I love when I can sometimes go to the source. Reader Michael Rafferty
submitted a Friday question. Here's the question and the answer from
the man himself, Gary Burghoff. My EXTREME thanks to Gary for his time
and very illuminating response.
On MASH, first season, Gary Burghoff played Radar pretty much the same
as he did in the movie version. But,over time, Radar was softened and
became more gentle and naive. Was this a decision of Burghoff or was
this a creative decision of Larry Gelbart et al.?
Here's Gary's answer:
In the original feature film MASH, I created Radar as a lone, darker and somewhat sardonic character; kind of a shadowy figure. I continued these qualities for a short time (review the Pilot) until I realized that the TV MASH 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 "hell hole" they were stuck in.
With Gelbart's help, I began to mold Radar into more Innocent, naive 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. This made RADAR super ACTIVE, free and very interesting on a primary "gut" level, which at times delivered the horror of war (as well as the dark humor we became known for) in an effective, universal way that anyone could understand.
Larry, in one interview, was quoted as saying that Radar was his favorite character to write for. I think he liked the fact that the character lacked guile and he could write from his own honest "child's-self" as apposed to having to create "clever" intellectual hyperbole.
ACTING IS RE-ACTING. LARRY gave Radar "permission" to REACT IN SPADES!! in a free, delightful and direct manner. Once these decisions were made, RADAR became PURE JOY to play!! God bless Larry Gelbart and his talented writers such as your most excellent SELF!
I hope this helps.
Love "Ya~ Gary
Love ya, too. And P.S., Radar was one of my favorite characters to
write as well. It was a true honor to pen the "Goodbye Radar" episodes.
35 comments :
Going on two years this month, the entire world has worn the Gary Burghoff facial expression shown in your post pic.
I enjoyed the usual spark he conveys in emails to you. I need that today.
Wow thanks, Ken and thanks, Gary. And thanks Larry Gelbart. Thank you, Gary for being so kind to respond to us. I've always enjoyed your performances wherever I've seen them, and some insight into your working process is always a joy to hear. This of course Ken is why your blog remains popular. You give us insight into the creative side of television. I was there for the first time with MASH, and have enjoyed revisiting it over the years.
Thank you all again
I only remember the latter radar. To anyone seeing this, is Burghoff the only actor to play the same character on both the big screen and small?
Thank you, Gary!
I'm kind of glad that Radar (de)evolved into the character he became, because that made him so relatable for me, especially in hindsight: I was a teenager when I first started watching M*A*S*H, and at that age and point in my life, I was that character . . . I was that sheltered, naive, myopic boy who was clueless about the facts of life, and how the real world really operated, and I was, of course, razzed by my older and more knowledgeable peers for it. Remember that meme that went around social media for a while, "Describe Yourself with 3 Fictional Characters"? Radar was always one of those three for me . . . along with Felix Unger and George Costanza (Radar was me then, Felix and George are me now).
@Mike Barer G. Wood played General Hammond in both the movie, as well as three specific episodes of the first season of the series, including the pilot episode. Timothy Brown, meanwhile, played Spearchucker Jones in a few first season episodes, but played a smaller and less significant role in the movie.
Harrison Ford played (the older) Indiana Jones on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
I know Radar was the longer-lived and more globally significant character, but I saw YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN at the St Marks' Theater when I was 14, and Gary Burghoff still lives in my heart as Charlie Brown. (I can easily see Radar falling over and over again for Lucy and the football.)
wg
My bad. I thought Mike Barer was referring to other TV series, not just M*A*S*H.
Mike Barer,
If you're not talking about MASH only, there are a couple dozen Star Trek characters who appeared on both television and in the movies.
@ Mike Barer
Off the top of my head. Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels -LR and Tonto
Adam West and Burt Ward - Batman and Robin
What a lovely post.
BTW, I too had the joy of seeing Gary play Charlie Brown onstage, back when I was in college. The full original cast brought You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown to Hollywood, into an old vaudeville house on Selma in Hollywood, that ever since (As this was over 50 years ago) has been some sort of sleazy porn place. I had (And still have) the original cast album, so I've herd Gary sing those songs many, many times. (And let us not forget that Bob Balaban was also in that cast.)
In a MASH retrospective, Larry Gelbart described an outtake with Radar which he wished he could find. It was the episode where they were on a bus and a woman was giving birth and Radar exclaimed, "I saw her fuzzy wuzzy!"
I have always preferred the early Radar to the latter. There's one episode where he says, "I'm the only one who's going to leave here younger than when he got here." (Or something similar)
I suppose it was necessary to have a character to counter the cynicism of the others, but after awhile Radar seemed to become a parody of himself. That's also why in his farewell episodes it was such a shock to see how Radar's appearance changed. He seemed to "grow up" overnight.
On the one hand I was sorry to see Radar go. On the other hand he couldn't have continued as he was for much longer.
M.B.
I always loved the episode where Radar is the model for the birthing class that Potter teaches in place of Margaret, and his expressions, leading to Potter saying not to push that hard or he'd shoot the baby across the room. Of course, Colonel Flagg was in that episode, too, so how could it NOT be memorable?
He also got to deliver the most gut-wrenching line in the history of the series, and probably the history of sitcoms: announcing Henry's death.
