Gary Burghoff Movies
American actor Gary Burghoff was the son of a Connecticut clockworks executive and a professional dancer. Under the aegis of his mother (the dancer), Burghoff studied tap dancing from age 5; he also trained himself to be a professional drummer, despite the fact that he'd been born with three deformed fingers on his left hand. Turning to acting, Burghoff found that his high piping voice and his 5'6" frame consigned him to child and teenager roles - which became a blessing when he was cast in the title role of the off-broadway musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1967. Director Robert Altman cast Burghoff as Cpl. "Radar" O'Reilly in his antiwar comedy M*A*S*H (1970); the name Radar was derived from the character's uncanny ability to anticipate what people were going to say and to sense when the "choppers" were bringing incoming wounded into the "Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" of the film's acronymic title. When M*A*S*H was converted into a TV situation comedy in 1972, Burghoff was the only member of the original movie cast to be signed for the series (It was not his first TV stint; he'd been a regular on 1970's Don Knotts Show). The actor played company clerk Radar from 1972 through 1979, winning an Emmy in the process and endearing himself to millions of fans. Not all his costars found Burghoff as lovable as Radar; he could be somewhat bullheaded on the set, especially when he felt that others weren't working to their fullest capacity. Except for occasional guest-star appearances - including an inevitable spot on Murder She Wrote, that settlement house of former sitcom stars - Burghoff hasn't worked much since M*A*S*H. This inactivity was by choice, in that Burghoff preferred to devote his time to his numerous pro-ecology and Animal Rights causes. In the late 1980s, Gary Burghoff was reunited with several of his M*A*S*H costars in a series of elaborately produced IBM television commercials. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The death of their father sends a young pair of siblings embark on the journey of a lifetime in director Scott Murphy's uplifting look at the importance of faith and imagination in overcoming life's adversities. Sent to spend the summer with their aunt in Erinville after their father dies, Tommy and his teenage sister Becky begin the healing process by bonding with their cousin Alex. Upon meeting Alex's wise older friend Mr. Connors, Tommy and Becky learn that in order to move on with their lives they will have to find the courage to see life in a new light. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1993
- R
Rob Fresco directed this astoundingly bizarre thriller featuring one of the more unusual psycho killers of recent years, Gary Burghoff, best known as Radar O'Reilly from the film and TV series M*A*S*H. As the demented Fleck, Burghoff gets to kidnap children from shopping malls and resell them to their parents, sleep with young boys, slash people to death with a razor, and have sex in a chair with a buxom female victim. As if that weren't reason enough for all fans of extreme cinema to hunt this film down, Burghoff gets to wear women's clothes as elderly fortune-teller Lady Esmerelda Zolotov, whose suicidal roommate (Alan Popper) gets shot by police while running around naked. The Exorcist's Jason Miller shows up as a wino, Playmate Rebecca Ferratti is the wife of the investigating cop (Fred Carpenter), and New York Daily News editor Tom Poster appears as one of Esmerelda/Fleck's henchmen. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Burghoff, Jason Miller, (more)
- 1984
This video, narrated by Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, features the work of Ogden Nash as his poetry follows the adventures of animals at the zoo. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1980
Nick (Mike Conners) is the owner of a luxury liner and casino which cruises its way to action and adventure for those on board. Lackluster direction by Don Chaffey is not aided by a cast including Gary Burghoff, Joseph Cotten, Lynda Day George, Bo Hopkins and Robert Loggia, who seem to all be slightly embarrassed to be in the film. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- 1979
Made for TV, The Man in the Santa Claus Suit jumped the gun a bit by premiering December 23, 1979. The title "character" is threefold: John Byner, Gary Burghoff and Bert Convy all don Santa suits for various reasons. Byner is a fugitive tramp, Burghoff a lonely schoolteacher, and Convy a divorced father estranged from his young son. Unifying their three stories is top-billed Fred Astaire, who pops up in eight different roles (or seven different roles, if you don't count his "surprise identity") and sings the title song. The moral, as ever, is that Christmas is what you make of it: if you're merry, then you'll have a merry Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Now in its seventh season on the air, the irreverent military comedy series M*A*S*H continued to roll along like a well-oiled machine. The most significant change during season six, the introduction of the insufferable but brilliant surgeon Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester (David Ogden Stiers), had registered quite well with viewers and fellow cast members alike. Less successful had been the scripting decision of marrying off the 4077th's head nurse Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit) (who out of respect for changing attitudes toward gender stereotyping no longer bore the demeaning nickname "Hot Lips") to the handsome Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott, especially since viewers