“M*A*S*H” actor David Ogden Stiers died of cancer on Saturday, TheWrap confirmed. He was 75.
“I am very sad to say, yes. My dear friend and client of 30 years is gone,” Stiers’ agent, Mitchell K. Stubbs tells TheWrap. “David had wisdom and talent in so many different areas. I wish people could know the beautiful heart that he had. His friends and family knew, as he told us so.”
Stubbs reported Stiers’ death on Twitter, writing that the actor “died this morning March 3, 2018 peacefully at his home in Newport, Oregon after a courageous battle with bladder cancer.” “His talent was only surpassed by his heart,” he added.
Stiers was nominated for two Emmys for his role as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, a talented surgeon, on the long-running CBS series set during the Korean war. Stiers starred on “M*A*S*H” from 1977-1983, filling in for Larry Linville’s Frank Burns when he exited the comedy.
The actor received his third Emmy nomination for his portrayal of William Milligan Sloane, the United States Olympic Committee founder, in the 1984 NBC miniseries “The First Olympics: Athens 1896.”
Some of Stiers’ other TV credits include “North and South,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Matlock,” “Touched by an Angel,” “The Dead Zone,” and “Frasier.” He also played John Cusack’s father, Al Meyer, in the 1985 film “Better Off Dead…”
In addition to his live-action work, Stiers lent his voice to several memorable characters, including Cogsworth in “Beauty and the Beast,” Dr. Jumba Jookiba in “Lilo & Stitch,” Governor Ratcliffe and Wiggins in “Pocahontas,” the Archdeacon in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and Kamaji in the English-dubbed version of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away.”
Stiers was the associate conductor at the Newport Symphony Orchestra in Oregon and guest-conducted several other orchestras.