Lawrence Lavon "Larry" Linville

 Lawrence Lavon "Larry" Linville (September 29, 1939 – April 10, 2000)

He was best known for his portrayal of the surgeon Major Frank Burns in the television series M*A*S*H. Before his five-year co-starring role on M*A*S*H, Linville had guest-starring roles on many of the well-known TV series of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Included in his credits in that period are one appearance each on Bonanza; Room 222 and Adam-12. He had three appearances, as three different characters, on Mission: Impossible over three seasons of that TV series. After M*A*S*H, Linville starred or appeared in many films and TV programs. He was a guest-star on many television shows, most frequently Murder, She Wrote; Fantasy Island; The Love Boat; The FBI Story; and CHiPs. He also appeared on episodes of Airwolf (he played Maxwell in "And A Child Shall Lead") and The Rockford Files, and appeared in the 1981 television movie The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite. He also played a stock character—the "Crazy General"—along with Edward Winter in the pilot episode of Misfits of Science. He also co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Grandpa Goes to Washington with Jack Albertson. He also had roles in many films, including School Spirit (1985), Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989), Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever (1991), A Million to Juan (1994) and No Dessert, Dad, till You Mow the Lawn (1994). In 1997 he joined Larry Gelbart (the producer and creator of M*A*S*H) and David Ogden Stiers (who played Frank Burns' replacement on the show, Major Charles Winchester) to attend a deactivation ceremony for the last remaining U.S. MASH unit in Korea. After doctors found a malignant tumor under his sternum, Linville underwent surgery in February 1998 to remove part of his lung.

He received further treatment, but had continuing health problems over the next two years. Linville died of pneumonia in New York City on April 10, 2000, after complications from cancer surgery. He was 60 years old.