McLean Stevenson, who played the fumbling commanding officer and chief surgeon of TV’s “M-A-S-H,” has died, his agent said Friday. He was 66. Show
Stevenson died of a heart attack late Thursday at a hospital, agent Robert Malcolm said. Stevenson played Lt. Col. Henry Blake, the womanizing goof-off commanding officer of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, for the first three seasons of “M-A-S-H.” The role won him a 1973 Golden Globe Award and a 1974 Emmy nomination. In the series, Blake died when his plane was lost at sea as he returned to the United States. Born in Bloomington, Ill., Stevenson was the son of a cardiologist. He worked on the losing presidential campaign of his cousin and next-door neighbor, Adlai Stevenson. He was 31 before he broke into acting after careers as a medical supplies salesman, insurance clerk, seaman and assistant director of athletics at Northwestern University, where he earned a theater arts degree. During the 1960s he worked in nightclubs, did summer stock theater and some television before moving to Hollywood, where he worked as a comedy writer for Tommy Smothers. He eventually began acting in sketches on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.” He played Doris Day’s boss from 1969-71 on “The Doris Day Show” and was a regular on the “The Tim Conway Comedy Hour” in 1970. The Spokesman-Review Newspaper Local journalism is essential. Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds. Before there was Friends, there was Seinfeld. And before Seinfeld, there was Cheers. And before Cheers? There was M*A*S*H. M*A*S*H is considered one of the all-time greatest sitcoms in television history. However, one of its most memorable characters, Henry Blake, took his leave all too soon at the tail end of M*A*S*H’s third season. Article continues below advertisement The actor who played Lt. Colonel Henry Blake, McLean Stevenson, colloquially referred to as “Mac,” wanted to end his contract with M*A*S*H. But the thing that made his leave stand out amongst other characters who left the popular television sitcom was that Henry Blake’s leave was permanent. At the end of Season 3, in an episode titled “Abyssinia, Henry,” McLean’s character died in a plane crash. Source: Hulu Article continues below advertisement Henry Blake left 'M*A*S*H' because the actor was ready to move on.According to multiple accounts, one most famously from co-star Loretta Swift, corroborated by writer Ken Levine, McLean left because he wanted to be “No. 1." As M*A*S*H progressed, Alan Alda, who played Hawkeye, became the starring male lead, and others fell to the sidelines. Loretta recounted that McLean said, “I know I will not be in anything as good as this show, but I have to leave and be No. 1." When Henry Blake left 'M*A*S*H,' it was a shock to the cast, crew, and all of America.Until M*A*S*H, whenever an actor left a television show, they’d be written off in a way that could be temporary. In an earlier show called My Three Sons, for instance, an actor actually died, but his character was said to have gone on a trip to Ireland. However, on M*A*S*H, the writers were unafraid when it came to taking risks and trying something new. Article continues below advertisement Source: Hulu A show about the Korean War, the writers knew that even though it was lighthearted, it was also important to convey the gravity of wartime. According to Snopes, writer Larry Gelbart shared in his book that, “Killing a character in a half-hour show had never been done before. That was all the reason [producer] Gene [Reynolds] and I needed to know we would have to do it.” Article continues below advertisement Not only was Henry Blake one of the first characters killed off of a television series, but it was even a shock to the cast of the show. Rumors have floated around that the cast had no idea he died until the creators filmed Gary Burghoff, Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, as he ran into the operating room to announce that Henry Blake’s plane had been shot down and “there were no survivors.” What actually occurred was that the named actors were shown the final page *just* before filming the scene. However, all the extras had genuine shock when Henry’s death was announced. Article continues below advertisement After leaving 'M*A*S*H,' McLean Stevenson never became “No. 1.”Although Mac left the show to become “No. 1," this unfortunately never played out. He went on to play starring roles in several failed sitcoms, such as The McLean Stevenson Show; In the Beginning; Hello, Larry; and Condo. Nothing really came of these, so McLean went on to play bit roles in more successful sitcoms like The Golden Girls and The Love Boat, as well as guest hosting for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. Article continues below advertisement Throughout his decline, McLean became somewhat of a laughing stock of Hollywood for having left a successful show at its height only to come face to face with the fact that he had made a poor decision. However, he was a great sport about it. He parodied his character’s death on The Cher Show and later admitted in a M*A*S*H retrospective, “The mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson. That was not the case. Everybody loved Henry Blake.” What is the controversial scene that took mash off the air?"Abyssinia, Henry" is the 72nd episode of the M*A*S*H television series, and the final episode of the series' third season.
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Abyssinia, Henry.. Which actor turned down the role of Hawkeye Pierce?Alda almost turned down the role of Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H (1972) because he did not want war to be a "backdrop for lighthearted hijinks... "I wanted to show that the war was a bad place to be.". Suffered from a severe case of polio as a young child. At its worst point he was only able to move his left arm.
Why Does Trapper leave MASH?Leaving the 4077th
By the third season, Rogers had grown weary of playing second banana, and even though Trapper's character was fleshed out more during the latter half of the third season, Rogers decided to depart at season's end, and his character had to be written out of the series.
Did Larry Linville regret leaving mash?And though Linville never had any regrets about leaving the series, in 1986, he once again proved himself a villain in the eyes of M*A*S*H fans when the character actor gave The News and Observer a three-word review of the show's most-watched episode, the series finale. "Boring as hell," Linville said.
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