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David Ogden Stiers | |
David Ogden Stiers, who played Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in Twentieth Television’s M*A*S*H, started his career with the Very Little Theater, one of the few self-sustaining, non-funded community theaters in America. Just two years out of high school, this Peoria, IL native was offered $200 for three months’ work as a member of the California Shakespeare Festival in Santa Clara. He stayed until 1969, playing such roles as King Lear, Polonius and Richard III. He appeared in "The Mikado," "The Royal Hunt of the Sun," "The Caucasian Chalk Circle," "An Enemy of the People," "Man’s a Man" and "Marat/Sade." Following his stint in California, Stiers was accepted at Juilliard, where he studied drama. Part of his education included voice training, both speech and singing. While still at Juilliard, the dramatic baritone narrated and conducted portions of Saint-Saens’ "The Carnival of Animals" at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. He also played the Devil in Stravinsky’s "L’Histoir du Soldat." Stiers’ stage credits include stints with the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop, the Committee Revue and American Hurrah Theatre. On Broadway, Stiers created Feldman the Magnificent in "The Magic Show." He appeared in "Ulysses in Nighttown" and starred with John Houseman’s City Center Acting Company in "Three Sisters," "Beggar’s Opera," "Measure for Measure" and "Scapino." Stiers has performed in major roles with the Old Globe Theatre Festival in San Diego, appearing in "Measure for Measure," "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Tempest," "King Lear," "Henry IV, Part II," "The Rivals," and the title role in "Billy Bishop Goes to War." In 1984, he directed the Globe’s award-winning production of "Scapino." For his work on M*A*S*H as the pompous Major Winchester, Stiers received two Emmy nominations. Stiers’ Winchester took over the function of his predecessor Larry Linville’s Frank Burns in that he was there to serve as a relatively "straight" foil to the wacky goings-on of the other doctors on M*A*S*H. However, Charles was considerably smarter than Frank and better able to both defend himself and launch formidable attacks of his own. Other television performances include "The First Modern Olympics," "The Innocents Abroad," "The Day The Bubble Burst," "My Luke and I," "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," "Anatomy of an Illness," "The Bad Seed," "Mrs. Delafield Wants To Marry," "Hoover," several "Perry Mason" telefilms, "How to Murder a Millionaire" and appearances on the series "Murder, She Wrote," "The Practice," "Ally McBeal," "Love & Money," "Bull" and a featured role in the sitcom "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place." On television, he also appeared as himself in "The Making of Mash," (1981), "Memories of M*A*SH" (1991) and the Fox two-hour special "M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Reunion," (May, 2002) which reunited cast members and producers. In demand for narration of numerous television documentaries, among others Stiers narrated the mini-series "MacArthur" and "New York: A Documentary Film." In films, Stiers debuted in "Drive, He Said," and appeared in "Oh, God." His other many film credits include "The Cheap Detective." "Magic," "Harry’s War," "Creator," "Better Off Dead," "The Accidental Tourist," "Krippendorf’s Tribe," Woody Allen’s "Another Woman," "Mighty Aphrodite,"and "Shadows and Fog." He provided the narration and voice of Cogsworth the clock for Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast," a role that seemed to call upon the better aspects of Winchester. He subsequently provided the voices of both the greedy Governor Ratcliffe and his sidekick Wiggins in Disney’s "Pocahontas" and the Archdeacon in Disney’s "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Stiers is also a noted conductor of classical music, guest conducting for the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago symphony orchestras. |