seldom saw Margaret's elusive husband. Thus, Penobscott was written out of the show via a quickie divorce at the end of the 1978-79 season. The season itself was distinguished by a number of memorable episodes, as well as a welcome revival of a "gimmick" that had registered well during season four: A "documentary"-style installment, filmed in black-and-white in the manner of a 1950s documentary, wherein TV correspondent Clete Roberts interviewed the men and women of the 4077th. This episode, "Our Finest Hour", was expanded to a full hour, the better to accommodate "flashback" excerpts featuring such long-departed M*A*S*H regulars as Wayne Rogers, Maclean Stevenson and Larry Linville. In another, even more ambitious "gimmick" episode, "Point of View," the action was seen entirely through the eyes of a seriously wounded GI. It was also during this season that reruns of M*A*S*H were telecast on CBS' daytime lineup. The following year, the series would enter local syndication, where it continued to run until well into the 21st century. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
Season six of M*A*S*H was noteworthy for yet another defection from its regular-cast ranks. Long dissatisfied with the artistic limitations of the role of obnoxious Major Frank Burns, actor Larry Linville followed the lead of his former M*A*S*H colleagues Wayne Rogers and Maclean Stevenson by leaving the series to pursue new projects. It was explained in the sixth season opener that Frank Burns had gone AWOL in reaction to marriage of his longtime paramour Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) to the dashing (but seldom-seen) Lt. Col. Donald Penobscott, and had been transferred to a stateside hospital. The series' producers were anxious to replace Frank Burns with a character who would remain an antagonist to the nominal "heroes," irreverent Army surgeons Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and B.J. (Mike Farrell). At the same time, it was acknowledged that the series' writers had painted themselves into a creative corner by depicting Burns as stupid and incompetent. His replacement would have to be an eminently qualified and undeniably brilliant surgeon, while at the same time boasting a prickly personality that would drive Hawk and BJ up a wall--and vice versa. Thus was born the character of Major Charles Emerson Winchester II (played by David Ogden Stiers), an aristocratic Boston Brahmin of vast knowledge and expertise, whose surgical skill approached genius, and whose arrogance and disdain for his colleagues would provide an amusing contrast to the casual, carefree slovenliness of the 4077th. Also avoiding the series' previous scripting boondoggle of making Frank Burns thoroughly unlovable, it was established early on that Charles Winchester had his compassionate, humane and even warm moments, despite his haughty, overbearing demeanor. Still in its winning Tuesday-night timeslot, M*A*S*H continued to rank highly in the ratings, though it would slip from fourth to eighth place during its sixth season. Also, this would be the first year since 1973 that M*A*S*H would not win at least one Emmy award, though it was honored with eight nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
Although M*A*S*H entered its fifth season with the cast from season four intact--including relative newcomers Mike Farrell as B.J. Hunnicut and Harry Morgan as Col. Sherman Potter--the production roster was short one significant name. Producer and co-creator Larry Gelbart had exited the series at the end of the 1974-75, declaring that he had contributed all he could to the project and was now prepared to move on. This left the lion's share of the creative decisions in the hands of series star Alan Alda, aka Hawkeye Pierce, who had already written and/or directed a number of episodes. Another M*A*S*H stalwart was indicating that he, too, was feeling creatively confined by the series. Larry Linville, who since the beginning of the program in 1972 had functioned as the 4077th's resident nemesis in the role of xenophobic, incompetent surgeon Maj. Frank Burns, had been issuing public complaints that his character had not been allowed to grow and mature as had the other M*A*S*H regulars. Also, since the decision had been made to marry off Burns' mistress Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) to dashing officer Donald Penobscott, Frank was becoming gratuitous and redundant. By the end of season five, Larry Linville followed the lead of such former regulars as Maclean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers) by leaving the series to pursue more artistically satisfying projects. Linville's discomfiture did not, however, extend to the other M*A*S*H cast members. In particular, William Christopher had every reason to welcome the beginning of the fifth season with open arms. Having long been consigned to the "featured players" roster in the closing cast of each episode, Christopher had finally graduated to series-regular status--with commensurate billing at the beginning of the program--in his role as the 4077th's mild-mannered but strong-willed chaplain, Father John Mulcahy. Having been toppled from the "Top Ten" by CBS's reckless decision to schedule the series opposite NBC's Friday-night blockbuster Chico and the Man during season five, M*A*S*H had begun regaining lost ground in December of 1975, when the network shifted the program to Tuesday evenings. It remained a solid Tuesday hit throughout the 1976-77 season, climbing back to fourth place in the ratings. The series also picked up two more Emmy Awards, for Gary Burghoff (aka Cpl. Radar O'Reilly) as best supporting player in a continuing series and for Alan Alda as best director (for the episode "Dear Sigmund"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
