Biography for
Gary Burghoff More at IMDbPro »

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Known to millions as 'Radar' on the television series "M*A*S*H*"

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Was a drummer who headed a jazz trio, The We Three, and was an award-winning songwriter. Studied acting with James Tuttle and musical comedy with Charles Nelson Reilly.

Has a deformed left hand that he takes great pains to hide during the run of M*A*S*H on TV. Usually hidden behind his clipboard.

His character 'Radar' on "M*A*S*H*", who showed a fondness for the care of animals, was actually inspired from Gary's true love for wildlife. He once worked for the Animal Rehabilitation Clinic in Southern California where he nurtured and cared for many species of birds such as the brown pelican, and many other animals including opossums, grey squirrels, raccoons and abandoned creatures needing special attention.

Was licensed by the State of California to care for wounded animals.

Is a renowned painter of Wildlife Art.

Starting in 1997, Gary had to refuse a lot of his fan-mail due to his address being published on the internet, as he would state in a stamped message on fan's return envelopes.

Launched a chain of ice cream/frozen yogurt stores in Hawaii in the late 1970s, which had limited success.

He attended the "Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show", at Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn, in North Hollywood, California.

Originated the role of Charlie Brown in the off-Broadway musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown".

Holds several patents on fishing lures.

Was the first "M*A*S*H" actor to be cast for the TV series

Has one daughter: Gena and two sons: Miles and Jordan

Along with G. Wood, Timothy Brown and Corey Fischer, he is one of only four actors to appear in both the original 'MASH' movie and the subsequent spin-off series.

Big Bird from Sesame Street's teddy bear, Radar, was named after Gary's MASH character. Gary gave it to Big Bird as a gift after visiting the Sesame Street set in the 70s.

Played Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly in four different Mash productions: the feature movie MASH (1970), regular in television series "M*A*S*H" (1972), guest star appearance on "After MASH" (1983), and the television pilot W*A*L*T*E*R (1984) (TV).

The teddy bear that Burghoff carried as Radar O'Reilly is now at the Smithsonian Institute. However, when the entire set, along with props, were displayed in the Smithsonian immediately after the final episode was aired, there was a note added to the case displaying many props that they had been unable to locate the bear.

Gary's favorite sports are baseball and fishing. He has visited and fished in every state except Alaska, where he plans to visit one day. He is also an inventor and holds several patents for fishing tackle, including Chum Magic, a floating device that can be filled with chum to attract fish. Gary says it helps increase catches by about 300 percent.

Besides recording a jazz album in the early 1980s, he wrote more than 100 songs and won the ASCAP Award for Excellence three times.

He wrote an introduction for Two-Character Plays for Student Actors, a collection of plays by Robert Mauro.

Is a born-again Christian.

Burghoff attended the memorial service for McLean Stevenson when the actor passed away in 1996.

The only actor in Twentieth Century Fox's hit film MASH (1970) who was asked to reprise his character for the extremely successful television series.

After graduation, he headed to New York to study. He sold underwear at Saks Fifth Avenue to make money while studying and also played jazz at local night spots with "The We Three," a musical trio he formed.

In 1961 his painting "Men of Jazz" won him the Hallmark Award and represented Wisconsin in the Hallmark Student Art Exhibit in Washington, D.C.

Gary was born to Rodney Burghoff, who worked for a clock company, and Ann Burghoff, who had been a professional dancer and directed local theater productions. He has an older brother, David.

Burghoff is a philatelist and was the star of a United States Postal Service video for beginning stamp collectors.

He left M*A*S*H after Season 7 because of burnout and a desire to spend more time with his family, though he returned in Season 8 to film a special 2-part farewell episode, "Goodbye Radar".

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