Radar

Radar is Big Bird's teddy bear on Sesame Street. He's a brown stuffed bear with a red ribbon around his neck. Much like Ernie and his Rubber Duckie, Radar is Big Bird's most treasured possession, and Big Bird often confides in the bear. Many storylines over the years have involved his being ripped, stolen, or missing. In one 1990 episode, after a search at the Bureau of Missing Bears, Colambo, in his first appearance, was hired to find him.

Radar has often been depicted in Sesame Street coloring books and illustrated books over the years, and in the early 1980s, a stuffed toy Radar was manufactured and marketed. Radar was also featured in Follow That Bird, where Big Bird sent Radar ahead by "special delivery, bear mail" to keep them from being spotted.

The stuffed bear was named by Caroll Spinney as a tribute to actor Gary Burghoff, who played Walter "Radar" O'Reilly on M*A*S*H. The two met at a taping of Hollywood Squares, and the bear's name is a dual tribute, reflecting Burghoff's Radar character, who brought a teddy bear to Korea, and the fact that in his private life, Burghoff is known as a painter of birds and an activist for bird preservation.

Book Appearances

 * A Bird's Best Friend (1986)
 * Big Bird's Busy Day (1987)
 * A Day in the Country (1988)
 * Sleep Tight! (1991)