Joe Bolton (September 8, 1910 – August 13, 1986) was an American radio and television personality whose entire television career was associated with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

WPIX Channel 11 WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...

from its first day of broadcasting on June 15, 1948, until his retirement in 1975. He hosted many of the station's children's shows such as ''The Clubhouse Gang'' and ''The Three Stooges Funhouse'' dressed in a policeman's uniform and introducing himself as "Officer Joe Bolton". When hosting ''

The Dick Tracy Show ''The Dick Tracy Show'' is an American animated television series based on Chester Gould's comic strip crime fighter. The series was produced from 1961 to 1962 by UPA. In the show, policeman Dick Tracy employed a series of cartoony subordinat ...

'', Bolton wore a police chief's uniform.

Biography

Bolton was born in Flushing, New York to Florence Youngling and Joseph Reeves Bolton II. By 1920, his parents were living in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

where his father was a sales manager for hotel supplies. He started his broadcast career in 1927 as a staff announcer for WOR in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

's talent show ''

Doorway to Fame ''Doorway to Fame'' is an American talent show broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network. The series ran from May 2, 1947, to July 11, 1949. Overview The series used early television scene-blending technology to project the performer ...

'' in 1947, but he left DuMont for

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship (broadcas ...

on May 15, 1948 to be a news announcer and weatherman. On January 17, 1955, he appeared as "Officer Joe" and hosted ''The Clubhouse Gang'', which featured the ''

Little Rascals ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, also the ...

'' and the theme song " The Whistler and his Dog". WPIX lost the rights to

The Little Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and in September 1958, he switched to hosting ''The Three Stooges Funhouse'', a showcase of The Three Stooges shorts which aired on WPIX weekdays until May 7, 1970, mostly weekdays at 5:30 pm. At one time, he was host of WPIX's ''

'' as "Police Chief Joe".FESTIVAL—In clockwise order, "Bozo the Clown," Chuck McCann, Jack McCarthy and Joe Bolton perform for children on a WPIX show from 12:30 to 5 P.M. today (''The New York Times''. Sunday, December 25, 1960)
/ref> Bolton also appeared in two ''Three Stooges'' films: the 1960 compilation of archive footage from 12 two-reelers, ''

Stop! Look! and Laugh ''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' is a 1960 feature-length Three Stooges compilation featuring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard. Eleven of the Stooges shorts were shown and bridged together with segments featuring Paul Winchell and his dummies, ...

'', in which he had a cameo as "Officer Joe", and in 1965's '' The Outlaws Is Coming'', the last feature film by The Three Stooges, which featured him and eight other local children television show hosts, all cast as Old West's most notorious outlaws. Bolton appeared at many New York area venues, including

Freedomland U.S.A. Freedomland U.S.A. (usually called Freedomland) was a theme park dedicated to American history in the Baychester section of the northeastern Bronx in New York City. Operating from 1960 to 1964, Freedomland was built on marshland owned by the W ...

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, to meet and entertain children. At Freedomland, he hosted appearances by The Three Stooges at the park's Moon Bowl entertainment venue. Bolton and The Three Stooges are featured in the book ''Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History'' (Theme Park Press, 2019). Bolton retired in 1975 to

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, and died in 1986 at

Santa Monica Hospital UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center is a hospital located within the city of Santa Monica, California. The hospital was founded in 1926, and is a member of the UCLA Health. The hospital is also known internationally for operating its Rape Treatment ...

of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

.California Death Index. His mother's maiden name was Youngling and he was born in New York. Bolton had two children: a daughter, Catherine Bolton of

; and a son, Joseph Reeves Bolton IV of

Port Salerno, Florida Port Salerno is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,401 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Port St. Lucie Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Port S ...

Film appearances

*''Home Run on the Keys'' (1936) (uncredited announcer in

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one th ...

short starring

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

) *''

'' (1960) *'' The Outlaws Is Coming'' (1965)

External links

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Joe 1910 births 1986 deaths American television meteorologists American television news anchors Journalists from New York City People from Flushing, Queens People from Santa Monica, California

Biography

Film appearances

External links

See also

References and notes