A Real Moment Between Two M*A*S*H Actors Ended Up In The Show's Finale
More than 50 years after its premiere, "M*A*S*H" is still one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time. The show became a phenomenon across its 11 seasons and bowed out on a high note with a finale that was watched by millions. The show also became so firmly entrenched in the cultural zeitgeist that decades later, viewers are still curious about the cast and the relationships behind the scenes. There have been some great recent reunions in recent years — for one, Mike Farrell and Alan Alda read (and then criticized) an AI-written "M*A*S*H" script earlier this year. Unfortunately, several key "M*A*S*H" castmates have passed away over the years, leaving us to remember them through their work and through memories shared by loved ones and costars.
David Ogden Stiers, who played haughty newcomer Charles Winchester III in the later seasons of "M*A*S*H," passed away in 2018 at the age of 75. Though Stiers didn't remain in the public eye as much as some of his fellow castmates, he continued working throughout his post-"M*A*S*H" life, including shows like "North and South" and "The Dead Zone," and as a voice actor in films including "Beauty and the Beast," "Lilo & Stitch," and "Pocahontas." Stiers was famously private by nature, loved classical music, and came out as gay late in life in 2009. He also formed a unique bond with costar Loretta Swit, whose Margaret Houlihan shared an emotional moment with his Winchester in the show's series finale.
Sonnets From the Portuguese
Since Stiers' passing, Swit has often told a favorite story about her friend, including in a Yahoo interview and a note shared by Alan Alda in memory of the pair's co-star. In the show's famous finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," Winchester and Margaret's relationship is put to the test when he discovers that she pulled strings to get him the job he'd been coveting back in Boston. It's a surprising final bit of conflict, one that's clearly underpinned by the pair's strong emotions about going their separate ways when the war ends. It's resolved sweetly later in the episode, though, when Winchester shares a peace offering -– an inscribed copy of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnets From the Portuguese" that Margaret had borrowed from him earlier.
The book had also been a point of contention for the pair, as Swit noted to The Hollywood Reporter, "A few episodes before, Margaret had borrowed a book of poems from Winchester. He got angry with [her] at one point and made [her] return it." Proud and proper Charles giving away one of his most prized books was already an emotional moment for audiences invested in the pair's friendship, but it was made even lovelier by the fact that Stiers snuck a note in the book for Swit -– one to do with a running joke the pair shared throughout the seasons.
Stiers surprised Swit with a sweet gesture
"I used to tease David all the time that we could never reach him during our hiatuses," Swit told Yahoo earlier this year. "We were all close friends and I adored him, but he was his own person. He would call us! I would tease him about being a lone wolf." Swit, who was famously fast friends with much of the "M*A*S*H" cast and crew and still keeps in touch with most of them to this day, wrote in the note shared by Alda that she teased Stiers, saying "how he couldn't get away with that kind of behavior with this company....no way." According to her, no matter how many "playful pleas" she offered, Stiers wouldn't give out his personal information.
"It became a game," Swit wrote in the note after Stiers' passing. "I'd say things like, 'What if I wanted to invite you to a party? I don't even have your phone number!' And he'd counter with some funny, uppity Winchester remark like 'you're presuming, of course, that I'd attend such a soirée....'" The game went on and on, until it was time to film the pair's farewell scene. "In the final episode Winchester gives Margaret the book back," Swit told THR, recalling, "I open it and read the inscription. David had written his phone number inside." After years spent gently joking with the actor about letting her into his life, Swit got the best goodbye gift she could ask for — a promise to keep in touch.
A touching moment immortalized on screen
"That was my real emotion on camera," Swit told THR. In the written note, she says that she "looked at him, eyes ready to waterfall." The wartime sitcom famously allowed some actors to help shape their characters as the show went on, and that meant that in major moments like this one, the line between fiction and reality was thin. Swit told Yahoo:
"There was so much of all of us in our characters: as Houlihan, I was touched by Winchester giving me that book, and as Loretta, I was touched by my friend David doing that for me. The love and friendship in that reaction was very real."
Swit and Stiers apparently did keep in touch, though in an interview with the website From the Desk, she shared that when he became terminally ill, he mostly stayed in contact with co-star Mike Farrell. "It's hard to explain, but it's a family," Swit said, speaking frankly about the way the cast supports one another even through the loss of their co-stars. "It brings families closer together sometimes because you realize how fragile that thread is that we're hanging onto." When it comes to Swit and Stiers, though, it's easy to see their love for each other even though Stiers is no longer with us. It's right there on the TV screen, in plain sight during one of the finale's most quietly touching moments.