McLean Stevenson

McLean Stevenson
File:McLeanStevensonMG1981.jpg Stevenson as a regular panelist on Match Game, 1981
Born	Edgar McLean Stevenson, Jr. (1927-11-14)November 14, 1927 Normal, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 15, 1996(1996-02-15) (aged 68) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1962–1993
Spouse(s)	Ginny Fosdick (1980-his death); 1 child Carrie Williamson (1949-1979; divorced); 1 child

Edgar McLean Stevenson, Jr. (November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996), better known as McLean Stevenson, was an American actor most recognized for his role as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake on the TV series M*A*S*H. He was also recognized for his role as Michael Nicholson on The Doris Day Show.

Biography

Early life and career

Stevenson was born in Normal, Illinois. He was the great-grandson of William Stevenson, brother of Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson, making him a second cousin once removed of presidential candidate Adlai E. Stevenson II. He was also the brother of actress Ann Whitney. His father, Edgar, was a cardiologist.

He attended Lake Forest Academy and later joined the Navy. After his service, he attended Northwestern University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in theater arts and was a proud and well-liked Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity brother. Afterwards he worked at a radio station, played a clown on a live TV show in Dallas, became an assistant director at Northwestern and sold medical supplies and insurance. He also worked as a press secretary for his cousin in the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956. He formed the "Young Democrats for Stevenson".

In 1961, his cousin invited him to some parties, where he met some business luminaries. He followed his cousin's advice to look for a show business career. He auditioned and won a scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. He made his professional career debut in The Music Man in 1962 and appeared regularly in Warsaw, Indiana, in summer stock productions. After this he appeared in New York on stage and television commercials. He also performed on Broadway. However, he began to establish himself as a comedy writer, writing for the seminal That Was The Week That Was, in which Alan Alda appeared, and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He performed occasionally on both shows. He also was a regular on the 1970 Tim Conway Comedy Hour variety show on CBS. During this period, he also appeared in TV commercials for products such as Winston cigarettes, in which he was shown sprinting around a parking lot of Winston delivery trucks and painting over the product slogan, replacing the "like" in "like a cigarette should" with the grammatically correct "as".

M*A*S*H

File:Edgar.JPG

The handprints of Stevenson in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

After guest-starring on That Girl with Marlo Thomas, he was cast in The Doris Day Show in 1969, playing magazine editor boss Michael Nicholson until 1971. Originally, he auditioned for the role of Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H, but was convinced to play Henry Blake instead. This role shot him to stardom. He eventually wrote the episode "The Trial of Henry Blake", and provided the story for another, "The Army-Navy Game." He received an Emmy nomination for his writing. The series quickly became one of the most popular situation comedies running, and was eventually recognized as one of the top sitcoms in television history. Despite the show's success, Stevenson began chafing (as did Wayne Rogers) at playing second fiddle to the wisecracking Hawkeye (played by Alan Alda), and asked to be released from his contract during the show's third season. The show's writers reluctantly penned him an exit in the final episode of the 1974-75 season, in which Lt. Colonel Blake was discharged, only to board a plane that was shot down over the Sea of Japan, killing everyone on board (a development added after scripts were distributed so the show's actors would display genuine emotion as if they had been truly unaware of that part of the storyline). Stevenson later admitted that leaving M*A*S*H was a mistake, and he was also upset by the fact that his character's death prevented him from returning to the show.

In an interview, M*A*S*H co-star Loretta Swit shed some light on the subject of why Stevenson left the series at the height of its success. She said Stevenson wanted to be number one and felt pushed down as one of an ensemble of eight. Swit said that before Stevenson left the series he told her, "I know I will not be in anything as good as this show, but I have to leave and be number one." Although he had played ensemble parts for several years, he has stated that the primary reasons for his departure were systemic problems with 20th Century Fox, especially disregard for simple comforts for crew and cast on location.

Match Game

Stevenson appeared as a guest panelist for several weeks on Match Game in 1973, and again in 1978 on the daytime and nighttime syndicated version. In 1981, Stevenson became a regular panelist on the Match Game's syndicated version, staying with the show until its cancellation a year later. Stevenson would make occasional appearances on the subsequent Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983 and 1984.

Later career

After his departure from M*A*S*H, Stevenson's acting career began to decline. He starred in a series of sitcoms, none of which lasted more than approximately one season. They included The McLean Stevenson Show (1976–77), In the Beginning (1978), Hello, Larry (1979–80) and Condo (1983). All four sitcoms were dismissed by audiences and lambasted by critics. Stevenson guest-starred as Stan Zbornak's brother Ted on the hit sitcom The Golden Girls in 1987, in addition to guest-starring in shows such as Square One TV, The Love Boat, Diff'rent Strokes (as part of a cross-over with his series Hello, Larry), Hollywood Squares and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on which he guest hosted 58 times. During the 1988-89 season, Stevenson returned to a supporting TV role in an ensemble, playing Max Kellerman in the short-lived CBS series adaptation of Dirty Dancing.

Stevenson's screen credits include the Disney movie The Cat from Outer Space as a friend of Dr. Frank Wilson (played by Ken Berry) along with his M*A*S*H replacement Harry Morgan. He also was a co-host of the syndicated daytime talk show America, which lasted 16 weeks between September 16, 1985 and January 3, 1986.

Death

Stevenson was recovering from bladder cancer surgery in a Los Angeles hospital on February 15, 1996, when he suffered a heart attack and died. M*A*S*H writer Larry Gelbart later said that Stevenson had left too soon twice in one lifetime. In a strange coincidence, the day after Stevenson's death, Roger Bowen, who had played Henry Blake in the film version of MASH, also died of a heart attack.

Stevenson is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife Ginny, daughter Lindsey and son Jeff MacGregor (from a previous marriage).

External links

• McLean Stevenson at IMDb
• McLean Stevenson's Photo & Gravesite
• 'MASH' star McLean Stevenson dies at CNN.com