Stevenson (1927-1996) played the good-natured and just a little dim Lt. Col. Henry Blake, who put up with Hawkeye and Trapper’s zany hijinks with aplomb. Then it was announced that Blake was being returned stateside. Happily he packed, and off he went. Then Radar announced to a stunned O.R. that Blake had been lost in plane crash.
I’ve read that Stevenson was feeling stifled in the role, that he wanted a movie career, wanted more money, etc. I’ve also read that his character was killed off as an “f.u.” by the producers, who wanted to foreclose any possibility of Blake returning to the 4077th.
What’s the Straight Dope?
P.S. for political junkies: Stevenson was the grandson of the first Adlai Stevenson, Grover Cleveland’s vice president (served 1893-1897), and a second cousin of the Adlai Stevenson who was the Democratic presidential candidate in 1952 and 1956.
The only other explanation I can conceive of is that since MASH was originally based on the folks at a real MASH in the Korean war, Blake’s death may have mirrored a real-life incident. Just a WAG, though.
From what I remember, NBC (in one of the great strategic moves that made them the number three network for nearly a decade) courted Stevenson to come over to their network to headline his own series. He did and the show quickly flopped. (This, BTW, was not the infamous “Hello Larry” but another sitcom titled “The McLean Stevenson Show”. Stevenson did “Hello Larry” for NBC after briefly going back to CBS to play a priest in another very-short-lived sitcom.)
I’m pretty sure Stevenson didn’t leave for a movie career.
Linville reportedly left because he thought his character was rather one-note and not being permitted to grow the way the other characters were. Or so I heard.
On the subject of his family, he was independently wealthy through inheritance from both of his parents (but particularly, as memory serves, through his mother) which allowed him the liberty of leaving a hit show.
BTW, sometimes I’ve read that Linville and Stevenson were stupid (as were Shelley Long, Sally Struthers, etc.) for leaving a hit series that ran for years after they left. Personally I think it was their departures that allowed the show to run for several years more- not that they were bad, but new characters brought new dynamics and plotlines and kept the show fresh. (David Ogden Stiers [who I was stunned to learn is straight] was definitely an upgrade from Linville while Harry Morgan was at least the equal of Stevenson [though never funnier than in his first appearance as the nutcase general].)
For some reason I was under the impression that the show wasn’t meant to revolve around Hawkeye but Alan Alda just came in and took over with his great abilities (I think he’s a terriffic comic actor with impeccable timing). Stevenson was frustrated and wanted out. He wanted to be a “star” of a sitcom, so he went to NBC who offered him that.
Can anyone else back this up? I think I read it on a MASH site.
Huh. It never occurred to me that Stiers even might be gay.
Anyway, Stevenson has his own chapter in Kevin Allman’s TV Turkeys, documenting the worst of television. It’s a good Cecil-ish read.