Everybody knew that Maclean Stevenson would not return to M*A*S*H when the series inaugurated its fourth season in the fall of 1975; after all, Stevenson's character, Col. Henry Blake, had been abruptly killed off at the end of season three, so any sort of return was out of the question. It did, however, come as something of a surprise to the series' loyal viewers that another of the leading characters, irreverent surgeon Trapper John, was also missing from the fourth season roster. The reason? Actor Wayne Rogers, who'd played Trapper since the series' debut in 1972, had ankled the project in the middle of a contract dispute; he was tired of playing second fiddle to costar Alan Alda (aka Hawkeye Pierce), and wanted to spread his wings with a series of his own. Thus, season four opened with the first of M*A*S*H's one-hour "special" episodes, the better to establish the character of Trapper John's assistant, Capt. B.J. Hunnicut (Mike Farrell. More clean-cut and level-headed that the Rabelaisian Trapper, B.J. nonetheless proved to be every bit as capricious and irreverent as his predecessor, especially when cooking up schemes to embarrass the gimlet-eyed, humorless Frank Burns (Larry Linville and the chronically thin-skinned Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit) As for Col. Blake's replacement, the series' producers decided not to emulate the youngish, laid-back Maclean Stevenson, and instead went with an older, more "Regular Army" character. Harry Morgan, who'd appeared as a guest star during M*A*S*H's third season, was added to the cast as crusty but lovable Colonel Henry Potter, an old Cavalry man who managed to maintain the dignity of the Service and the decorum of the O.R. without ever sacrificing his humanity or sense of humor. Potter also proved to be a "good fit" insofar as company clerk Radar O'Reilly was concerned. Without ever consciously or blatantly doing so, Potter and Radar fell into a warm father-son relationship, which would make Radar's inevitable exit from the series five seasons later all the more poignant. Another development within the M*A*S*H family was the ascention of actor Jamie Farr to full "series regular" status. Introduced as an intended one-shot during season one, Farr's character, cross-dressing Corporal Max Klinger (who of course donned women's clothing in hopes of being discharged from the Army on a Section 8) proved popular enough to warrant additional "guest" appearances, and by the time the 1974-75 season had rolled around, Farr was being billed at the beginning of each episode, rather than merely among the "featured" cast in the closing credits. The "look" of M*A*S*H continued to deepen and mellow during season four, with the "zany" and "serious" aspects achieving a more even balance, thereby lessening the need for that intrusive recorded laughtrack that CBS insisted upon (though the track would not disappear altogether for several seasons to come). This was also the year that the series briefly digressed from its standard format to offer a half-hour "documentary" episode, in which the staff of the 4077th were interviewed by a TV war correspondent (Clete Roberts). Shot in black-and-white, this episode closed out the series' fourth season in the spring of 1976. By that time, M*A*S*H had won the fifth of its Emmy awards, the prize going to Stanford Tischler and Fred W. Berger, who had written the 60-minute opener "Welcome to Korea". Unfortunately, though the series was still popular, it has slipped from fifth to 14th place in the overall ratings, thanks to CBS' misguided decision to move the series from Tuesday to Friday evenings opposite the NBC ratings-grabber Chico and the Man. At least CBS acknowledged its error early on; in December of 1975, M*A*S*H was shifted back to Tuesdays, where it would remain a fixture for the next two years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, (more)
With an ever-increasing viewership and three Emmy awards to its credit, M*A*S*H had no trouble easing into a third successful season in the fall of 1974. Not wishing to tinker with the success, the series' producers retained all of the regular characters from previous years--Hawkeye (Alan Alda), Trapper John (Wayne Rogers), Frank Burns (Larry Linville), Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit), Henry Blake (Maclean Stevenson) and Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff)--while steadily beefing up the roles of the series two most popular recurring characters, Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) and Cpl. Klinger (Jamie Farr). And in a piquant bit of guest-star casting, the third season opener "The General Flipped at Dawn", Harry Morgan was cast as a crackpot General named Bartford Hamilton Steele, whose adherence to regulations was matched only by the length and breadth of his certifiable insanity. Although General Steele would not be seen past this episode, Harry Morgan would of course return the following year in a radically different--and far more enduring--characterization. One person who would not be returning for a fourth season was Maclean Stevenson, who in a career move that has become legendary in its short-sightedness, opted to leave M*A*S*H to star in a new series of his own. The departure of Stevenson's character, the 4077th's beloved commanding officer Henry Blake, occurred during the third season's final episode, "Abyssinia, Henry", the conclusion of which was one of the best-kept--and most shocking--secrets in TV sitcom history. Having ended the 1973-74 season as the fourth most popular series on American television, M*A*S*H slipped ever so slightly to fifth place during 1974-75, a decline attributable to CBS' decision to move the program from its winning Saturday-night slot to a less desirable Tuesday-evening berth. Even so, M*A*S*H remained one of the jewels in CBS' crown, if for no other reason than the series copped its fourth Emmy during its fourth season: the winner was series co-creator Larry Gelbart, for his direction of the episode titled "O.R.", the first (but hardly the last) of the season's installments to completely dispense with a laugh track. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, (more)
