McLean Stevenson

Edgar McLean Stevenson Jr. (November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake in the television series M*A*S*H, which earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1974. Stevenson also appeared on a number of television series, notably The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Doris Day Show.

McLean Stevenson
Stevenson in M*A*S*H (1972)
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.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California, U.S.
Other names	Mac
Education	Northwestern University
Occupation	Actor, comedian
Years active	1962–1993
Spouse(s)	Polly Ann Gordon ​ ( m. 1957; div. 1960) Louise Herbert ​ ( m. 1969; div. 1971) Ginny Fosdick ( m. 1980)

Early life and career

Stevenson was born in Normal, Illinois. He was the great-grandson of William Stevenson (brother of US Vice President Adlai E. Stevenson), making him a second cousin once removed of two-time presidential nominee Adlai E. Stevenson II. He was also the brother of actress Ann Whitney. His father, Edgar, was a cardiologist. Their shared middle name, "McLean," came from Edgar Sr.'s mother, Lottie McLean.

Stevenson attended Lake Forest Academy and later joined the United States Navy. After his service he attended Northwestern University, where he was a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brother, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in theater arts.[1] Afterward he worked at a radio station, played a clown on a live TV show in Dallas, became an assistant athletic 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, Stevenson's cousin invited him to social functions where he met a few 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. Before becoming a star, Stevenson appeared as a contestant on the Password television game show in New York City, winning five pieces of luggage.[2] After this he appeared in New York City on stage, and in television[3] commercials. He also performed on Broadway, and 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, performing occasionally on both shows. He also was a regular on the 1970 The Tim Conway Comedy Hour variety show on CBS. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he also appeared in TV commercials for products such as Kellogg's, Libby's fruit cocktail, Dolly Madison and 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

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

After guest-starring in 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 persuaded to play Lt. Col. Henry Blake instead. This role shot him to stardom. He wrote the episode "The Trial of Henry Blake," and provided the story for another, "The Army-Navy Game," which earned him an Emmy nomination.

Stevenson found his greatest success in M*A*S*H. The series quickly became one of the most popular situation comedies of its time, and was eventually recognized as one of the top sitcoms in television history. Despite the show's success, Stevenson began to resent (as did Wayne Rogers) playing a supporting role 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 1974–1975 season (entitled "Abyssinia, Henry",) 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.[4]

In an interview, M*A*S*H actor Loretta Swit commented that Stevenson wanted to be the star and felt oppressed as one of an ensemble of eight. She 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."[5] 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 cast and crew on location,[6] and the more lucrative opportunities presented to him at the time.[7]

Stevenson was replaced in the series by Harry Morgan, a friend of Stevenson who had guest-starred opposite him in the Season Three premiere episode "The General Flipped at Dawn." Morgan portrayed Colonel Sherman Potter for the show's remaining eight seasons and starred in its short-lived spin-off AfterMASH.[8]

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 weekly syndicated version. In 1981, he became a regular panelist on the daily syndicated version of Match Game, staying with the show until its cancellation a year later. He 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, most of them lasting no more than 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, and all aired while M*A*S*H was still in production. Stevenson guest-starred as Stan Zbornak's brother Ted in 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), and Hollywood Squares. He filled in for Johnny Carson as guest host of The Tonight Show 58 times, and as a guest on the program in 1982, he brought his daughter Lindsey onto the set when she was just 16 weeks old.[9] During the 1988–89 television season, he returned to a supporting TV role in an ensemble, playing Max Kellerman in the short-lived CBS series adaptation of Dirty Dancing.

Stevenson's dramatic career decline resulted in his becoming a target for industry jokes. One television critic wrote that he had "worn out his television welcome", while another created "The Annual McLean Stevenson Memorial 'I'm Gonna Quit This Show and Become a Big Star' Award." Stevenson commented in 1990 that some of the criticism was justified, conceding that leaving M*A*S*H was the biggest mistake of his career.[4] "I made the mistake of believing that people were enamored of McLean Stevenson when the person they were enamored of was Henry Blake", said Stevenson. "So if you go and do The McLean Stevenson Show, nobody cares about McLean Stevenson."[4] Stevenson admitted that his problem was finding something of the caliber of M*A*S*H, saying "I've never been able to work with a group that's as talented or scripts that are as good. I did some terrible shows. But nobody made me do it. I did everything by choice."[10]

