Even Larry Linville hated Frank Burns

Linville had what it took to portray a real louse.

Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution

Few things in media are more satisfying than a good bad guy. These are the characters we love to hate. The real heels keep us invested. Sure, ultimately, we want the hero to win. But heroes are nothing without something to fight against. That's why villains are just so entertaining. Who would Batman be without the Joker? He'd be a lot less interesting, we can tell you that much.

On M*A*S*H, the 4077th had few more dastardly than that crabby Maj. Frank Burns. He drove everyone nuts. Somebody had to be the butt of Hawkeye's jokes, and Burns fit the bill to a tee, with his uptight jobsworth attitude.

As it turns out, Burns' brothers-in-arms weren't alone in disliking the character. Larry Linville, the guy who played him, wasn't a fan of Frank Burns either!

"Frank is the type of character I personally despise," Linville told The Shreveport Journal in 1975.

"It's a matter of ego but I think I'm doing a service by delineating this type of person. You know, so you'll be able to recognize him."

If Linville taught us how to identify a Burns type, Alan Alda showed us how to put him in his place.

"I think Frank's worst side is his hypocrisy," Linville continued. "He's almost human but not quite. He has all the elements— he's intelligent because after all he did get through med school, and he does have sensitivity. But somewhere it all went wrong. I think there are some interesting references to his mother from time to time. Anyway, he's almost a person."

That kind of pathos isn't easy to portray. Linville should be commended for aptly embodying such an unlikeable character. After all, he must've been doing something right... We all hate Frank Burns!

