Actor Allan Arbus dies at age 95; played psychiatrist to shell-shocked surgeons on ‘M.A.S.H.’

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Allan Arbus, who played the wise — and wisecracking — psychiatrist Dr. Sidney Freedman on TV’s “M.A.S.H.,” has died at age 95.

Arbus’ daughter Arin told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday (http://lat.ms/Y2FDo3 ) that her father died of congestive heart failure at his LA home Friday.

Arbus didn’t begin acting until his 40s. He was a television regular who appeared on several series but was best known as Freedman, who counselled shell-shocked army surgeons on a dozen episodes of “M.A.S.H.” between 1973 and 1983.

Before turning to Hollywood, the New York-born Arbus had a successful career as a fashion photographer.

After World War II, he started a studio with then-wife Diane Arbus. She would go on to become one of the most renowned art photographers of the 20th century.

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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com