Edward Winter, the Tony Award-nominated actor of the original Cabaret and Promises, Promises, died March 8 in Woodland Hills, CA, of Parkinson’s Disease, according to The Los Angeles Times. Mr. Winter, who was 63, was widely known for playing the intelligence officer, Col. Flagg, on TV's “M*A*S*H.” He was nominated for Tonys for playing Ernst, the Nazi smuggler in the musical, Cabaret, and for playing Sheldrake, the snaky boss of the musical, Promises, Promises. The songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David tried to humanize or explain his character in the latter show by writing an “I want” song called “Wanting Things.”
Mr. Winter was born in Ventura, CA, and became an actor in 1964. He worked with the San Francisco Repertory Theatre before moving to New York, The Times reported. Films include “A Change of Seasons,” “The Buddy System” and “From the Hip.”
—Kenneth Jones
