Played French horn in the orchestra at Julliard, which is rather more amusing considering an episode of "M*A*S*H" (1972) where he bothers Hawkeye and B.J. with persistent bad horn playing.
On "M*A*S*H" (1972), he played an Harvard alum and in real life, Stiers taught theater games at Harvard.
Didn't learn to drive until 1975, when in an episode of Kojak - "Money Back Guarantee" the role called for him to be seen driving.
Provided the voice of Cogsworth the clock in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991). His advice to the Beast on what to give Belle, "Flowers, chocolates, promises you don't intend to keep..." was his own creation.
During his studies, Stiers was mentored by accomplished theater actor John Houseman and would later join his City Center Acting Company.
Has conducted 70 orchestras in over 100 appearances. He is resident conductor of the Newport Symphony Orchestra in Newport, Oregon.
Some of the "M*A*S*H" (1972) actors jokingly had his dressing room painted orange and purple while Stiers was off for Thanksgiving break.
Was a high school classmate of Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert.
And some maybe more questionable:
Has a son from a relationship in the 1960s.
Also on IMDB.com, from Jamie Farr about Alan Alda:
[Working with Alan Alda] If I wanted a sermon I’d go to church. He just wouldn’t quit. He just kept adding more speeches and more moralistic stuff. After he got famous, he got really pompous. He started thinking he was speaking God’s words - not the lines in the script, not his own personal thoughts. He thought he was speaking the words of God. I think he thought and believed that God was speaking through him. A person like that is not easy to be around.
Played the father in “Better Off Dead” and the head of the U.S. Olympic Committee in Disney’s “The First Olympics”. Liked him in those roles much better than Winchester on MASH.