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32 Comments

Scott76112 6 days ago
Burns wasn't a character, he was a caricature. He had no redeeming qualities.
His job was to serve as a punching bag for the rest of the cast, especially know-it-all Hawkeye.
It's lazy writing to have such a one-dimensional role in a show.
Brad 8 days ago
Sure, Frank Burns was absolutely dislikable, but if you watch M*A*S*H long enough, you'll find "Hawkeye" just as easy to find fault with. He's convinced that he's the world's best doctor, constantly whines about everything, and drowns his largely imaginary sorrows in booze at every opportunity. The character of Hawkeye Peirce is why I stopped watching M*A*S*H before it ever even went into re-runs.
Scott76112 Brad 6 days ago
You are so right. He was also a constant, tiresome womanizer. If that weren't enough, he was self-appointed Moral King of the Universe, holding forth on everything from the futility of the war to the sanctity of marriage.
What a colossal bore.
GeorgeSchmidt67 8 days ago
From what I've read in the past Larry was a very low-key & sweet natured man who was beloved by cast & crew - he had the burden of being TV's biggest asshole but as an actor he nailed it ; sadly we have far too many Frank Burns in the world but he put a spotlight on how to see they truly are. We miss you Ferret Face!
DeannaT 8 days ago
But he played Larry just perfectly!
KirwoodDerby 8 days ago
I don't know if I ever saw Larry in an interview or act on another show but I remember thinking after he left MASH that he probably grew tired of always being the bad guy, especially after Margaret ended their affair. He had no one else. I know he died too young, but I hope that he realized before moving on, how we loved to hate the character that he
portrayed. Undoubtedly one of the greatest tv characters of all time. Thanks for Frank, Larry.😉
Charleshorse 8 days ago
I thought Frank Burns was the most entertaining character. Larry Linville had great comedy timing.
" It was a great war till you guys showed up." The writers weren't bad either ( the earlier ones, that is )
Abergine 8 days ago
The Frank Burns character was so annoying! That's when I figured out that Larry Linville was such a good actor. He made me dislike the character just like I would have disliked Burns as a real person.
KirwoodDerby Abergine 8 days ago
Frank Burns is ironically the great grand nephew of C. Montgomery Burns.😉🤔
TheBeef 8 days ago
Linville also played a police detective in an episode of either Dragnet or Adam-12.
JamesAt65 TheBeef 8 days ago
He was in an episode of Kolchak the Night Stalker also.
musicman37 9 days ago
Just before M*A*S*H went on the air, Larry Linville had a role as a coroner in the original "The Night Stalker".
JamesAt65 musicman37 8 days ago
Linville played yet another one of the Chicago police captains in the Night Stalker series, episode "The Chopper" while he was still playing the Frank Burns character on MASH.
kscarlett 9 days ago
My favorite Frank Burns episode was when he was in charge and decided to make the camp "dry". When they're all sloshed and sitting around singing and he comes in and blows his stack and they all start trying to tell him the "recipe" for the hooch. You can tell he's struggling to keep a straight face. I'm sure it took several takes to get that scene! So funny!!
Charleshorse kscarlett 8 days ago
That episode contains one of my favorite lines of the whole series. After Frank leaves, there's a short pause, then Margaret says, " Oooh, who was that?" lol. Hawkeye almost busts a gut.
CoreyC 10 days ago
There was reunion with the cast and Larry Linville said that if you ever met a person like Frank Burns run. Sadly Larry was typecast and never got a role except for a Frank Burns type such as the shortlived Marla Gibbs Florence spinoff. Behind the scenes the cast of M*A*S*H found Larry shy but likable.
KentuckyPhil69 12 days ago
Frank Burns eats worms...
You tell 'em, Ferret Face!!!
Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy...
Your loving son, Queen Victoria
HarryOhh 13 days ago
There’s two things about this. For one thing, the date given for the interview is 1970. The show didn’t start until 1972. So either the date is wrong (likely) or he was talking about the movie released in 1970 (unlikely).
Also, there a book about the show written by the daughter of one of the creators with an interview of Linville. In that one he was very supportive of the character, probably because he was tired of everybody putting him down. He said he portrayed him as someone who just couldn’t handle the situation he was in and tried dealing with it the best he could. “Pathos” was the word he used.
cperrynaples HarryOhh 11 days ago
Fun Fact: Major Burns was played in the movie by Robert Duvall, who later did The Godfather! He's STILL ALIVE! I still wonder why Linville left in 1977...didn't he learn anything from McClain Stevenson...LOL! Another fun fact: his next series was Grandpa Goes To Washington, where he played Jack Albertson's general son! The fact that his father called him "fathead" gives you an idea that he was still playing Burns...LOL again!
Cougar90 cperrynaples 10 days ago
Linville left in 1977 and did so without sandbagging the others with another McClain Stevenson type of exit. He said, "you can only be Frank Burns until you run out of ideas on how to play him." He left the show without lawsuits and bad feelings toward him. Not bad an exit.
musicman37 HarryOhh 9 days ago
Please pay attention: the date given for the interview was 1975.
texasluva musicman37 8 days ago
True but I think MeTV changed the date. I looked up that quote with out the date and saw it was 1970. Probably realized their mistake and changed the date to 1975. This is what I found for 5 days ago.

Even Larry Linville hated Frank Burns

MeTV
https://metv.com › stories › even-larry-linville-hated-fra...
5 days ago — "Frank is the type of character I personally despise," Linville told The Shreveport Journal in 1970. "It's a matter of ego but I think I'm ...
He said he had taken the character as far as he could go, especially after Margaret got married. He and the writers thought about having Frank become real friends with Hawkeye and BJ but then decided against it.
Larry Linville has stated that he wasn't tired of playing Frank Burns, he was tired of playing JUST Frank Burns. He wanted to play other roles. But just about everybody continually gets the timeline wrong. Linville didn't leave because of Margaret's marriage. He had stated in the spring/summer of 1976 that he would be leaving after the following year. The whole scenario of Margaret's marriage was created because he was leaving the show.
It's spelled "McLean" Stevenson.
MrsPhilHarris 13 days ago
He was great as Frank Burns.
And "Nerts!" to anyone who says elsewise.
😂 I’m not sure why but that made me laugh!
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