{"id":834,"date":"2025-12-07T11:28:56","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/?p=834"},"modified":"2025-12-07T11:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T11:28:56","slug":"gary-burghoff-retired-his-role-as-radar-on-mash-to-be-a-daddy-a-role-he-says-is-more-important-than-money-or-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/?p=834","title":{"rendered":"Gary Burghoff retired his role as Radar on M*A*S*H to be a daddy, a role he says is more important than money or fame"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"post-thumb entry-media thumbnail\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/earlybirdstories.pics\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/burg1-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"Gary Burghoff retired his role as Radar on M*A*S*H to be a daddy, a role he says is more important than money or fame\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-category\"><span class=\"cat-links\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Posted\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<header class=\"entry-header\"><\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-meta\">\n<div class=\"entry-meta-elements\"><span class=\"post-author\"><span class=\"posted-by vcard author\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Posted b<\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content bloghash-entry\">\n<p><strong>Leaving the battlefields of the military-medical comedy\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.newsner.com\/celebrity\/mash-star-alan-alda-overcame-childhood-struggles-and-trauma-to-become-a-doting-dad\/\">M*A*S*H<\/a>, Gary Burghoff, who played the sweet yet sneaky Radar, surrendered his career to fixing his family, which was slowly breaking down.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Recently, the 82-year-old Emmy-winning actor became a grandfather when his son, Miles \u201cSonar\u201d Burghoff, had a baby girl.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-f6f29cdf29e07e8be75b4125f10d26b4\" class=\"newsner-f6f29cdf29e07e8be75b4125f10d26b4 newsner-bluebillywig_instream\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-122600 entered lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190326\/GettyImages-515099483.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"719\" height=\"1024\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190326\/GettyImages-515099483.jpg\" data-ll-status=\"loaded\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gary Burghoff (Photo by Doug Griffin\/Toronto Star via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In late March 2023, Miles\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CqJWUkwO1mu\/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">posted a photo<\/a>\u00a0of him holding his newly-born daughter. The caption reads, \u201cI caught the best 8-pounder of my life today! Everyone meet Rylee Elisabeth Burghoff!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Inheriting his father\u2019s love of fishing, Miles is a professional angler. \u201cHe\u2019s the one who really started me out,\u201d the younger Burghoff said at a fishing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.augustachronicle.com\/story\/sports\/outdoors\/2007\/11\/13\/fis-152243-shtml\/14690890007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">tournament<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-bfaf9084dc91c7638fbae02b55e46968\" class=\"newsner-bfaf9084dc91c7638fbae02b55e46968 newsner-incide_content_once\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-0\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CqJWUkwO1mu\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=1120&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fen.newsner.com&amp;rp=%2Fcelebrity%2Fgary-burghoff-retired-his-role-as-radar-on-mash-to-be-a-daddy-a-role-he-says-is-more-important-than-money-or-fame%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwY2xjawOhVx1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE4U2hUOHhUa2FzN2VJVEtRc3J0YwZhc#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A4597.799999982119%7D\" height=\"1079\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>His father answered, \u201cI\u2019m just here to offer moral support. This is a testament to parents doing what they love with their kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Miles didn\u2019t follow the same career trail as his father, he does have a name reminiscent of the famous Radar. \u201cI was dubbed the name Sonar because my father had the role of Radar on the TV series M*A*S*H,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sweetwaterfishingtv.com\/blog\/2019\/3\/6\/miles-burghoff-about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Miles said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Miles and his brother Jordan are the sons of Burghoff and his second wife, Elizabeth Bolstrom, whom he married in 1985 and divorced in 2005. Bolstrom died in November 2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gary Burghoff, circa 1974. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archive\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Burghoff also has a daughter, Gena Gayle Burghoff, who was born in 1985, with his first wife, Janet Gayle, whom he divorced in 1979.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-185739823\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-9c4a796c2404ebe8d6e3519eb94d21f1\" class=\"newsner-9c4a796c2404ebe8d6e3519eb94d21f1 newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<p>When Burghoff left M*A*S*H, he didn\u2019t leave with much.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t leave M*A*S*H a wealthy man,\u201d Burghoff said in an interview with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/archive\/radar-check-vol-52-no-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">People<\/a>. \u201cI could have renegotiated my contract, but money wasn\u2019t the most important thing in my life\u2026You either want to be rich and famous, or you want to be a daddy. You can\u2019t do both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rejecting several offers for roles in 1980\u2019s sitcoms, including a part on Newhart, Burghoff instead chose regional theater. He added, \u201cI wanted to pick the number of weeks I\u2019d work and spend the rest of the time with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Washington, D.C.: Larry Linville (Frank Burns of M*A*S*H) with Gary Burghoff, who played Radar O\u2019Reilly on the television show M*A*S*H.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The theater roles, which eventually burned out, didn\u2019t compare to his breakout role on M*A*S*H.