McLean Stevenson was the great-grandson of William Stevenson, making him a second cousin once removed of two-time presidential nominee Adlai E Stevenson II.
16 Facts About McLean Stevenson
2.
McLean Stevenson worked as a press secretary for his cousin in the presidential elections of 1952 and 1956.
3.
In 1961, McLean Stevenson's cousin invited him to social functions where he met a few business luminaries.
4.
McLean Stevenson followed his cousin's advice to look for a show business career.
5.
McLean Stevenson auditioned and won a scholarship to the American Musical and Dramatic Academy.
6.
McLean Stevenson made his professional career debut in The Music Man in 1962 and appeared regularly in Warsaw, Indiana, in summer stock productions.
7.
McLean Stevenson was a regular on the 1970 The Tim Conway Comedy Hour variety show on CBS.
8.
McLean Stevenson wrote the episode "The Trial of Henry Blake," and provided the story for another, "The Army-Navy Game," which earned him an Emmy nomination.
9.
McLean Stevenson appeared as a guest panelist for several weeks on Match Game in 1973, and again in 1978 on the daytime and nighttime weekly syndicated version.
10.
McLean Stevenson would make occasional appearances on the subsequent Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983 and 1984.
11.
McLean Stevenson then starred in a series of sitcoms: The McLean Stevenson Show, In the Beginning, Hello, Larry and Condo.
12.
McLean Stevenson guest-starred as Stan Zbornak's brother Ted in the hit sitcom The Golden Girls in 1987, in addition to guest-starring in shows such as Square One TV, The Love Boat, Diff'rent Strokes, and Hollywood Squares.
13.
McLean Stevenson filled in for Johnny Carson as guest host of The Tonight Show 58 times, and as a guest on the program in 1982, he brought his daughter Lindsey onto the set when she was just 16 weeks old.
14.
McLean Stevenson was a co-host of the syndicated daytime talk show America, which lasted 16 weeks between September 16,1985, and January 3,1986.
15.
McLean Stevenson was recovering from bladder cancer surgery at the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center on February 15,1996, when he suffered a sudden fatal heart attack.
16.
McLean Stevenson was cremated and his ashes are interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.