Gary Rich Burghoff is a Bristol, Connecticut-born American actor possibly best known for playing the role of ‘Radar’ O’Reilly in the ever popular TV series “M.A.S.H.” Born on 24 May 1943, Gary is one of the well-known personalities in American film industry as well as theatre. He was active in his profession as an actor between 1967 and 2010.
A popular actor who has managed to find fame in theatre, Hollywood and on television, one may wonder how rich is Gary Burghoff? As estimated by sources, Gary counts his net worth at an amount of $3 million in early 2016. Needless to say, being involved in the field of entertainment has been the most significant in amassing his present wealth.
Gary Burghoff Net Worth $3 Million
Connecticut-raised Gary was interested in dancing and music when he was a child. Although he suffered from congenital deformity in three fingers of his left hand, he became a drummer, and also studied tap dancing. He started his career in acting while studying in high school, acting with the BelfRy Players in Wisconsin. He first earned fame as he portrayed the title role in the play “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” in 1967. At the time, he also served as a drummer for the band “The Relatives” which included actress Lynda Carter as the lead singer. Due to Gary’s friendship with Carter, he subsequently earned a chance to become a member of the cast in “The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman”, a television series of the late 1970s.
Gary started getting noted for his acting skills while working on the “Wonder Woman” series. He made his feature film debut in 1970 playing the role of Radar O’Reilly in the movie “M*A*S*H”. He continued his role as Radar in the television series of the same name and became the only person in the movie as a regular cast in the series. For his role as Radar O’Reilly in the series, he was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning one in 1977 in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. The award was accepted by Gary’s co-star Alan Alda on his behalf.
Apart from the “M*A*S*H” television series, Gary appeared in several more television shows marking his prominence on the small screen. Notably, he appeared in game shows like “Tattletales”, “Showoffs” and “Hollywood Squares” and in television series like “W*A*L*T*E*R”, “The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman” and several more. Gary worked with actors like Joanna Cameron, Peter Kastner and Louise Sorel in the movie “B.S. I Love You”.
Gary retired from acting in 2010, but being a part of all these film and TV projects has definitely earned well for Gary Burghoff allowing him to lead his life as a multi-millionaire artist.
Gary Burghoff is a divorcee and the father of his three children. He was married twice, firstly to Janet Gayle in 1971 with whom he had a child in their eight years-long marriage. His second marriage was with Elisabeth Bostrom and the couple shared two kids in their twenty years of married life; they divorced in 2005. For now, Burghoff enjoys his present net worth of $3 million while it caters to his present retirement life.
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1977)
Music Groups
“The Relatives” (1968)
Nominations
Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host
Movies
“W*A*L*T*E*R”, “The New Adventures Of Wonder Woman” (1975-1979), “M*A*S*H” (1970), “B.S. I Love You” (1971), Behind the Waterfall (1995), The Man in the Santa Claus Suit (1979)
TV Shows
“You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” (1967), “Tattletales”, “Showoffs”, “Hollywood Squares”
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Trademark
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Known to millions as 'Radar' on the television series "M*A*S*H*"
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Quote
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I don't vote for the guy I trust. I vote for the guy who trusts me the most.
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My son gave me the permission to accept my success.
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I was just a kid, but I was a rotten kid.
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Fact
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Though Tom Skerritt was asked to return to be in the show, Gary was the only cast member of the movie to play his character regularly in the show MASH.
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He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
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Last appearance on M*A*S*H (1972) on Season 8 Episode 5, but still credited in opening credits up to Season 8 Episode 11.
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He left M*A*S*H (1972) 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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Burghoff is a philatelist and was the star of a United States Postal Service video for beginning stamp collectors.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. G. Wood played General Hammond in both the movie and television series but he was not a regular character in the series although he was a regularly recurring character.
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Burghoff attended the memorial service for McLean Stevenson when the actor passed away in 1996.
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He wrote an introduction for Two-Character Plays for Student Actors, a collection of plays by Robert Mauro.
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Besides recording a jazz album in the early 1980s, he wrote more than 100 songs and won the ASCAP Award for Excellence three times.
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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.
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The teddy bear that Burghoff carried as Radar O'Reilly in M*A*S*H (1972) is now at the Smithsonian Institution. However, when the entire set, along with props, was 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.
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Played Walter "Radar" O'Reilly in four different "MASH" productions: the feature movie MASH (1970), the 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).
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Sesame Street (1969)'s Big Bird has a teddy bear, "Radar", which was named after Gary's a M*A*S*H (1972) character. Gary gave it to Big Bird as a gift after visiting the "Sesame Street" set in the 1970s.
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Along with G. Wood, Timothy Brown and Corey Fischer, he is one of only four actors to appear in both the original film (MASH (1970)) and the subsequent TV series (M*A*S*H (1972)).
Was the first MASH (1970) actor to be cast for the TV series (M*A*S*H (1972)).
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Holds several patents on fishing lures.
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Originated the role of Charlie Brown in the off-Broadway musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown".
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He attended the "Hollywood Collectors & Celebrities Show", at Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn, in North Hollywood, California.
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Launched a chain of ice cream/frozen yogurt stores in Hawaii in the late 1970s, which had limited success.
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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.
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Is a renowned painter of Wildlife Art.
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Was licensed by the State of California to care for wounded animals.
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His character "Radar" on M*A*S*H (1972), who showed a fondness for the care of animals, was actually inspired by 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, gray squirrels, raccoons and abandoned creatures needing special attention.
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Has a deformed left hand that he took great pains to hide during the run of M*A*S*H (1972), often by hiding it behind his clipboard.
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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.
$3 Million
