US actor Allan Arbus, best known for his role as Army psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on the 1970s hit television series M*A*S*H and as the husband of the late photographer Diane Arbus, has died at the age of 95.

Arbus, who gave up his photography for acting, passed away from congestive heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on Friday, his second wife Mariclare Costello Arbus told Reuters.

"At 95, doctors didn't want to do surgery and Allan didn't want it at all," said Costello Arbus, an actress who married Arbus in 1976. "He just got weaker and weaker and was at home with his daughter and me."

Arbus' first major role came as a Christ-like figure in director Robert Downey Sr's 1972 cult film Greaser's Palace, which also starred the director's young son, Robert Downey Jr.

He shot to prominence with the role of the acerbic psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on M*A*S*H in 1973, a year after the comedy-drama began.

Arbus' final credited television role was in an episode of comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2000, according to Hollywood database imdb.com.

Reuters