If this post is taking a right angle about actors playing the same part in movies and later in a tv series, let’s add Richard Widmark as Madigan and Yul Brynner in Anna and the King
Thanks Ken and Thank you Gary! - That's great stuff!
Radar was a big part of the excellence of MASH. I liked how he interacted with the other characters, especially with Hawkeye.
All these years later, we're still talking about M*A*S*H in relevant and meaningful ways. That's it, right there. Genius.
A lot of the Marvel characters have begun showing up both in the films and tv series now…Florence Pugh//Black Widow, Charlie Cox/Daredevil, Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany/Scarlett Witcg and Vision, and others, including even minor characters.
Monica Evans and Carole Shelley, who played the Pigeon sisters in the original, 1968 film version of "The Odd Couple," reprised their roles for the first, single-camera season of the Randall/Klugman TV series.
What a special place your blog is, Ken. It's an oasis sometimes. This was a wonderful post (and thanks, Gary, for responding).
The Radar moment that stands out to me was the episode in which he and Hawkeye lose their tempers at each other. I remember it viscerally, since it was so unusual for Radar to get angry. "The hell with me, huh? The hell with you!" Their reconciliation brought tears to my eyes.
Gary did a bit of an extended stint on Match Game. I believe he was in for Charles Nelson Reilly when he was appearing on Broadway or something like that. Gary was very good and pretty funny.
How many times did Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy/William Boyd play the same character in movies and on TV?
You mean the only character to do so on MASH? I think so. But Georges Reeves as Superman, Adam West and the rest of tbe cast of Batman, the whole cast of Star Trek...
Sort of a love/hate relationship with Gary Burghoff. M*A*S*H started when I was a freshmen in high school. Before I even saw the show I always wore a baseball cap and had round glasses, looked a little like Gary, same hair color. So, all through high school I was called "Radar". First it didn't bother me too much but by the time I was a senior it was "You know, I do have an actual NAME that I was given at birth!" Bad enough that some teachers didn't even know my real name but at the last class reunion I had a classmate come up and ask me what my real name was because all he ever knew me as was "Radar". [And by the beginning of my junior year I had ditched the ball cap, gotten a different style of eyeglasses and let my hair grow a little bit longer. Didn't help, still called "radar" till I graduated and a few years after. Now I sorta wear it as a badge of honor.]
To clarify, I meant show that were movies than became TV series, such as MASH and the Odd Couple, for instance. That was interesting about General Hammond. I don't remember him in the movie.
I remember the Batman movie, it was a "must see" at the time. This was in the middle of the Batman run. I lived in Walla Walla at the time and Adam West, who was born and raised in Walla Walla (his real name was Bill Anderson) was a local hero.
@ Mike Barer
I agree. For purposes of discussion, TV series such as Batman (1966) and the Star Trek series/films should not count.
On that note, Christopher Lloyd, who played Doc Brown on the Back to the Future films, reprised his role on the CBS Saturday morning animated series in live action segments.
Barry Humphries was recently recognized with a Guinness World Record for the longest running character played by one actor. That character is of course Dame Edna Everage, who he's been playing since 1955, in every conceivable medium.
To anyone seeing this, is Burghoff the only actor to play the same character on both the big screen and small?
This has happened quite a few times. Someone has already mentioned Harrison Ford. A more obscure example is the short-lived TV version of The King and I from 1972. It was called Anna and the King, and Yul Brynner played King Mongkut, as he had on Broadway and in the film.
The late Kevin Peter Hall played Harry in Harry and the Hendersons, and then for about half of the TV series before passing away at a very young age.
Eileen Brennan and Hal Williams also did the TV version of Private Benjamin. Though Lorna Patterson took on the Goldie Hawn role.
Roddy McDowell did a Planet of the Apes series, which ran for one season.
More recently Clark Gregg played the same role in Agents of Shield that he had played in the Marvel movies.
Corey Fischer appeared in M*A*S*H, the movie, as well as the series, but he played two different characters. He also turned up on FRASIER (natch), playing a Rabbi. And worked with Robert Altman a few times, too; I hope that these bits of mundane trivia "count".
Radar is a great character in a wonerful show that I have lost count of how many time I have watchd it.
D. McEwan: I also have the original cast album. Shout-out for Reva Rose, too, who was so perfect as Lucy. And yes, every time I see Bob Balaban in anything (and he's great), Linus still echoes.
wg
The contrast/evolution of Radar can be seen in two of my favorite episodes. In an early episode Sorrell Booke walks into Col. Blake’s office looking for Henry. He finds Radar behind the desk drinking and smoking a cigar. The exchange between the two is very funny. A few seasons later there is the episode where Hawkeye buys the camp garbage which Frank was auctioning off. Radar bonds with a wounded soldier who later dies. (In looking up the credits in the later episode, I noticed that the Colonel who has the garbage dumped upon him appears seasons later in the episode, co-written by you, where Hawkeye travels to the peace talks.)
Vic Tayback reprised his role as Mel in “Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore” on the television show “Alice”.
I remember when I was getting into M*A*S*H in the late 90s from reruns, I was watching different channels from different parts of the series, so the episodes and story arcs were all over the place. But one of the earlier episodes in all that which I saw was your "Goodbye Radar", and I remember his goodbye getting me choked up, probably from a combination of acting, writing, and reacting.
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