The original prop teddy bear used during the production of M*A*S*H was sold at auction by Gary Burghoff last month. The auction took place on March 27th online via One of a Kind Collectibles. The starting bid was $500 and there were 19 bidders involved. The final bid, with buyers premium, was $14,307.50. Burghoff included a notarized letter, which I have transcribed below, explaining what happened to the bear after the series ended.
The teddy bear offered in the one of a kind collectables auction on March 27, 2014, is the actual bear we used on MASH television series between 1971 and 1981. It is the ONLY bear used in the series.
When the series concluded in 1981, the bear mysteriously disappeared for nearly 30 years, prompting my non-ending search for my little on-camera companion and friend. It was conspicuously missing at the MASH exhibit of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC which was one of the most successful exhibits in Smithsonian history.
Finally, “TIGER” (as I had secretly named him), surfaced in a specialized show business memorabilia auction. It had been in the possession of the MASH set designer all along! A friend and I purchased it and TIGER has been in our care for many years.
The Radar Teddy Bear may be said to be the most famous teddy bear in the world today. MASH is still loved world-wide in more than 15 languages.
Tiger is a true 20th and 21st Century Television icon and, due to the importance of the MASH series, has a lasting place in American history.
My hope is that he will find a new home with a person or institution that understands the true value of this special American icon.
The auction Burghoff refers to was the July 29th, 2005 Profiles in History 22nd Hollywood Auction. The bear was sold for $11,000 (including buyers premium).
I’ve updated my Prop Spotlight: Radar’s Teddy Bear with this latest information.
(Source: BestCareAnywhere.net)
What a great cultural artifact.
The MASH geek in me would like to point out that Gary’s dates are all wrong. Gary was on the show from 1972 to 1979, and the show ended in 1983, not 1981.
Yeah, agreed. And it really wasn’t the “only” bear to be used. There was the one that went into the time capsule in “As Time Goes By”.
Of course the Bear really didnt’t stay there.
There were three bears used and there was one buried in a time capsule that the cast each put a item in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBsrSBH6Pvo for reference
It was the same one.
Radar left it behind for Hawkeye and he put it in the time capsule to represent those that came as boys and left as men.
But if you remember….Radar left the teddy bear with Hawkeye
A) Are the dates quoted the dates GB was within the show
B) Does it matter as long a tiger is safe
He didn’t stay on the show till it ended. Gary left in 1981. The show continued on with Max Klinger as the company clerk when Radar left!
I love this show and eleven years of mash. I have watched it ever since it has been out. I have every episode that was ever made. It I’m blue I put one of the episode on and get happy. There to funny.plus my whole family loves almost all those actors in the cast. I love haweye, Margaret, trapper, blake, rarar, Frank, Klinger, bj, morgan, winchester, synden, father, all the nurses. Such a successful show and it brought a lot of laughter in my heart and my son Donnie.
I couldn’t stand Alan Alda and his whining
Then why did you watch the show? Alda is the best !!
There were three bears used and there was one buried in a time capsule that the cast each put a item in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBsrSBH6Pvo for reference
The video says they by tried something in the capsule but not what it was. And no mention of this third people have mentioned. I believe there is only one bear. No one would bury that bear
Actually, I just watched that episode a couple weeks ago. Hawkeye put the bear in the time capsule. He said that Radar had left it to him.
I’m sure Gary knows how many bears he used! Yes, Hawkeye donated the bear to put in the time capsule. That was the last time they ever showed.
It was taken from the set by the set designer after that and he gave it to his little girl. He kept it for 30 years and put it up for auction 30 years later.
I have a childhood teddy bear the same as Radar’s! I love my bear just as much as radar loved his! His should never have been sold!! It should have been put in a museum for future generations to enjoy!
I have one that is identical to the one Radar had (except it still has both eyes). The one I have is now almost 70 years old. I still love it.
So what is the final tally , was there three bears or just one as Gary Burghoff says ? A very very life long fan , since it came into existence .
I believe 1 bear. Have never heard of others, and the time capsule was for show. The time capsule they burried after the show, they don’t say what was in it. But why bury That bear, to much an icon. Would be hard to duplicate
There actually were two bears… Radar’s “Tiger”, and the one Alan Alda put in the time capsule in the episode “As Time Goes By.”. With that being said, after the last “Cut, and Wrap!” of the last filmed episode, the cast apparently did a real time capsule. It’s said that “Tiger” (Radar’s actual Bear) was put in, and thereby went “missing for 30 years”. If that’s the case, then apparently the MASH Set Designer who auctioned it off, and thereby allowed G.B. to get the bear back by winning the auction, dug up the time capsule for himself. A bit rude, but I don’t believe it would be illegal for him to do so. After all, once buried, the time capsules and the items within are in most places considered to be abandoned (unless on private property?).
https://youtu.be/YBsrSBH6Pvo
The time capsule was dug up a couple months later by accident by a construction worker building an office building.
