R.I.P. David Ogden Stiers

[fuzzygobo]

Same with "The Jeffersons". Marla Gibbs is the sole survivor.
A few minor characters are still around, but reading the opening credits, she's still the only one still vertical.

 

[Princeton]

I've always had complicated feelings about Stiers. Frank Burns was not only my favorite MASH character but my favorite character in television history, period. So obviously whoever replaced him was going to be at a disadvantage but my God, the Charles character was practically intolerable. Realistically I know that this was due mainly to the producers/writers and by all accounts Stiers was nothing like Charles offscreen but I have a very hard time not seperating them.

So talk about a redemption when he devoted the second part of his career to Disney voice work: Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Atlantis and Lilo and Stitch. And I truly do view this as a redemption because viewing his Disney work is the only time I do not think about Charles.

 

[D'Snowth]

I can tolerate both Frank and Charles in moderation: they both can be genuinely unlikabe characters, but whereas Frank is the kind of character you love to hate because of what a weasely little twerp he was, Charles often went out of his way to be unlikable since he felt everyone else in camp was beneath him in terms of smarts, wits, and skills. Likewise, both characters also occasionally had their human moments as well . . . in the case of Charles, there was when he confides in Hawkeye about the relationship (or lack thereof) he had with his father, or how the death of the Chinese musicians ended up turning him off classical music for the rest of his life after it had been his refuge in Korea since he'd been there.

But one thing I enjoy about Charles is his so-called "Boston Bull." Stiers had a way of delivering his dialogue - particularly when speaking fondly of life back home in Boston - in such a dry and sardonic way, that it made it so unintentionally funny.

 

[snichols1973]

He also voiced the narrator in Springtime with Roo, and Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie.

You will be missed, but not forgotten.

R.I.P. Mr. Stiers...

 

[snichols1973]

Same with "The Jeffersons". Marla Gibbs is the sole survivor.
A few minor characters are still around, but reading the opening credits, she's still the only one still vertical.

And with Jim Nabors' passing, Ron Howard, Jack Burns and Betty Lynn (who played Opie, Warren Ferguson, and Thelma Lou) are among the remaining regular cast members from The Andy Griffith Show, even though Warren only lasted for one season...

 

[ErinAardvark]

Mr. Stiers was in a two part episode of "ALF." The episode was called "Turkey in the Straw," and he played a homeless person. It's actually one of my favorite episodes.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Oh wow, I saw yesterday that the guy that voiced all those Disney characters had died, and then today I saw that the guy that played Charles on MASH had died. It took me a little while to piece together that both were the same guy .
Very sad, indeed. As soon as someone mentions any of his characters I immediately hear their voices in my head, just as vividly as if I was actually watching the movies.
I always liked Major Charles more than Frank. I know both were meant to be unlikable, but I always thought the warmness of David often shown through, even in moments where i'm supposed to hate Charles, there's something about the actor that feels very warm.

 

[fuzzygobo]

That is the difference. For all his arrogance, snobbery, and bellyaching, there is a hint of humanity in Charles that shone through.
Frank at best was just a sniveling mess.

 

[D'Snowth]

True, but again, both often went out of their way to be unlikable jerks to the rest of the camp . . . but the difference is the intention.

Frank was a really messed up person, mentally and psychologically, he really didn't know how to be a decent person because he grew up in an abusive house, with a brother who always picked on him and called him names, and a father who "pretended to like him." No wonder he's such a momma's boy, because his mother was apparently the only one in the family who treated him well. Frank's social and people skills were tragically skewed.

Charles, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with anyone else in camp, mainly because he didn't even want to be there (nor did anyone else for that matter), and as he said himself, he'd blot everything out of his memory as it happened, because he knew he'd never be able to forget them, nor the people. He had an aristocratic upbringing, and expected the finest things in life - he saw everyone else in camp as being completely beneath them, and as such, he wouldn't form any kind of bond with any of them because he had no use for them.

And yet, both were strangely drawn to Margaret, for different reasons. Margaret was clearly just a plaything for Frank; and it was clear the writers tried to make Charles her new love interest in the beginning, but thankfully they steered away from that direction.

 

[Princeton]

1. Margaret was the love of Frank's life and I loved how when Margaret was breaking down her ideal man into percentages, she included Frank. And one of my favorite Margaret lines is "In some ways, Donald is no Frank Burns." .Moments like that prove in Technicolor that there was lots more to Frank than being a ferret face.
2. Most of the examples of Charles' "humility" were in the last season which looks to me like 'too little too late', which in a way is equal to Frank being one note. And while we're on that, I keep hearing 'one note' in regards to Frank and I don't think thats very fair. The Frank character is what made the show work, he served as a balance between Henry's ineffectiveness and Hawkeyes shenanigans and later martyrdom.