CURIOSITYYou’d Never Guess Which Famous Faces Were Also Brilliant Inventors4 min read

Radar O’Reilly Goes Fishing

Gary Burghoff played Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly in M*A*S*H, and the performance was so good that most people can’t think of him any other way. Off-screen, he was an avid angler with strong opinions about bait dispersal.

In 1993, he invented Chum Magic: a floating device that holds chum and slowly releases it into the water, creating a consistent scent trail without requiring the fisherman to keep tossing handfuls of fish parts overboard. It went on sale in the ’90s. He also patented a fishing rod with a tapered handle for better balance and grip, and a hygiene-first toilet seat lifter. Neither of those saw commercial success, but Chum Magic had its moment.

The First Movie Star Invented the Turn Signal

Florence Lawrence became famous in 1906, when movies were still a curiosity and actors didn’t receive screen credits. She was the first person recognized as a movie star specifically — a face audiences came to see, not just a figure on a screen.

She also invented the turn signal. Her design used a fender-mounted arm that could be raised or lowered via electric push buttons to signal a driver’s intent. Lawrence never patented it. She simply told the press about it and gave the idea away freely. Improved versions spread quickly across American roads, and the rest is the history of every left turn ever signaled.