M*A*S*H star David Ogden Stiers has come out as gay - after years of fearing he would be denied roles because of his sexuality.

The actor first tasted fame as Major Charles Winchester on the hit TV comedy before finding steady work as a voice actor in several Disney projects, including Beauty And The Beast and Pocahontas. But throughout his career, he was warned he risked losing work if he came out as a gay man.

He tells the Gossip Boy blog, "From the late 1980s until about seven or eight years ago, you would find certain individuals coming up to you, me, and advocating the position that since we were doing family fare that it would be best were the actors to maintain a certain palatability to parents. These parties likely had heard rumors or harbored suspicions about me and wanted to make sure no embarrassing incidents were forthcoming."

But he insists his reasons for coming out now, at the age of 66, have nothing to do with his profession - he wants to find a life partner. Stiers adds: "I could claim noble reasons as coming out in order to move gay rights forward, but I must admit it is for far more selfish reasons. Now is the time I wish to find someone and I do not desire to force any potential partner to live a life of extreme discretion for me." (PAW/WNWC/ZN)

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