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 at the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center on February 15, 1996, when he suffered a sudden fatal heart attack.[11][12] He is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Stevenson died one day before actor Roger Bowen, who portrayed Lt. Colonel Henry Blake in the 1970 movie MASH and also died from a heart attack.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	My Wives Jane	Dirk Bennett	TV movie
1971	The Christian Licorice Store	Smallwood
1971	Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones	Minister	TV movie
1972	This Week in Nemtim	N/A	TV movie
1973	Shirts/Skins	Doctor Benny Summer	TV movie
1975	Win, Place or Steal	Mr. Hammond
1978	The Cat from Outer Space	Link
1982	The Astronauts	Colonel Michael C. Booker	TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969–1971	The Doris Day Show	Michael Nicholson	33 episodes
1969	That Girl	Mr. McKorkle	Episode: "My Sister's Keeper"
1970	The Tim Conway Comedy Hour	N/A	Episode: "#1.9"
1971	Love, American Style	Lt. Miller	Episode: "Love and the Penal Code"
1971	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	George Caldwell	Episode: "One Lonely Step"
1972	Insight	Mr. McAdams	Episode: "The System"
1972–1975	M*A*S*H	Lt. Colonel Henry Blake	71 episodes
1973–1981	Match Game	Himself	Game Show Participant / Celebrity Guest Star
1975	Cher	Lt. Colonel Henry Blake	Episode: "#8.22"
1976–1977	The McLean Stevenson Show	Mac Ferguson	12 episodes
1978	In the Beginning	Father Daniel M. Cleary	9 episodes
1979–1980	Hello, Larry	Larry Alder	38 episodes
1979	Diff'rent Strokes	Larry Alder	3 episodes
1981	The Love Boat	Bob Crawford	Episode: "A Model Marriage"
1983	The Love Boat	Captain Donahue	Episode: "The Captain's Replacement"
1983	Condo	James Kirkridge	13 episodes
1984	Hotel	Harry Gilford	Episode: "Reflections"
1984	The Love Boat	Michael Borden	Episode: "The Buck Stops Here"
1986	Tall Tales & Legends	Andrew Jackson	Episode: "Davy Crockett"
1987	The Golden Girls	Dr. Theodore 'Ted' Zbornak	Episode: "Brotherly Love"
1988	Mathnet	Mike Pliers	Episode: "The Case of the Deceptive Data"
1988	Square One TV	Mike Pliers	3 episodes
1988–1989	Dirty Dancing	Max Kellerman	11 episodes
1993	Tales of the City	Booter Manigault	2 episodes, (final appearance)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1973	25th Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy	M*A*S*H	Nominated
1974	31st Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Television Series		Won
	26th Primetime Emmy Awards	Best Supporting Actor in Comedy		Nominated
		Best Writing in Comedy		Nominated
1975	27th Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series		Nominated

References

1. Times, Los Angeles. "MCLEAN STEVENSON, HENRY BLAKE ON 'M*A*S*H'". Sun-Sentinel.com. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
2. Password Plus (All-Star week with Vicki Lawrence, Carol Burnett, Joanna Gleason, and McLean Stevenson) (Television production). March 14, 1980.
3. Stevenson sings in a Ford Motor Company TV commercial entitled "Ford Has Changed." He's in the rear of the singing quartet, first on the left.
4. Oliver, Myrna (February 17, 1996). "McLean Stevenson; Played Lt. Col. Blake in Early MASH". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
5. Loretta Swit (August 13, 2004). Emmy TV Legends: Loretta Swit Interview (Interview with Gary Rutkowski). Beverly Hills, California: Archive for American Television.
6. Reiss, David S. (1980). M*A*S*H: The Exclusive, Inside Story of TV's Most Popular Show. Indianapolis / New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0-672-52656-5.
7. Evanier, Mark (May 14, 2013). "Mac". News From Me. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
8. Teigland, Jonathan (7 December 2011). "Remembering 'M*A*S*H' Star Harry Morgan". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
9. Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earl (2003). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present (8th ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 1214. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
10. Corey, Mary (November 12, 1990). "Life after M*A*S*H: McLean Stevenson reflects on his roller-coaster career 15 years since leaving hit series". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
11. "'MASH' star McLean Stevenson dies". CNN. February 16, 1996. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
12. Sherman, D. (2016). M.A.S.H. FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Best Care Anywhere. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-4950-6379-4. Retrieved November 11, 2018.

External links

• McLean Stevenson on IMDb
• McLean Stevenson at Find a Grave