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Gary Rich Burghoff (born May 24, 1943) is an American actor who is known for originating the role of
Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser," Charlie Brown is one of the great American ar ...
in the 1967
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
''
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...
'', and the character
Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...
Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly in the film ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...
'', as well as the
TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
. He was a regular on television game show ''
Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...
'' from 1974 to 1975 for 140 episodes, standing in for
Charles Nelson Reilly Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
, who was in New York doing a Broadway play, and continued to make recurring appearances afterwards.


Early life

Burghoff was born in
Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, the ...
, moved to
Clinton, Connecticut Clinton is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population of the town was 13,185 at the 2020 census. The town center along the shore line was listed as a census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 c ...
, and then later moved to
Delavan, Wisconsin Delavan is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,505 at the 2020 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee. The city is located partially within the Town of Delavan, but the two entities are politically i ...
. He studied
tap dance Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
and became a drummer, despite being born with
brachydactyly Brachydactyly (Greek βραχύς = "short" plus δάκτυλος = "finger"), is a medical term which literally means "short finger". The shortness is relative to the length of other long bones and other parts of the body. Brachydactyly is an in ...
caused by
Poland syndrome Poland syndrome is a birth defect characterized by an underdeveloped chest muscle and short webbed fingers on one side of the body. There may also be short ribs, less fat, and breast and nipple abnormalities on the same side of the body. Typical ...
, which made three fingers on his left hand significantly smaller than those on his right hand. He gained early experience acting with the
Belfry Players The Belfry Music Theatre, formerly known as the Belfry Theater and The Belfry Players, is a theater facility and acting company in the town of Delavan, adjacent to the village of Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Established in a former church building ...
of
Williams Bay, Wisconsin Williams Bay is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of three municipalities on Geneva Lake. The population was 2,564 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History The village ...
. He received his acting training at
HB Studio The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency progra ...
in New York City.


Career

In 1967, Burghoff portrayed Charlie Brown in the original
Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
production of ''
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...
''. He was the drummer for a band called The Relatives in 1968.
Lynda Carter Lynda Jean Cordova Carter (born July 24, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss World USA 1972 and finished in the top 15 at the Miss World 1972 pageant. Carter is best known as the star of th ...
, later a well-known actress, was the band's singer. The group opened at the
Sahara Hotel and Casino Sahara Las Vegas is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Meruelo Group. The hotel has 1,616 rooms, and the casino contains . The Sahara anchors the northern end of the Las Vegas ...
lounge in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, and played there for three months. He and Carter remained friends, and much later they appeared together in an episode of her hit series ''
The New Adventures of Wonder Woman ''Wonder Woman'', later known for seasons 2 and 3 as ''The New Adventures of Wonder Woman'', is an American Superhero fiction, superhero television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. It stars Lynda Carter as Won ...
'', in the 1978 episode "The Man Who Wouldn't Tell".


''M*A*S*H''

Burghoff made his feature film debut in Robert Altman's ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...
'' (1970). Although several actors from the original film made guest appearances in the television series ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. Th ...
'', Burghoff was the only actor to continue as a regular, in the role of
Radar O'Reilly This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisi ...
. Although he played the same character in the series as in the film, Burghoff has cited differences in the portrayal:
In the original feature film M*A*S*H, I created Radar as a lone, darker and somewhat sardonic character; kind of a shadowy figure. I continued these qualities for a short time until I realized that the TV M*A*S*H characters were developing in a different direction from the film characters. It became a group of sophisticated, highly educated doctors (and one head nurse) who would rather be anywhere else and who understood the nature of the "hellhole" they were stuck in. With
arry Arry is the name of the following communes in France: * Arry, Moselle, in the Moselle department * Arry, Somme, in the Somme department 'Arry is also a nickname, an example of H dropping in the name Harry. Those with such a nickname include: * Har ...
Gelbart's help, I began to mold Radar into a more innocent, naïve character as contrast to the other characters, so that while the others might deplore the immorality and shame of war (from an intellectual and judgmental viewpoint), Radar could just REACT from a position of total innocence.
Burghoff was nominated for six
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
s for ''M*A*S*H'' in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and, of those nominations, he won an Emmy in 1977. Burghoff's co-star
Alan Alda Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce in the war co ...
accepted the award on his behalf. Burghoff left ''M*A*S*H'' in 1979 after the seventh season because of burnout and a desire to spend more time with his family, though he returned the following season to film a special two-part farewell episode, " Goodbye Radar". He explained, "Family, to me, became the most important thing... I was not available as a father because of my work. That doesn't stop when the work stops. Whenever you go out as a family, you're always torn from family to deal with public recognition." "Goodbye Radar" was supposed to be the final episode of season 7, but at the behest of
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, it was extended into a double-episode for the November sweeps the next season. Fellow cast member
Mike Farrell Michael Joseph Farrell Jr. (born February 6, 1939) is an American actor, best known for his role as List of M*A*S*H characters#B.J. Hunnicutt, Captain B.J. Hunnicutt on the television series ''M*A*S*H (TV series), M*A*S*H'' (1975–83). Farrell ...
tried to persuade Burghoff to stay on the show, citing the lackluster careers of former ''M*A*S*H'' regulars
Larry Linville Lawrence Lavon Linville (September 29, 1939 – April 10, 2000) was an American actor known for his portrayal of the surgeon Major Frank Burns on the television series ''M*A*S*H''. Early life and education Linville was born in Ojai, California ...
and
McLean Stevenson Edgar "Mac" McLean Stevenson Jr. (November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake in the television series ''M*A*S*H'', which earned him a Golden Glob ...
after their departures. Farrell later said, "Gary Burghoff may well have been the best actor in the company, it's always seemed to me. His focus, his ability to find those little gems of behavior that made everything absolutely true were a marvel to behold."


