Why Did Gary Burghoff Leave M*A*S*H? Unpacking The Rumors About His Departure

Spinning out of the hit movie, "M*A*S*H" followed the staff at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. The series ran for 11 seasons from 1972 to 1983 and was nominated for over 100 Emmy awards, winning 14. One of the most beloved characters from the movie and show was Corporal Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, who was played by Gary Burghoff on the big and small screen. To the shock of fans, Burghoff left "M*A*S*H" early in the eighth season, saying goodbye to a character he had been playing for nearly a decade. In the two-part story, Radar is forced to leave the 4077th when his uncle dies and his family needs him back home. And while Burghoff's sendoff was touching, it was also surrounded by rumors.

For years, fans of "M*A*S*H" believed that Burghoff left the series because of tensions between him and the rest of the cast. Adding fuel to the fire was a clip of Charles S. Dubin, who directed over 40 episodes of the show, saying Berghoff "felt, not neglected, but he felt that he wasn't getting his proper dues in a way." But deeper into that same interview, Dubin goes on to call Burghoff "a very sweet man." In fact, many of Burghoff's castmates only spoke highly of him. 

Jamie Farr, who played Cpl. Klinger on "M*A*S*H," revealed to The Gazette (via MeTV) that he tried to talk Burghoff out of leaving the show, saying, "I told Gary his leaving might be bad for the show and bad for him, but I couldn't talk him out of it." But, in his autobiography, "To M*A*S*H and Back," Burghoff claimed there was some on-set tension during his time on "M*A*S*H," but it was his own fault.

While his fellow "M*A*S*H" castmates may have felt differently, Burghoff believed that there was tension on the set and that it was his fault. By the time the show's eighth season rolled around, Burghoff was going through a divorce. As he explained on "M.A.S.H: The Comedy That Changed Television,"  "My life at that time was a beautiful picture that was all crooked, and I had to step back big time in order to grow as a human being." Burghoff said he took out the anger he had about his personal life on the other actors, which is likely why Burghoff clashed with McLean Stevenson (Lt. Col. Henry Blake), leading to Stevenson leaving the show in the third season. 

Of course, feuds between actors are common — just ask Blake Lively. And, sometimes, two people with very different personalities may clash, especially when spending a lot of time together. But Ken Levine, one of the main writers on "M*A*S*H," took to his own site to squash the rumors that Burghoff was, as a fan asked him, "a nightmare on set." Levine made his experiences with the actor clear, writing, "I found Gary to be always pleasant on the set and always prepared. Trust me, I've worked with monsters. Gary was farrrrr from one of them." Further showing that the rest of the cast held no ill will toward Burghoff, Alan Alda invited him to be part of a "M*A*S*H" reunion on his podcast and shared a video of the event on X. 

It seems that, if there ever were hurt feelings between Burghoff and his castmates, it's all water under the bridge now. For more about the classic sitcom, see what the cast of "M*A*S*H" looks like now.