<\/p>\n<p>Spanning over seven seasons from 1972 to 1983, Burghoff starred in the hit TV series as Cpl. Walter \u2018Radar\u2019 O\u2019Reilly, a na\u00efve farm boy working as the company clerk (sometimes bugler) with the U.S. Army\u2019s Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) in the Korean War (1950-1953).<\/p>\n<p>Burghoff is the only actor who played his character in both the TV series and the film (1970), which also starred Donald Sutherland, Robert Duvall and Sally Kellerman in her Oscar-nominated performance of Major Margaret \u201cHot Lips\u201d Houlihan, a role played by Loretta Swit in the TV adaptation.<\/p>\n<p>After appearing on every episode for the first three seasons, it\u2019s reported that Burghoff\u2019s demanding schedule was taxing on his family life, which resulted in reducing his character\u2019s appearances to 13 episodes, down from his previous 24.<\/p>\n<p>Season seven marked Radar\u2019s departure, with a two-part farewell, Good-Bye Radar, that explained his discharge from the army.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-1141927038\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-520fc5027c2efc0012865792732e7750\" class=\"newsner-520fc5027c2efc0012865792732e7750 newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe id=\"instagram-embed-1\" class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CgcEqEduP1U\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=1120&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fen.newsner.com&amp;rp=%2Fcelebrity%2Fgary-burghoff-retired-his-role-as-radar-on-mash-to-be-a-daddy-a-role-he-says-is-more-important-than-money-or-fame%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwY2xjawOhVx1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE4U2hUOHhUa2FzN2VJVEtRc3J0YwZhc#%7B%22ci%22%3A1%2C%22os%22%3A4600.5%7D\" height=\"875\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-1\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In an interview with The Television Academy Foundation, M*A*S*H director,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.distractify.com\/p\/why-did-radar-leave-mash\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Charles S. Dubin<\/a>\u00a0explained that Burghoff was having trouble with his wife at the time. Referring the Goodbye Radar episodes, where the character has to say good-bye to the woman he loved, Dubin said that Burghoff \u201ccouldn\u2019t go on. He broke into tears and I had to stop everything for 15 minutes and walk him around the backlot of Fox.\u201d Dubin continued, \u201cIn the script, he was talking about a future with her, possibly, (which) related to his own domestic problems. I think that was a large part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>M*A*S*H continued another three seasons with the show\u2019s originals\u2013the award-winning Alan Alda playing Capt. Benjamin Franklin \u201cHawkeye\u201d Pierce, Loretta Swit as \u201cHot Lips\u201d Houlihan and Jamie Farr as Sgt. Maxwell Q. Klinger\u2013minding the barracks.<\/p>\n<p>Burghoff reprised his role as Radar for two episodes in the spinoff series AfterMash, and for W*A*L*T*E*R, a third spin-off telling the story of Radar\u2019s life post MASH, which wasn\u2019t picked up.<\/p>\n<p>Hoping to lure Burghoff back, producers offered him a $US4 million contract, which he declined. By 1991, \u201cthe money ran out,\u201d and Burghoff was near bankrupt. \u201cI was down to my last $500,\u201d he said in the interview with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/archive\/radar-check-vol-52-no-5\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">People<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>That was when the multi-talented Burghoff\u2013an off-Broadway actor, jazz musician, stamp collector and inventor of Chum Magic, a device used to attract fish\u2013decided to paint a new picture.<\/p>\n<p>Literally.<\/p>\n<p>Burghoff started painting North American wildlife, canvas oil paintings that were displayed in galleries, that sold for $25,000 a piece.<\/p>\n<p>Today, if you\u2019re lucky, you might be able to find a piece at auction.<\/p>\n<div id=\"newsner-1154862982\" class=\"newsner-article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"newsner-73b5b8eeb09176e52adb762c6bba7b5e\" class=\"newsner-73b5b8eeb09176e52adb762c6bba7b5e newsner-amp_article_inside_content\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-122602 entered lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190325\/burh.jpeg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190325\/burh.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190325\/burh-768x879.jpeg 768w\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"916\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190325\/burh.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190325\/burh-768x879.jpeg 768w\" data-lazy-sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/cdn-main.newsner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2023\/03\/05190325\/burh.jpeg\" data-ll-status=\"loaded\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gary_Burghoff#\/media\/File:GaryBurghoff03.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wikipedia Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Four years ago, Burghoff supported a GoFundMe campaign for people whose lives were affected by the California fires. Of course, he looks older in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=k2jE4KHrlx4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">video<\/a>, posted by his son Jordan, which had fans praising his acting and efforts.<\/p>\n<p>One said, \u201cOMG I remember him when I was just a child watching mash. He still has the same voice and looks.\u201d Another commented, \u201cGood to see you Mr. Burghoff, I\u2019m donating not just because of the need, but because I feel I owe you something. As a kid I watched MASH and loved your work. Now my wife and I are enjoying it all over again on Netflix. You made me laugh, feel, and think, and I appreciated all of that. Jordan, thanks for posting this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>We\u2019re fortunate to have people like Gary Burghoff in this world! Tell us your memories of M*A*S*H and what are your thoughts on him leaving his role as Radar to try save his marriage?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Posted\u00a0 Posted b Leaving the battlefields of the military-medical comedy\u00a0M*A*S*H, Gary Burghoff, who played the sweet yet sneaky Radar, surrendered his career to fixing his family, which was slowly breaking &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=834"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/834\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naekokozawa.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}