STAPLES -- The actor who will forever be known as Radar O'Reilly of M*A*S*H fame is coming to Staples later this month for a one-show theatrical performance before a lakes area audience.
Gary Burghoff is starring in a professional theatrical production of Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers," which is touring the country through next May, including a single performance at 8 p.m. Sept. 20 in Centennial Auditorium.
Tickets went on sale this week and are available by calling 894-5416 or 800-213-6877.
In the Simon production, Burghoff, 57, plays Barney Cashman, a happily married middle-aged man who decides to experience an extra-marital fling before life passes him by, with predictable comedic results.
The traveling production by the Lake Pepin Players has been produced by William and Sally Rogers and directed by William Rogers.
"The show has had great reviews on the tour," said June Longbella of the Centennial Auditorium's program planning committee. "This is a wonderful chance for us to offer the community a big city theater production."
Written by Simon for the stage in the late 1960s, "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" is considered by many to be among the famous playwright's best work.
Simon rewrote it for the big screen in the 1972 movie release starring Alan Arkin as the loveable, bumbling Barney who had trouble learning how to sin, some of the same characteristics brought to life by Burghoff in his role as Radar.
A native of Connecticut, Burghoff broke into show business in the mid-1960s as a jazz musician and songwriter, and later as a stage actor. His big break came in 1967 when he was cast as Charlie in the off-Broadway production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."
His performance caught the eye of director Robert Altman who cast Burghoff as Radar in the movie version of M*A*S*H. Burghoff was the only member of the cast invited to reprise his character for the television series, where he stayed for nearly eight seasons.
In recent years Burghoff has made occasional television and movie appearances, including as host of the Public Broadcast Service television series "Pets: Part of the Family." But he has never reached the levels of success he attained as an actor during the M*A*S*H years.
During the 1990s, he has turned more attention to developing his skills as a painter, drawing on his passion for nature and wildlife as subject material. His paintings now can run as high as $10,000, according to his Web site where he markets his art.
He and his wife, Elisabeth, and two teen-age children divide their time between Connecticut and California. He remains active in live theater as an actor and director.
