David Ogden Stiers: R.I.P.

David Ogden Stiers, who played Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in M*A*S*H and later Cogsworth in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, died March 3 at the age of 75.

From Deadline:

The late actor was born in Peoria, Illinois, then moved to Eugene, Oregon while he was in high school. He attended the University of Oregon, but soon left for San Francisco to pursue an acting career.

His first television credits include The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Charlie’s Angels, and Kojak. His voice was also heard off-screen in George Lucas’ first feature film, THX-1138.

That led to what became his biggest role. In 1977,  Stiers joined the cast of  M*A*S*H after the departure of Larry Linville, who played Frank Burns. Stiers was nominated for two Emmy awards for his role as the stuffy Winchester, in 1981 and 1982.

Stiers earned another Emmy nomination in 1984 for his role as William Milligan Sloane, founder of the U.S. Olympic Committee, in the NBC miniseries The First Olympics: Athens in 1896. Stiers also lent his voice to eight Disney animated features, most notably as Cogsworth in 1991’s Beauty and the Beast and including Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Lilo & Stitch.

Other movie work included roles in Oh, God! (1977), The Man With One Red Shoe (1985), The Accidental Tourist (1988) and four Woody Allen films. (He was a peculiar hypnotist in Mr. Allen’s The Curse of the Jade Scorpion.) His last screen appearance was in The Joneses Unplugged, a 2017 television movie about technology overload.

In addition to his acting career, Stiers was also the resident conductor of the Newport Symphony and guest conducted for more than 70 orchestras across the world.