R.I.P. David Ogden Stiers

Sad news from the world of entertainment— actor David Ogden Stiers died this past weekend at age 75.

Stiers was undoubtedly best known for playing the pompous Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H. He made his debut in Season 6, and stayed with the series until it ended its run in Season 11.

Stiers started out Broadway, but did his most extensive work on television, racking up hundreds of credits. He was also a prolific voice over artist in cartoons and videogames!

Wait a minute, did I say Stiers was 75? That... that can't be right, can it? He joined the cast of M*A*S*H in 1977. That means he was just 34 years old when he started! Wow! This is gonna sound awful, but that is a hard-looking 34! 

I would have guessed he was in his late forties at the least! I guess it's the hairline, or lack of same, that made him look way older than he really was.

I guess he's one of those actors like Ed Asner and Patrick Stewart, who seemed to always look old, and finally "grew into" their age late in life.

It's also possible that Stiers fudged his age for career purposes, and was actually much older than he let on!

This means Alan Alda, aka Hawkeye Pierce, was actually 41 when Stiers joined the show! Somehow I never saw Hawkeye as being older than Charles! Quite the opposite, in fact!

And even more amazing, actor Gary Burghoff, who played Radar, was 33 when Stiers started. Just one year younger! Holy crap! Radar and Charles were actually the same age! I'm guessing Burghoff was playing younger (MUCH younger), while Stiers was playing older.

Mind. Blown!