Larry Linville. Your thoughts.

[Yong Fang]

According to his Wiki page and people who knew him said that he was a kind, friendly person, and he was friends with the cast, and was best friends with Gary Burghoff.

Linville stated that he came up with the character by knowing all the SOB's and jerks in his real life and putting it in the character.

I have also heard that when he became annoyed or anxious (as we all do under work and normal stress) that he would somewhat act like Frank Burns. High, squeaky voice and he would get anxious. Probably not as bad as frank, but Frank's funnier personas was part of the real man.

Did you or anyone in your family who thought Linville was cute or hot?

Would Frank have been better played if he was a good doctor who could compete with the other two on the operating table but was Frank outside of it? I think a more intelligent Frank in the OR could have made better scenes with Alda. Charles kind of fit that scenerio in the 6th season, but he softened up and became a team player (sort of) in the end.

It seems that Linville had an interest in aviation and building aircraft. My father was an airline pilot who did the same things. If Linville was a total failure as an actor, he would have been an engineer. He liked to build things.

He has one daughter, who was a photo technician in Los Angeles somewhere. I wonder what happened to her?

Is there a film or TV show where he did not play an antagonist character? I have read that he played a cop on a TV show in the 1960's and there were other roles as Linville not as Frank. It seems unfortunately for him that later roles after MASH were him playing Frank like characters. Then he died at the relatively young age of 60 of cancer. The poor man had surgery before and still died.

Larry Linville stories, please share.

[biffbronson]

I've seen his episodes of Bonanza, Cannon, and if I remember correctly Mission Impossible. In each case he played a straightforward, capapble character -- certainly nothing at all like Burns. Usually he was one of the good guys and while not an exceptionally strong presence, certainly he could hold his own it seemed.

By all accounts he was a very likeable guy -- and a very good actor. Really sad that he's no longer with us.

[Marvo301]

I read somewhere that Larry left M*A*S*H because all the characters were growing and changing except Frank who was incapable of changing. So the show basically outgrew his character.

[Miss Lisa]

Originally Posted by Marvo301

I read somewhere that Larry left M*A*S*H because all the characters were growing and changing except Frank who was incapable of changing. So the show basically outgrew his character.

I was actually some what glad that he left at the point he did. Hawkeye had matured a little, Margaret wasn't hotlips any more since she was engaged. It seemed like the original cast, the one that he had fit in with wasn't really there anymore and it made him out to be more of a two dimensional character rather than an actual person.

It's disappointing really, it's like the writers just figured that he was the character that they didn't need to pay that much attention to. You would think without Margaret there to boost his ego every few minutes that he would have a lot of room to grow and change, even if they were slight changes.

[gogxmagog]

I heard he had a clandestine "thing" with Paul Lynde. Totally "in the closet" of course.

[jehobden]

I remember a May 1980 Fantasy Island episode where Larry Linville played one of the protagonists, a man who wanted to "make things happen". Mr. Roarke gave him telekinetic powers, and somehow as a result got mixed up with a bad woman (played by Carol Lynley in one of her many FI appearances) who ended up with a couple bad guys and kidnapped his wife (played by Julie Sommars). I read a 1978 TV Guide Teletype item recently where he stated that he was getting lots of offers to play Frank Burns on The Love Boat and several other shows, and he turned them down because he said if he wanted to keep playing Frank, he would have stayed on M*A*S*H.

[Samme]

He and Gary Burghoff gave the best performances on the show and seemingly worked the hardest. He also deserves credit because he stayed true to the character and didn't insist he become more likable. Alan Alda started out good on the show, but Larry Linville stayed good.

[caladon]

I've always thought that it would've been interesting to have an episode centered around Frank in his final season where he actually had an epiphany. Similar to the episode where Hawkeye is injured and spends the episode with a Korean family. Frank finds himself in a situation where inspite of his usual behavior he is shown kindess by a Korean who only wants to help him and wants nothing in return; and at the end of the episode he doesn't do a 180 in his personality, but his experience obviously gives him something to think about in relation to how he views people and things.

[Doug-oh]

They could've done many things with Frank's character.
Look how the writers changed Hot Lips.

Lineville did an admirable job & helped keep the show humorous.

[Doug-oh]

Originally Posted by caladon

I've always thought that it would've been interesting to have an episode centered around Frank in his final season where he actually had an epiphany. Similar to the episode where Hawkeye is injured and spends the episode with a Korean family. Frank finds himself in a situation where inspite of his usual behavior he is shown kindess by a Korean who only wants to help him and wants nothing in return; and at the end of the episode he doesn't do a 180 in his personality, but his experience obviously gives him something to think about in relation to how he views people and things.

I've had similar thoughts.
Perhaps he could've gone out of the show in a heroic way, like giving his life to save others.

[Babalu]

Frank Burns was portrayed as simple-minded, inferior, petty and ultra-patriotic. In the world of Hollywood, patriotic is bad, ultra-patriotic is worse. His character became boring. People above that wanted him to change and become 'good' - meaning liberal minded like Alda etc. - have swallowed the Kool-Aid. At least Winchester was portrayed as an equal as a surgeon.

[gopyle]

I thought Mr. Linville did a nice job as Frank Burns. The show really lost something when he left.

[scrapple]

At the MASH reunion show (after Larry died), the the writers admitted that the only character they never let grow was Frank. They said they considered it, but it was too tempting to let him get the laughs.

The only scene we got to see into Frank was his last scene, where Margaret goes off in a helicopter with her new husband. Everybody is there to see her off, but then only Frank is left saying softly, Goodbye, Margaret.

[Yong Fang]

I am the OP and in the famous scene where Radar tells the operating crew that Henry's plane was shot down and him killed, Burns was stunned and showed real emotion with everyone else.

The most intelligent thing Frank said was about the dark, and saying that there is nothing in the dark which cannot be seen in the light.

[Race's Girl]

Frank was a total SOB