'Gary Burghoff' (born
May 24,
1943 in
Bristol, Connecticut) is an American actor, best known for playing the character
Corporal Walter Eugene "Radar" O'Reilly in the ''
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Charlie Brown in the
1967 off-Broadway musical ''
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''.
Burghoff got his start in both acting and
drumming during his high school years in
Delavan, Wisconsin. Episode 24 Season 1 of the
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Born with a
club foot and four short fingers on his left hand, Burghoff uses props to deflect attention from this: in ''Charlie Brown'' he had a
baseball glove on that hand most of the time, and in the
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Burghoff was the only member of the ''
MASH'' film cast to be a regular on the television series. He was not however, the only person from the movie to appear on the television series. Several other actors from the movie also made guest appearances on the television series.
Gary also frequently appeared on the game show ''
Match Game'' in the 1970s, both as a stand-in for regular
Charles Nelson Reilly and also as the "special male guest" occupying seat one. He also appeared on an episode of ''The Love Boat''.
He appeared regularly on TV, making appearances on other game shows as well like ''
Tattletales'' and ''
Showoffs''. He also appeared in a little-known comedy from 1971, ''
B.S. I Love You''. His ''
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Radar O'Reilly was spun off into a short lived TV show called ''
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In addition to acting, Burghoff also works as a professional
jazz drummer, heading the trio ''The We Three'', and as a wildlife
painter. His other activities include outdoorsmanship and rifle shooting.
Burghoff is an avid
philatelist and was the star of a
United States Postal Service video for beginning stamp collectors.
Burghoff was
married to Janet Gayle, from 1971 to 1979; they had one child before the marriage ended in
divorce. In 1985, he married Elisabeth Bostrom; they have two children together. Burghoff currently resides in
Paradise, California and appears in TV ads for local doctors.
Notes
1.
★ http://www.tv.com/mash/showtime/episode/43223/summary.html
External links
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