There are countless examples of actors becoming too big and reaching useless levels of fame. At a certain point, they stop being able to serve the projects they're cast in. Instead, their fame is a distraction, and they no longer appear as characters. As a viewer, you're unable to disconnect from their real-world identities, and they overshadow their own work. How many times have you watched a movie, unable to really attach to a character, because you only see the famous person on the screen?

Gary Burghoff saw the threat up close. On M*A*S*H, Burghoff was a part of one of TV's most-watched shows ever. Fame is a fickle thing, but the show was so popular that it threatened to swallow its cast with it. However, Burghoff later left the show early, bowing out rather than further shaking hands with the beast. He explained the phenomenon that urged him to quit in a 1982 interview with the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal.

"We all have identities outside our work. If the only identity we have is what we do, then we're in big trouble."

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Indeed, after 174 episodes, Gary Burghoff reasserted himself as Gary Burghoff, quitting the show and frequently reminding the world that he was not Radar O'Reilly. His lifestyle changed drastically: Gone were the 6 AM makeup calls and the five-day-a-week studio schedules. Burghoff, instead, worked when he wanted. Crucially, he also chose for whom he worked.

"I planned the first half of my life to be a success, and now the second half is going to be in service of other people."

By all accounts, Burghoff found a happier life after M*A*S*H. However, his thoughts were still with the uber-famous Hollywood stars with whom he had once rubbed shoulders.

"The Bible warns against idolizing things or people," said Burghoff, now a born-again Christian. "We destroy our diols and our idols destroy us. I don't mean to be preachy, but it's true. My idol is Jesus. That's the only idol I have."