[WCGreen]

11. Favorite Line from Mash...

Describing the 407 as...

A Flaming Boil on the Buttocks of the world.

[Vidar]

4. Cool. A fine character actor.

[av8rdave]

5. He's played a lot of great parts over the years

[Duer 157099]

6. I thought for sure it had to be Jamie Farr

Klinger? was that his name?

[mentalsolstice]

7. Loved him! I'm glad he's free! nt

[SeattleGirl]

8. Well, duh! I've known that for years.

He had a short tryst with a male friend of mine many many years ago.

I love DOS. I never had the sense that he tried to hide it.

[Robeson]

9. Loved him in "Half a Life" episode of Star Trek TNG,,,

...it was one of those episodes of TNG - like many - that made one think.

[SeattleGirl]

10. That's one of my favorite episodes.

He and Majel Barrett were fabulous in that.

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. Sad episode!

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. Anyone remember him in 'Mary Tyler Moore'?

He played the stuttering WJM station manager in a few final-season episodes. In fact, it was he who fired everyone but Ted, leading to the famous group hug and the mass departure from the newsroom to "It's a Long Way to Tipperary."

My favorite "MASH" bit with him was when he introduced the concert-pianist soldier to pieces for one hand after the soldier lost some nerve function from a hand wound.

"Because the true gift is in your head, and your heart, and your soul."

Damned fine actor. :thumbsup:

[Orrex]

18. Another good MASH episode

In post-op he discovered a soldier with a stutter and who as a result was quiet and withdrawn because his peers mocked him for it. Charles presented him with a copy of Moby Dick and urged him not to let the stutter define him.

At the end of the episode we learn that his beloved sister Honoria likewise had a profound stutter...



I also really like the one in which he and Hawkeye bond over shared stories about their respective fathers.



The only thing that saddens me about all of this is that circumstances made him feel that he couldn't come out sooner.

[Quantess]

14. This guy?

[Orrex]

16. First and foremost, he'll always be the Baracini's Ice Cream pitch-man

Wasn't he in a comedy about war, too?

[TZ]

17. And he did a real nice episode with Majel Barrett in TNG...

I can't believe you don't remember it....

[Orrex]

19. "Half a Life." Robeson mentioned it up-thread

That was a very good episode, showing Lwaxana Troi as more than just a farcical buffoon, too.

[cwydro]

20. Oh, no surprise there.

I think this has been an "open" secret for years.

But I'm glad he feels comfortable in coming out finally.

[guitar man]

21. damn, didn't see that coming

:D