It remains one of the most shocking deaths on TV and the most heartbreaking moment in “M*A*S*H” history: Radar O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff) wanders into a chaotic operating room, his voice trembling, to announce that Lt. Col. Henry Blake’s plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. There were no survivors.
While the “M*A*S*H” Season 3 finale — titled “Abyssinia, Henry” — sent shockwaves through the fan base, the decision to kill off Henry wasn’t because the show’s creators were done with the character; it was because the actor who played the character was done with the show.
McLean Stevenson — who would later regret quitting the TV show — made his exit due to a combination of reasons: ego and the promise of center-stage stardom. While “M*A*S*H” was initially conceived as an ensemble piece, Alan Alda’s Hawkeye Pierce evolved to become the undeniable focal point of the series. Frustrated by his character fading to the sidelines, Stevenson became unhappy.
Per Women’s World, he reportedly told TV Guide, “I’m tired of being one of six. I want to be one of one.” As a result, Stevenson started eyeing other leading-man opportunities and told the show’s creators he wanted out.
Stevenson’s The McLean Stevenson Show and Hello, Larry failed to reach the success of M*A*S*H
According to “M*A*S*H” co-creator Larry Gelbart, he and executive producer Gene Reynolds decided to cook up a proper send-off for Henry Blake. To them, “M*A*S*H” wasn’t about “happy endings,” and they saw McLean Stevenson’s departure as an opportunity to explore the cold reality of war.
“We wanted it to essentially be a goodbye episode in which people shared their feelings, no big tension, no big storyline, and we said we wanted him to die at the end … and we swore them to secrecy,” Gelbart said during an interview with the Television Academy.
Following “M*A*S*H,” Stevenson went on to star in various unsuccessful projects, including “The McLean Stevenson Show” and “Hello, Larry.” The former lasted for one season, and while “Hello, Larry” was around for two seasons, TV Guide ranked it as No. 12 on their “50 Worst Shows of All Time” list in 2007.
During an interview with The Baltimore Sun, the actor reflected on those failures. “I did some terrible shows,” he told the outlet. “But nobody made me do it. I did everything by choice. I love working.”
In the documentary “Memories of M*A*S*H,” per Los Angeles Times, Stevenson candidly admitted that leaving “M*A*S*H” was one of his biggest regrets — and his departure is considered one of the worst TV character exits of all time. “The mistake was that I thought everybody in America loved McLean Stevenson,” he reflected. “That was not the case. Everybody loved Henry Blake. So if you go and do ‘The McLean Stevenson Show,’ nobody cares about McLean Stevenson.”