Born On This Day- October 31st... Master Voice-Over Actor- David Ogden Stiers

Fellow Oregonian -David Ogden Stiers is the 2 time Emmy nominee for his work on M*A*S*H, who came out of the closet this spring at the age of 67 . He has had a long career on stage, in television & on film, frequently working in the films of Woody Allen. But his greatest success has been in the world of voice-over work. Among Ogden Stiers many voice credits: Cogsworth in Beauty & the Beast, both Ratcliffe & Wiggins in Pocahontas, & the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He also voiced a character in the English version of Spirited Away, distributed by Disney. Ironically, Ogden Stiers said it was his later, very successful career as a voice actor that caused his reluctance to come out any earlier:

“I enjoy working & even though many have this idealistic belief that the entertainment industry & studios like Walt Disney are gay friendly, [they weren’t always],” Ogden Stiers said. “For the most part they are, but that doesn’t mean for them that business does not come first. It’s a matter of economics…A lot of my income has been derived from voicing Disney & family programming. What they might allow in a more known actor, they prefer not having to deal with in minor players.” Ironically, it was the flamboyant nature of some of those roles that he says contributed to his staying closeted. “Cogsworth, the character I did on Beauty and the Beast, could be a bit flamboyant on screen, because basically he is a cartoon,” he said. “But they didn’t want Cogsworth to become Disney’s gay character, because it got around a gay man was playing him.” Regarding this signature role in the classic Disney film (which Odgen Stiers also narrates), the actor reportedly ad-libbed the last part of Cogsworth’s famous advice to the Beast on what to give Belle: “Well, there's the usual things: flowers... chocolates... promises you don't intend to keep...”