Alan Alda on Twitter

[elleng]

“David Ogden Stiers. I remember how you skateboarded to work every day down busy LA streets. How, once you glided into Stage 9, you were Winchester to your core. How gentle you were, how kind, except when devising the most vicious practical jokes. We love you, David. Goodbye.”
TWITTER.COM

[hlthe2b]

1. Loretta Switt's statement:

His “MASH” co-star Loretta Swit, who played “Hot Lips,” remembered him in a statement.

“It is devastating, always, to lose one of us,” she said. “He was an extraordinary person, a gifted actor, phenomenal musician, and my sweet, dear shy friend, who kiddingly called me Letitia. Working with him was an adventure. He was exceptional. I’m hurting. We all are.”

[elleng]

2. ;-(

[malaise]

5. It's so nice when people you worked with genuinely

love or loved you.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. *sad sigh* My childhood is fading away with each of these losses.

[FailureToCommunicate]

23. Yes, that IS what it feels like.

[Aristus]

4. I checked him out on Wikipedia.

I hadn't know he was gay.

It's sad that he had to hide it for so long. I hope coming out gave him happiness.

I remember when he started on M*A*S*H. I thought he was going to be another bumbling, incompetent surgeon like Frank Burns. I was pleasantly surprised that they wrote him as a brilliant surgeon and a curmudgeon with a heart of gold. It was a good fit.

[underpants]

7. Watching MASH almost nightly on MeTV - rerun Network.

I knew he came out but I had no idea about the skateboarding. That's hilarious.

[Fritz Walter]

10. Same here!

I’ll take well written, superbly executed (produced, directed, ensemble-acted) reruns over what passes for entertainment today. Three years ago, I cut cable because I grew weary of paying hundreds of hard-earned dollars every month for hundreds of mediocre or worse (Faux Gnus, religious, merchandising) streams of electronic dysentery. Never regretted that decision. Because I can pick up MeTV and other local channels on my digital-broadcast antenna (in my attic), I am not subjected to mind-numbing tedium those evenings when I’m home — and tear my attention away from one screen to focus on another.

I understand why Mr. Stiers waited until later to come out. The 70s and early 80s might have been revolutionary in some aspects of sexuality, but even in the entertainment industry, coming out could have been a severely — or even fatal — career-limiting-gesture.

Rest In Peace, David. The world is a better place because of your contributions.

[DownriverDem]

31. MASH is timeless

The way it was done will live on for years. It started during the end of the Viet Nam War and the surgeons who were anti war fit the mood of the country perfectly.

[Lucinda]

14. +1

[Liberalagogo]

28. I found out about his sexuality

back in the 80s when I was in college. Some guy I knew there had a fling with him. I would have paid good money to see David skate down Hollywood Boulevard.

[bobbieinok]

6. Remember him well. Love that show. Mom watched reruns til she died at 92 in 05

[llmart]

8. Wonderful show.

I loved all the major characters and the story lines. Every once in awhile I catch the reruns. It had a definite antiwar message throughout.

They didn't need to use four letter words every other sentence or explicit sex to put together a good show.

[OldManTarHeel]

9. One of the greatest shows ever to air on TV . .

David Ogden Stiers

RIP

[alfredo]

20. The show lasted longer than the war,

[calimary]

29. Welcome to DU, OldManTarHeel!

I agree! That and all the various "Star Trek" series - we'd watch them all night. Doze off to them, even.

"M*A*S*H" was a WUNNNNNderful series. The characters were so richly developed and portrayed. And his was one of my favorites.

He actually was featured on one "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episodes. A bittersweet episode in which he played a gentle-hearted alien with whom Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) fell in love. A really good one.

[mcar]

11. K&R

[mcar]

12. One of my all time favorite shows

[Lucinda]

13. TY KNR

[mountain grammy]

15. Loved that show and David Ogden Stiers

Rest in peace..

[burrowowl]

30. Me too!

[hlthe2b]

16. The Hollywood Reporter did a piece on the 35th anniversary of the Finale (February):

Here's some quotes from that re: Stiers from Jamie Farr (Klinger) and Mike Farrell (Bj Hunnicutt) and the full piece link follows:

Farr: To repay Stiers for all his pranks on us, we had his dressing room painted orange and purple over Thanksgiving break. When we came back, we were waiting for him to rant. He said nothing. Finally, one of us asked, "What's new?"

Farrell: David said, "Oh, I've just had my dressing room redecorated. Did you as well?" I responded, "No, how is yours?" He said, "Quite lovely, it's a fabulous combination of salmon and mauve." It was his way of letting us know he got it, but no one was going to get him.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/mash-oral-history-untold-stories-one-tvs-important-shows-1086322

[NastyRiffraff]

17. That does it. I'm watching it again.

One of my favorite TV shows of all time, along with West Wing.

[mnhtnbb]

22. I'm watching The West Wing on Netflix.

Love watching reruns of MASH.

I'm old enough to remember MASH. Was a contestant on a game show way back when and Jamie Farr was my celebrity partner. We didn't win but it was fun.

[LAS14]

18. K & R

[sinkingfeeling]

19. Lump in the throat time.

[RandomAccess]

21. Thanks for sharing that

The skateboarding thing is hilarious to me -- IMPOSSIBLE for me to imagine him on a skateboard.

Amazing that Alda could capture such an all-encompassing portrait in so few words.

[turbinetree]

24. What's matter?

[camelfan]

32. Shoot. From the late Mr. Stiers...

to the late Mr. John Mahoney. Sigh.

[dae]

25. R.I.P. Mr. Stiers.

[LisaM]

26. He was gifted with accents.

I saw him on an old "Murder, She Wrote" just a couple of nights ago and he was doing a passable Russian accent (or at least it sounded like it to me).

[tonyt53]

27. When "Doc Hollywood" had just came out, the cast was talking about the movie.

Somebody stated that David was the same in real life as he was in the movie - he didn't have to act.

[niyad]

33. requiescat in pace

[dbackjon]

34. RIP to one of my favorites

M*A*S*H was something I watched with my parents. Mom loves it, and still watches the DVD's I bought her over the years.

[Lifelong Protester]

35. RIP David Ogden Stiers

Loved M*A*S*H, still do.

[sarge43]

36. Dr Winchester's bed side manner.

Peaceful passage Major and thank you.