The bear was never actually buried! It went missing after Hawkeye donated it for the on show time capsule. A set designer took it and had it for 30 years before putting it up on an online movie memorabilia auction. Gary and a friend bought it back. Gary had it for years after buying it back. He eventually decided to auction it and it sold for over $14,000 which Gary donated to a charity for wounded Veterans.
Gary is right. I’m sure he is the one that would know that there was only one bear!
Not sure exactly how many there were, however, I feel the “real” or “original” one should really go to Gary Burghoff, the caregiver of Tiger for all those years. I know it was said he auctioned it after discovering its location , but I honestly feel this is just wrong!! Should have not been allowed to be with anyone other than “Radar”” !! Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this way? Just doesn’t feel right….. makes me sad actually …
I feel that way too. I’m a pretty rational and unsentimental person but I’m not convinced that beloved teddy bears are entirely non-sentient.
He auctioned it for a very good cause! He donated the money to a charity he is heavily involved in for wounded Veterans.
I remember there being two bears. The one hawkeye put in the time capsule was very different. It was darker in color and didn’t have the plastic snout. I think the original should be in a museum.
What about the one that was left behind (and discovered by “Hawkeye”) after “Radar’s” final departure from the series? Was that “Tiger”?
Yes that was Tiger. The original and only bear used.
This may be the same Teddy Bear that Thurston Howell the 3rd slept with on the Gilligan’s Island Show!!!
Please let me know!!!
THIS TEDDY BEAR MY BE WORTH ALOT MORE THSN $14,000
If it was once in the Smthsonian then how did it get taken out and by who? The winner of the auction who paid the $14,000. Should offer it back to the museum for all to enjoy just like “Fonzi’s jacket” and get some of his money back. and hey what did ever happen to Thurston’s bear?
As the article stated, “the bear was conspicuously missing from the Smithsonian “.
It didn’t ever go on display at the Smithsonian because a set designer took it and had it for 30 years before he put it up for auction. Gary bought it.
Gary eventually put it up for auction and the money from the sale went to a charity for wounded Veteran s. It is a charity he is heavily involved with.
I watched M.A.S.H all through my life growing up. The writing and the characters were so enjoyable and everyone of any age enjoyed it. I have every episode and watch them all the time although it’s very difficult to watch the last episode for me it was a bit too much but it did show the rawness of the war. I feel very close to the characters I went into the medical field because of the show and I’m very happy that I have done so.
I truly feel the bear should be with Gary and he alone she decide if it goes to the Smithsonian. That little bear is the part of all of us
Gary did eventually get the bear back 30 years after it went missing. He found it being auctioned online. He and a friend bought it back. Gary decided that instead of putting it in the Smithsonian that he would put it up for auction selling it for over $14,000 which he donated the money to a charity for wounded Veterans. It is a very worthy cause and one that Gary is deeply involved in.
So I have a radar teddy bear I don’t remember when we bought it but we saw it on TV the commercial was saying about the military by the bear to keep the show still running something to that effect I think it was back in the early eighties it was something my husband and I saw on TV they were selling radar teddy bears and ours has the t-shirt on him with the dog tag …. So I’m just wondering if you know what those bears would go for today we loved the mash series show we’ve watched them so many times for many years over and over and over again….. thank you for your time sincerely Mrs. Fairthorne …
If I ever saw replicas of Radar’s Teddy Bears for sale I def would have bought one.. in fact.. if there was any left from the 80’s I think They’d easily be worth $100.00
for one, but I usually find I’m always offering about a 1/3 of what they’re actually worth.
We did have an IV bottle in our house full of Vodka i believe with the green box w/the red cross and the word M*A*S*H on the other side… wish I had kept that.. I have 100’s of items from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s… Records, board games, Transformer Toys…
And I saw a ‘like new’ MASH board game, at a flea mrkt, at some church, and I was running late, and I went back for it, thinking, “what was I thinking!!?? GRAB IT! But.. DUH-ME! it was GONE!! Been years and I’m still angry with myself!