Later career

Burghoff appeared regularly on TV, making appearances on such game shows as ''
Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelist ...
'', ''
Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Goodson- Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with severa ...
'', ''
Liar's Club ''Liar's Club'' is an American game show, originally produced by Ralph Andrews, featuring a panel of celebrity guests who offered explanations of obscure or unusual objects. Contestants attempted to determine which explanation was correct in or ...
'', ''
Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the ...
'', and ''
Showoffs ''Showoffs'' is an American television game show which ran on ABC from June 30 to December 26, 1975. Bobby Van was host, with Gene Wood as announcer. The Mark Goodson- Bill Todman production involved two teams competing in a game of charades. ...
''. He also appeared in the film ''
B.S. I Love You ''B.S. I Love You'' is a 1971 American comedy-drama, comedy-drama film directed and written by Steven Hilliard Stern and starring Peter Kastner. The style of the film is like many others of its era, taking its cues from ''The Graduate'' and the ...
'', as well as one episode each of ''
The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...
'' and ''
Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve ...
''. His ''M*A*S*H'' character Radar O'Reilly appeared on two episodes in the first season of ''
AfterMASH ''AfterMASH'' is an American sitcom television series produced as the first spin-off (second overall) and a continuation of ''M*A*S*H'' that aired on CBS from September 26, 1983 to May 31, 1985. It was developed as the sequel series as it takes ...
''. It was then spun off into ''
W*A*L*T*E*R ''W*A*L*T*E*R'' is a 1984 American television pilot for the third spin-off of ''M*A*S*H'' that was never picked up. It starred Gary Burghoff, who reprised his ''M*A*S*H'' character. The episode chronicles the adventures of Corporal Walter "Rad ...
'' which aired only once in the Eastern and Central time zones only. In the 1980s, Burghoff was the TV spokesman for BP gasoline and IBM computers. In 2000, Burghoff was a spokesman for
dot-com era The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...
auction aggregation site PriceRadar.com. Burghoff is a self-taught amateur wildlife painter who also qualified to handle injured wildlife in California. He worked as a professional
jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...
, heading the trio The We Three. In the ''M*A*S*H'' episode "
Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
", Radar is seen playing a solo on the drums; he was actually performing, and the music was not
overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
bed. He can also be seen playing drums in the ''M*A*S*H'' episode "Bulletin Board" in the picnic scene and the episode " Dear Dad...Again" in the no-talent show scene. Burghoff is the inventor (, ) of "Chum Magic", a
fishing tackle Fishing tackle is the equipment used by anglers when fishing. Almost any equipment or gear used in fishing can be called fishing tackle, examples being hooks, lines, baits/ lures, rods, reels, floats, sinkers/ feeders, nets, stringers/ k ...
invention that attracts fish toward the user's boat. Other Burghoff inventions include a toilet seat lifting handle () and a new type of fishing pole. Burghoff is a
philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is possi ...
. He was asked in 1993 to help select a postal stamp for United States hunters. Burghoff came out of retirement in 2010 to star in the film ''Daniel's Lot''.


Personal life

Burghoff was married to Janet Gayle from 1971 to 1979. They have one daughter, Gena Gale Burghoff, born in July 1975. In 1985, he married Elisabeth Bostrom. The couple have two sons, Jordan and Miles, and divorced in 2005.


Works

*


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Burghoff, Gary 1943 births American male television actors American male musical theatre actors American philatelists Living people Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Singers from Connecticut People from Bristol, Connecticut Male actors from Connecticut People from Delavan, Wisconsin Inventors from Connecticut