Larry Linville

American actor known for his portrayal of the surgeon Major Frank Burns on the war comedy drama television series M*A*S*H from 1972 to 1977.

Raised in Sacramento, he attended El Camino High School and later studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder before applying for a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

After returning to the United States, Linville began his acting career at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, a year-round repertory theater under director Robert Porterfield.

Before his five-year co-starring role on M*A*S*H, Linville had guest-starring roles on many of the well-known television series of the late 1960s and early 1970s. After M*A*S*H, he starred or appeared in many films and television series.

He was married five times, including once to Kate Geer (daughter of actor Will Geer and sister of actress Ellen Geer), with whom he had a daughter, Kelly Linville (born 1970), before they divorced. Kelly was his only child.

Larry Linville died of pneumonia at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City at age 60 on 10 April 2000 after complications from cancer surgery.