Image caption Arbus, pictured with daughter Amy, started out as a US Army photographer

Actor Allan Arbus, best known for his role as army psychiatrist Sidney Freedman in the 1970s US TV series MASH, has died at the age of 95.

Arbus, who did not begin acting until he was in his 40s, started his career as a successful fashion photographer.

He became a TV regular who appeared on several popular series, including police drama Starsky and Hutch.

He died from congestive heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on 19 April, his family confirmed.

"At 95, doctors didn't want to do surgery and Allan didn't want it at all," Arbus' second wife Costello told Reuters.

Born in 1918 in New York, Arbus started his career as a photographer in the US Army in Burma during World War II.

In the late 1940s, he set up a New York photography studio with his wife Diane, who later became a renowned art photographer.

The couple separated in 1959 and she committed suicide in 1971. They were portrayed by Nicole Kidman and Ty Burrell in the 2006 film Fur.

Arbus' first major acting role was in director Robert Downey Sr's 1972 cult film Greaser's Palace, which also starred the director's young son, Robert Downey Jr.

The MASH actor's last television role was in 2000 on the Larry David comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm.