An audiophile has died: David Ogden Stiers

Vintage999

Active Member
David Ogden Stiers has died from colon cancer. Stiers was a true audiophile and music lover.

Unlike so many tv stars, Stiers did not crave attention nor did he try to focus the spotlight on himself. I first met David in the early 1990s at the Chicago CES. He was in the Lineaum room checking out the speakers. He had an old fishing cap pulled down on his face and a turtle neck stretched up to leave a narrow band of flesh with a nose protruding - I could still tell who it was...so I struck a conversation. We became friends.

Not only did David have a fine system, he was a part time conductor of the symphony in Portland, Oregon, of which he was very proud. David was originally from Peoria, Ill. and had maintained some friedships there. He had also spent some time in a little town calledToulon, Ill, which is less than 15 miles from where I live today. In spite of his role in M.A.S.H., he was never pretentious and was happy to just chat about anything with anyone - but he loved his music.

After I became super ill in 2009, he was diagnosed with cancer...we stopped communicating for the most part. Now that he is gone, I find myself with so many things that I could have said...
 
I never knew he was a fellow audiophile, but he did lots of theater work at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego during the 80's. I once had a brief chat with him once or twice and I would agree with you he wasn't the least bit pretentious. He really knew his Shakespeare. Thank you David for the excellent acting your did in SD.
RIP

Michael
 
He certainly doesn't sound like the characters he was known for playing.

I guess he was a Good actor RIP
 
A distant cousin I never had the pleasure to meet, you folk make him sound like someone I would've enjoyed talking with... Rest in Peace, David...
 
"I can play the notes, but I cannot make the music" Charles Emerson Winchester III.

A MASH episode about the concert painist whose hand is injured by shrapnel.
The piano score which Winchester gives Sheridan is The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major by Maurice Ravel. The story behind how the piece came to be written is exactly as Winchester recounted it--Ravel wrote it at the behest of an Austrian pianist who lost his right hand during World War I.

RIP DOS.
 
Very sad to hear this. Very much enjoyed his work on MASH and the Perry Mason movies.

RIP, David.
 
His M*A*S*H character was a superb blend with the others. While his character might be described as pompous, it did have its compassionate and caring moments.

R.I.P. Mr. Stiers (aka Major Winchester).
 
About 12 years ago I speculated on what systems various TV personalities might posses. This was the one result http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....haracters-and-their-setups.62298/#post-605691. Charles Emerson Winchester was the character I choose. I did not know anything of Mr. Stiers' personal life at the time, though I knew of his work from *M*A*S*H* obviously, and Star Trek TNG. I know that Charles Winchester the character took music very seriously and his character found solace and peace in it, and that many actors want to express their own passions in their portrayed characters. I did not know, or even suspect that he was such a devote to music in real life, as is readily apparent. He was a talented actor, and apparently in possession of humility and kindness. Surely one of the old guard that wished only to entertain and inform, not just accumulate celebrity. And from what I've since read, a gentleman and scholar. Sorely missed for sure.
 
One of my favorite episodes of MASH (Heal Thyself) let the audiophile out in spades ... part of the conversation between Major Winchester and Colonel Potter as they both were confined with the mumps and getting on each other's nerves ...

(Cue the turntable)

WINCHESTER: Therefore, I shall counter with something civilized-- Caruso.
POTTER: ''En-riko'' Caruso? The singer? Why, yes, I do believe he sings. Nix on that. I hate opera!
WINCHESTER: Colonel, a closed mind is an empty mind. All I ask is that you listen, and I assure you you will be carried away on majestic clouds of musical rapture.
POTTER: [ Caruso Singing In Italian ] - That guy sounds like a banshee in a bear trap.
WINCHESTER: [ Stops ] Sir! This man is one of the giants of serious music.
POTTER: If I want music-- I'll send for my Tex Ritter 78s. If I want a giant, I'll send for Mel Ott!
WINCHESTER: Well, I don't know Mr. Ott's work but cowboy crooners, even one so noteworthy as ol' Tex can hardly be mentioned in the same breath with the immortal Enrico Caruso!
POTTER: Oh, yeah? If you wanna match windpipes, can that Caruso guy yodel? Not even at gunpoint! Yoo-hoo.
 
One of my favorite episodes of MASH (Heal Thyself) let the audiophile out in spades ... part of the conversation between Major Winchester and Colonel Potter as they both were confined with the mumps and getting on each other's nerves ...

(Cue the turntable)

WINCHESTER: Therefore, I shall counter with something civilized-- Caruso.
POTTER: ''En-riko'' Caruso? The singer? Why, yes, I do believe he sings. Nix on that. I hate opera!
WINCHESTER: Colonel, a closed mind is an empty mind. All I ask is that you listen, and I assure you you will be carried away on majestic clouds of musical rapture.
POTTER: [ Caruso Singing In Italian ] - That guy sounds like a banshee in a bear trap.
WINCHESTER: [ Stops ] Sir! This man is one of the giants of serious music.
POTTER: If I want music-- I'll send for my Tex Ritter 78s. If I want a giant, I'll send for Mel Ott!
WINCHESTER: Well, I don't know Mr. Ott's work but cowboy crooners, even one so noteworthy as ol' Tex can hardly be mentioned in the same breath with the immortal Enrico Caruso!
POTTER: Oh, yeah? If you wanna match windpipes, can that Caruso guy yodel? Not even at gunpoint! Yoo-hoo.

Always loved that scene:thumbsup:
 
Aaaahhh, Bach. He was a little stuffy at first, but he grew on you. RIP

It's funny how that 'old school' elegance and gentility comes across in our modern era as being 'stuffy at first' I have friends who worked with David Ogden Stiers in the theater (stage sets and wardrobe) and he was a real gentleman and a pleasure to work with. But yes he did have that collage professor formality some of the time. I don't think he called anyone dude.

Michael
 
Mr Stiers came through the Twin Ports many years ago (don't recall exactly why he was here) and at the time, there was a shop on the far western edge of the city that specialized in used audio equipment. He bought most or all of the inventory and the owner of the shop closed up shop and moved and never resumed the audio gear sales as before. He is still in business but deals mostly in speakers and car audio.
Apparently, in his travels around the country, Mr Stiers bought a lot of audio gear and, I assume, shipped said gear to the coast to be resold. Don't know what happened to it from there but that was the story I was told.
 
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