Seventies M*A*S*H star David Ogden Stiers has come out of the closet.

"I am [gay]," the actor who is best know for playing the uppity doctor Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on CBS's long running series M*A*S*H said. "Very proud to be so."

The revelation came in an overlooked interview posted online in March at gossip-boy.com.

Stiers says he's finally comfortable speaking publicly about his sexuality. Adding he would not want to impose the closet on a potential suitor.

"I wish to spend my life's twilight being just who I am," Stiers said. "I could claim noble reasons as coming out in order to move gay rights forward, but I must admit it is for far more selfish reasons. Now is the time I wish to find someone and I do not desire to force any potential partner to live a life of extreme discretion with me."

Stiers, 66, said he is looking for a man who is both "mature and youthful" with "developed arms" and a "large, straight penis".

And explained that he kept his sexuality hidden for so long because he feared Hollywood would reject him: "Even though many have this idealistic belief that the entertainment industry [is] gay friendly. For the most part they are, but that doesn't mean for them that business does not come first."