Larry Linville

Larry Linville was an American actor who became known as Major Frank Burns, the ill-tempered, inept surgeon on the television series MASH. Born in Ojai, California, and raised in Sacramento, he studied aeronautical engineering in Colorado, applied for a scholarship at Britain's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and began acting in repertory at the Barter Theatre, a company in Abingdon, Virginia. His early guest roles included Bonanza, Room 222 and Adam-12 and three appearances as different characters on Mission: Impossible. He was a coroner in the television movie The Night Stalker (1972) and had a small role in Kotch (1971). He signed a five-year contract for MASH in 1972 and declined a two-season renewal at the start of the fifth season, choosing to leave. Later television work included Murder, She Wrote, Fantasy Island and CHiPs, and his films included Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud (1989) and A Million to Juan (1994).