Although M*A*S*H had played to less than spectacular ratings during its initial season, there was enough staunch viewer support to warrant a renewal for a second season in the fall of 1973. CBS acknowledged this small but significant upsurge in ratings by moving the series from its "graveyard" Sunday night slot to a Saturday-evening berth at 8:30 PM, where it was in such distinguished company as All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and The Carol Burnett Show. Life at the 4077th M*A*S*H unit continued along the same lines as before, with a few minor changes. Gone were such marginal recurring characters as Spearchucker and Ugly John, while the screen time of two other former "marginals", Father John Mulcahy (William Christopher) and cross-dressing Cpl. Max Klinger (Jamie Farr), was beefed up considerably. Also, the intrusive background music had all but vanished, and the laugh track had been turned down a notch or two (and was still, happily, never to be heard during the series' more "serious" passages in the 4077th's operating room). Otherwise, surgeons Hawkeye (Alan Alda) and Trapper John (Wayne Rogers) continued making the Korean War tolerable for themselves by behaving in as zany and puerile a manner as possible; uptight Frank Burns (Larry Linville) persisted in attempting to impose his own notions of decorum and Americanism on the unit, all the while carrying on his extramarital romance with head nurse Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Loretta Swit; commanding officer Henry Blake (Maclean Stevenson) still maintained an even keel as benevolent despot of the O.R. and all-around Good Guy during his off-hours; and quietly resourceful company clerk Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff) was uncertainly straddling the gap between boyhood and manhood. Swept along with the rest of CBS's highly rated Saturday night lineup, M*A*S*H*'s own share of the audience grew apace, and it was not uncommon during the 1973-74 season for fans of the series to gather around the proverbial water cooler on Monday morning to discuss the plot intricacies of such classic episodes as "Radar's Report", "Carry On Hawkeye", "For Want of a Boot" and "George". It was during this period that the series won the first of several Emmy awards: Alan Alda for best lead actor in a comedy series, Jackie Cooper for his direction of "Carry on Hawkeye", and M*A*S*H itself for Outstanding Comedy Series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, (more)
One of the most famous and successful sitcoms of all time, M*A*S*H was based on the 1970 Robert Altman theatrical film of the same name--which, in turn, was inspired by an autobiographical novel by a former Army doctor, writing pseudonymously as Richard Hooker. Although set during the Korean War of 1950-1953, the staunch antiwar trappings of M*A*S*H, coupled with its relentlessly irreverent treatment of the military "big brass", were very much in tune with the sentiments of the Vietnam War era, during which both the film and the TV series were spawned. The action took place within the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (hence the anagrammatic title), a unit stationed behind the lines in South Korea. Most of the characters on the CBS television series had been introduced in the novel and film, but only one of the film's actors was carried over to the TV version. The main players were two surgeons, Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce (Alan Alda) and Captain "Trapper" John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers), who though dedicated to their work were determined to has as much fun as possible during their off-hours, to break as many rules and regulations as traffic would allow, and to dally with as many pretty nurses as time permitted. The 4077th's commanding officer during the series' first three seasons was easygoing Lt. Col. Henry Blake (Maclean Stevenson, who though he regarded the operating room as his main priority, would sooner go fishing or goof off than anything else. The laid-back demeanor of Hawkeye, Trapper and Blake was not shared by uptight, arrogant, anal-retentive, xenophobic and generally inept surgeon Major Frank Burns (Larry Linville), whose strict adherence to Rules and Regulations usually ended up backfiring on him, or resulted in practical jokes at his expense. Also putting a damper on the fun-and-games was "regular Army" head nurse Major Margaret Houlihan (Loretta Swit), who would have liked nothing better than to see Hawkeye and Trapper. court-martialed. But though Margaret was more competent at her job than Frank Burns, she too became an object of ridicule, principally because she and the very married Burns were carrying on a torrid clandestine romance--which was why she was saddled with the demeaning nickname "Hot Lips." Rounding out the series' first-season regulars was the 4077th's timid, bespectacled, uncannily clairvoyant and endlessly resourceful company clerk, Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly--played