Bio
David Ogden Stiers was an American actor, voice actor and musician, best known for his roles as Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III in the television sitcom M*A*S*H (1977-1983), and as Rev. Gene Purdy in the sci-fi drama The Dead Zone, from 2002-2007.
He was born in Peoria, Illionois.
David began acting in northern California and moved from there to New York City, he joined John Houseman's The Acting Company once he'd arrived.
An early television appearance was in the role of Mel Price on the Mary Tyler Moore Show. The character of Mel was the station manager.
He joined the cast of M*A*S*H in 1977. Many saw the character of Winchester as a replacement for Larry Linville's character Frank Burns, and he proved to be another thorn in the side of Hawkeye Pierce and B.J. Hunnicutt. Stiers appeared in the show until the end of the series run.
A memorable cameo for Stiers was as a toupee-wearing television executive in the 1978 horror/mystery film Magic starring Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margaret.
Other cameos included an appearance in the CBS series Touched by an Angel in 2003, in which he played the part of Satan in the form of a lawyer.
He provided his voice to many Disney features: he was the voice of Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1991), a dual role as Sir John Ratcliffe and his lackey Wiggins in Pocahontas, he was also the Archdeacon in Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and the voice of Dr. Jumba Jookiba in Lilo & Stitch (2002).
In 2005 he was the voice of Nicky Flippers in the release of Hoodwinked.
Other voice work included the character of Mr Jolly in Disney's Teacher's Pet TV series (2000 to 2002), and the subsequent feature film of the same name.
David was the voice of Kamaji in the English-language version of the Academy Award winning film, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away in 2001.
He provided narration for various episodes of PBS's Nova science series.
After a minor voice role in the computer game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, he took the role of Esher in Uru's successor, Myst V: End of Ages. Stiers played the voice and face of Esher, and his face was mapped onto the 3D character.
He was the voice of the Narrator in the computer game Icewind Dale, which was released in 2000.
In 2006, he reprised the role as Cogsworth in the Square-Enix/Disney video game Kingdom Hearts II.
Other television roles included that of a congressman in the North and South mini-series with Patrick Swayze, as well as the amiable mayor of Grady opposite Michael J. Fox in Doc Hollywood.
He was also John Cusack's flustered father in the cult movie, Better Off Dead.
He was cast in a short-lived CBS comedy in 1999, Love and Money, as Nicholas Conklin, a belligerent billionaire with a personality very similar to that of his M*A*S*H role, Major Winchester.
Other guest starring roles included: Star Trek: The Next Generation in the episode titled "Half a Life", Matlock episodes "Blind Justice" and "The Ambassador", and an ALF episode. He played three different characters on different seasons of Murder, She Wrote.
In August 2006, he guest-starred in the TV series Stargate Atlantis. He played the character Oberoth, the leader of a technologically advanced civilization.
Stiers died at his home in Newport, Oregon, on 3 March, 2018, at the age of 75, from complications related to bladder cancer.