M*A*S*H star Linville dies

Larry Linville as Frank Burns (left) with Major Houlihan. Beeson Carroll as Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott is centre

Actor Larry Linville, best known as the whining surgeon Major Frank Burns in the long-running US TV series M*A*S*H, has died aged 60.

Linville, who had a cancerous lung removed in 1998, died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, after being admitted suffering from pneumonia.

The actor's long-time manager Larry M Greenberg said: "He was wonderfully refreshing and irreverent but always a very talented and professional guy. He took this cancer thing better than anybody I've ever seen."

Famous for screen affair

Linville, who came from Ojai in California, had been living in New York and is survived by his wife, Deborah.

Linville was a original member of the comic drama series M*A*S*H - about a field hospital unit in Korea during the 1950s war - which ran from 1972 to 1983.

As Major Burns, he became famous for his affair with head nurse Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, played by Loretta Swit.

"My scenes with Loretta were quite extraordinary because we were a team," Linville said in an interview with CBS radio.

"We were Mutt and Jeff, Roadrunner and Coyote, whatever, we were a proper pair."

Much of the show's early action revolved around the antics of tent-mates Burns, Hawkeye Pierce - played by Alan Alda - and Trapper John McIntyre - played by Wayne Rogers.

Hawkeye and Trappper were the unit's best doctors and Burns became the foil to their relentless jokes.

Cult following

Their humour at his expense centred around heaping practical jokes on their hapless colleague, as part of their efforts to keep sane while working close to the front lines.

M*A*S*H, which grew out of the movie of the same name, acquired a cult following over its 11 years in production with its irreverent blend of comedy and political commentary.

But the show also took on serious topics of war and bloodshed, often seemingly more relevant to the Vietnam War than the conflict in Korea.

Linville left M*A*S*H in 1977. He went on to guest star on numerous television series and had roles in Grandpa Goes to Washington, Checking In and Paper Dolls.