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Radar's voice changed

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 9:02 pm
by dime4abeer
It has always bugged me that Radar's voice changed for the two-part "Goodbye Radar" into a deeper, more mature tone. Gone were the squeaks and boyish charm. It was not a gradual change either.

Re: Radar's voice changed

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 1:22 pm
by Big Daddy O'Reilly
That's because for all those years, Gary Burghoff was actually pitching his own voice a little higher to give Radar a more youthful sound when he spoke. By the time he was brought back for Radar's two-parter, he was so burned out of playing Radar, that he didn't even want to bother with changing his voice anymore.

Re: Radar's voice changed

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 7:53 pm
by UglyJohn
Yeah. Gary Burghoff was already 29 when he was cast as Radar in 1972 for the TV series. He was better as the squeeky voiced teenager drafted into a MASH unit then he was in 1979 when he was leaving. His natural voice didn't reflect the naive sevant we loved so much. But by then the show was into its heavy melodramatic era. Margaret rarely shrieked anymore, so the humor was passe and the drama was contrived to reflect American societal issues.

Re: Radar's voice changed

Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2019 3:15 pm
by Mr Kwong
"Margaret rarely shrieked anymore,"

Actually she yelled a lot in the later seasons

Re: Radar's voice changed

Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2019 7:54 pm
by UglyJohn
Mr Kwong wrote:Actually she yelled a lot in the later seasons
IMHO it's a matter of semantics really. She shrieked in the early seasons because Swit was younger and could hit those high notes. As she aged it was tougher to do that. She yelled in the later seasons but you could hear that it was a lower octave. Even her speaking voice went lower, just like Radar's voice. Watching As Time Goes By right now - she yells but it's not the high pitched stuff from earlier seasons.