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Edgar McLean Stevenson Jr. (November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant 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, The Doris Day Show and ''Match Game.
Stevenson attended Bloomington High School and Lake Forest Academy. After high school, he joined the United States Navy, and served from January 1946 to November 1947 as a hospital corpsman. 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.
Stevenson 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. After this he appeared in New York City on stage, and in televisionStevenson 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. commercials. He also performed on Broadway theatre, and began to establish himself as a comedy writer, writing for the American version of That Was the Week That Was—in which Alan Alda appeared—and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, performing occasionally on both shows. He was a regular on the 1970 The Tim Conway Comedy Hour variety show on CBS.
During the late '60s and early '70s, he 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".
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.
In an interview, M*A*S*H actress 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." Although he had played ensemble parts for several years, he 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, and the more lucrative opportunities presented to him at the time.
Stevenson was replaced in the series by Harry Morgan, a best 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.
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. 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 screen credits include the Disney movie The Cat from Outer Space as a friend of 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.
Stevenson's career decline saw him become a target for industry ridicule. Steve Daley wrote in 1985 that he had "worn out his television welcome", while David Bianculli drafted "The Annual McLean Stevenson Memorial 'I'm Gonna Quit This Show and Become a Big Star' Award" early in his career as a critic.
Stevenson considered leaving M*A*S*H the biggest mistake of his career. 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."
Roger Bowen, who portrayed Henry Blake in the 1970 movie M*A*S*H, died of a heart attack the day after Stevenson's death.
| TV movie |
| TV movie |
| TV movie |
| TV movie |
| TV movie |
| 33 episodes |
| Episode: "My Sister's Keeper" |
| Episode: "#1.9" |
| Episode: "Love and the Penal Code" |
| Episode: "One Lonely Step" |
| Episode: "The System" |
| 71 episodes |
| Episode: #4.17 - February 21, 1974 |
| Game Show Participant / Celebrity Guest Star |
| Episode: "#8.22" |
| NBC variety show special, 1 episode |
| 12 episodes |
| 9 episodes |
| 38 episodes |
| 3 episodes |
| Episode: "A Model Marriage" |
| Episode: "The Captain's Replacement" |
| 13 episodes |
| Episode: "Reflections" |
| Episode: "The Buck Stops Here" |
| Episode: "Davy Crockett" |
| Episode: "Brotherly Love" |
| Episode: "The Case of the Deceptive Data" |
| 3 episodes |
| 11 episodes |
| 2 episodes, (final appearance) |
| 1973 | 25th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy | ||
| 1974 | 31st Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Television Series | ||
| 26th Primetime Emmy Awards | Best Supporting Actor in Comedy | |||
| Best Writing in Comedy | ||||
| 1975 | 27th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | ||
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