by the same actor who essayed the role in the movie version of M*A*S*H, Gary Burghoff. In additon to the above-mentioned regulars, there were any number of recurring characters who wove in and out of the proceedings during season one, notably the 4077th's mild-mannered chaplain Father John Mulcahy, played in the pilot episode by George Morgan and thereafter by William Christopher); African American surgeon Spearchucker Jones (Timothy Brown); the well-named orderly Ugly John (John Orchard); sexy nurses Maggie Dish (Karen Phillip) and Leslie Scorch (Linda Meikeljohn), Ginger Ballis (Odessa Cleveland) and Maggie Cutler (Marcia Strassman); and the officer's Korean houseboy Ho-John (Patrick Adiarte). Another peripheral character, intended as one-shot "gag" appearance, was Corporal Maxwell Klinger (Jamie Farr), a doctor's aide who was so determined to get discharged from the Army on a "Section 8" that he always dressed in women's clothing. After his first fleeting appearance on M*A*S*H's seventh episode, Klinger proved so popular that he became a recurring character--and, like Father Mulcahy, ultimately a full-fledged regular. The first-season episodes of M*A*S*H are easily distinguishable from later installments in the series in several respects: there was more background music and a louder laughtrack (except during the operating-room scenes, in which canned laughter was never, ever heard); the practical jokes were crueler; the higher-ranking officers were almost invariably buffoons; and Hawkeye and Trapper were more hedonistic in their behavior towards the opposite sex. Opening to lukewarm reviews and mediocre ratings, M*A*S*H slowly but surely built up a following thanks to that old reliable known as "word of mouth". This came as something of a surprise to its parent network CBS, which had been none too enthusiastic about the project in the first place, and had accordingly scheduled the program as a "throwaway" opposite NBC's Sunday-night blockbuster The Wonderful World of Disney. But CBS eventually got the message, and moved M*A*S*H to a more desirable Saturday-night slot for its second season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, (more)
- 1971
B. S., I Love You is appropriately titled, as the story concerns a young adman (Peter Kastner), who not only loves his job, but enjoys success in his job due to his success in lovemaking. Especially helpful is his liaison with his boss (Joanna Barnes), but he also manages to further his career with the romantic assistance of the boss's daughter (Joanna Cameron). With enviable energy, he somehow keeps his career going, along with relationships with the boss-ladies and his regular girlfriend (Louise Sorel), while traveling between New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Although he was not the first choice to direct it, the hit black comedy MASH established Robert Altman as one of the leading figures of Hollywood's 1970s generation of innovative and irreverent young filmmakers. Scripted by Hollywood veteran Ring Lardner, Jr., this war comedy details the exploits of military doctors and nurses at a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in the Korean War. Between exceptionally gory hospital shifts and countless rounds of martinis, wisecracking surgeons Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould) make it their business to undercut the smug, moralistic pretensions of Bible-thumper Maj. Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) and Army true-believer Maj. "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Sally Kellerman). Abetted by such other hedonists as Duke Forrest (Tom Skerritt) and Painless Pole (John Schuck), as well as such (relative) innocents as Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff), Hawkeye and Trapper John drive Burns and Houlihan crazy while engaging in such additional blasphemies as taking a medical trip to Japan to play golf, staging a mock Last Supper to cure Painless's momentary erectile dysfunction, and using any means necessary to win an inter-MASH football game. MASH creates a casual, chaotic atmosphere emphasizing the constant noise and activity of a surgical unit near battle lines; it marked the beginning of Altman's sustained formal experiments with widescreen photography, zoom lenses, and overlapping sound and dialogue, further enhancing the atmosphere with the improvisational ensemble acting for which Altman's films quickly became known. Although the on-screen war was not Vietnam, MASH's satiric target was obvious in 1970, and Vietnam War-weary and counter-culturally hip audiences responded to Altman's nose-thumbing attitude towards all kinds of authority and embraced the film's frankly tasteless yet evocative humor and its anti-war, anti-Establishment, anti-religion stance. MASH became the third most popular film of 1970 after Love Story and Airport, and it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. As further evidence of the changes in Hollywood's politics, blacklist survivor Lardner won the Oscar for his screenplay. MASH began Altman's systematic 1970s effort to revise classic Hollywood genres in light of contemporary American values, and it gave him the financial clout to make even more experimental and critical films like McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), California Split (1974), and Nashville (1975). It also inspired the long-running TV series starring Alan Alda as Hawkeye and Burghoff as Radar. With its formal and attitudinal impudence, and its great popularity, MASH was one more confirmation in 1970 that a Hollywood "New Wave" had arrived. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Donald Sutherland, (more)
