Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown", is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to television in 1949, later appearing in franchised television programs of which he was the host, where he was portrayed by numerous local performers.
Creation and history
The character was created by
Alan W. Livingston
Alan Wendell Livingston (born Alan Wendell Levison; October 15, 1917 – March 13, 2009) was an American businessman best known for his tenures at Capitol Records, first as a writer/producer best known for creating Bozo the Clown for a series ...
and portrayed by
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. C ...
for a children's storytelling record album and illustrated read-along book set in 1946. He became popular and served as the mascot for
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
.
The character first appeared on US television in 1949 portrayed by Colvig. After the creative rights to Bozo were purchased by
Larry Harmon
Lawrence Weiss (January 2, 1925 – July 3, 2008), better known by the stage name Larry Harmon and as his alter ego Bozo the Clown, was an American entertainer.Dennis McLellanLarry Harmon, 83; entrepreneur made Bozo the Clown a star ''Los ...
in 1957, the character became a common franchise across the United States, with local television stations producing their own Bozo shows featuring the character. Harmon bought out his business partners in 1965 and produced ''Bozo's Big Top'' for syndication to local television markets not producing their own Bozo shows in 1966, while Chicago's '' Bozo's Circus'', which premiered in 1960, went national via cable and satellite in 1978.
Performers who have portrayed Bozo, aside from Colvig and Harmon, include
Syd Saylor
Syd or SYD may refer to:
*Syd (name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Syd.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Hans Sydow (1879–1946), German mycologist
* Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
** IATA code for Sydney Airport, New Sout ...
(1950s on
KTTV
KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...
),
Frank Cady
Frank Randolph Cady (September 8, 1915 – June 8, 2012) was an American actor best known for his role as storekeeper Sam Drucker in three American television series during the 1960s – ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ' ...
,
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC bro ...
(1959–1962),
Frank Avruch Frank Bernard Avruch (May 21, 1928 – March 20, 2018) was an American television host who played Bozo the Clown on Boston television from 1959 to 1970. He played the first nationally syndicated version of the clown.
Early life
Avruch was born in ...
Joey D'Auria
Joseph J. D'Auria (born May 18, 1952) is an American film, television and voice actor, best known for his role as Bozo the Clown in '' The Bozo Show'', succeeding original actor Bob Bell. He is also known as J.W. Terry, Joseph J. Terry, and Jo ...
(1984–2001). Bozo TV shows were also produced in other countries including Mexico, Brazil, Greece, Australia, and Thailand.
David Arquette
David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster E ...
purchased the rights to the Bozo the Clown character from Larry Harmon Pictures in 2021.
Larry Harmon
Lawrence Weiss (January 2, 1925 – July 3, 2008), better known by the stage name Larry Harmon and as his alter ego Bozo the Clown, was an American entertainer.Dennis McLellanLarry Harmon, 83; entrepreneur made Bozo the Clown a star ''Los ...
starring as Bozo, with
Paul Frees
Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...
as the narrator.
Hollis Hollis may refer to:
*Hollis (singer)
*Hollis (name)
Places
* Hollis, Alaska
* Hollis, Kansas
* Hollis, Maine
* Hollis, Missouri
* Hollis, New Hampshire
* Hollis, Oklahoma
* Hollis, Queens, neighborhood in New York
**Hollis (LIRR station), its L ...
(2001), p. 18
Franchises and licensing
Bozo was created as a character by Livingston, who produced a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set, the first of its kind, titled ''Bozo at the Circus'' for
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
and released in October 1946. Colvig portrayed the character on this and subsequent Bozo read-along records. The albums were very popular and the character became a mascot for the record company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown." Many non-Bozo Capitol children's records had a "Bozo Approved" label on the jacket. In 1948, Capitol and Livingston began setting up royalty arrangements with manufacturers and television stations for use of the Bozo character.
KTTV
KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...
in Los Angeles began broadcasting the first show, ''Bozo's Circus'', in 1949 featuring Colvig as Bozo with his blue-and-red costume, oversized red hair and whiteface clown makeup on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
In 1957,
Larry Harmon
Lawrence Weiss (January 2, 1925 – July 3, 2008), better known by the stage name Larry Harmon and as his alter ego Bozo the Clown, was an American entertainer.Dennis McLellanLarry Harmon, 83; entrepreneur made Bozo the Clown a star ''Los ...
, one of several actors hired by Livingston and Capitol Records to portray Bozo at promotional appearances, formed a business partnership and bought the licensing rights (excluding the record-readers) to the character one year after Livingston left Capitol. Harmon renamed the character "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown" and modified the voice, laugh and costume. He then worked with a wig stylist to get the wing-tipped bright orange style and look of the hair that had previously appeared in Capitol's Bozo comic books. He started his own animation studio and distributed (through Jayark Films Corporation) a series of cartoons (with Harmon as the voice of Bozo) to television stations, along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host, beginning with
KTLA
KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
-TV in Los Angeles on January 5, 1959, and starring
Vance Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Jr. (March 9, 1918 – March 4, 1991) was an American actor and writer. He voiced the Chopper bulldog character on ''The Yogi Bear Show''. In the 1980s, he made guest appearances in various films, television series, and ...
Jr., son of the original "Bozo the Clown," Pinto Colvig.
Unlike many other shows on television, "Bozo the Clown" was mostly a
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
as opposed to being
syndicated
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
, meaning that local TV stations could put on their own local productions of the show complete with their own Bozo. Another show that had previously used this model successfully was fellow children's program ''
Romper Room
''Romper Room'' is an American children's television series that was franchised and syndicated from 1953 to 1994. The program targeted preschoolers (children five years of age or younger), and was created and produced by Bert Claster and his pr ...
''. Because each market used a different portrayer for the character, the voice and look of each market's Bozo also differed slightly. One example is the voice and laugh of Chicago's WGN-TV Bob Bell, who also wore a red costume throughout the first decade of his portrayal.
The wigs for Bozo were originally manufactured through the Hollywood firm
Emil Corsillo Inc Emil Corsillo Inc. was a US company that manufactured hairpieces; primarily for the entertainment industry.
History
Emil was an Italian immigrant. Together with his wife, Elsie Koch, he founded Emil Corsillo Inc., the famous Hollywood company tha ...
. The company designed and manufactured toupees and wigs for the entertainment industry. Bozo's headpiece was made from
yak
The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin St ...
hair, which was adhered to a canvas base with a starched burlap interior foundation. The hair was styled and formed, then sprayed with a heavy coat of lacquer to keep its form. From time to time, the headpiece needed freshening and was sent to the Hollywood factory for a quick refurbishing. The canvas top would slide over the actor's forehead. With the exception of the Bozo wigs for WGN-TV Chicago, the eyebrows were permanently painted on the headpiece.
In 1965, Harmon bought out his business partners and became the sole owner of the licensing rights. Thinking that one national show that he fully owned would be more profitable for his company, Harmon produced 130 of his own half-hour shows from 1965 to 1967 titled ''Bozo's Big Top'' which aired on Boston's
WHDH-TV
WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (nea ...
(now
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue int ...
) with Boston's Bozo, Frank Avruch, for syndication in 1966. Avruch's portrayal and look of Bozo resembled Harmon's more so than most of the other portrayers' at the time. Avruch was enlisted by
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid t ...
as an international ambassador and was featured in a documentary, ''Bozo's Adventures in Asia''.
The show's distribution network included New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boston at one point, though most television stations still preferred to continue producing their own versions. The most popular local version was Bob Bell and WGN-TV Chicago's ''Bozo's Circus,'' which went national via cable and satellite in 1978 and had a waiting list for studio audience reservations that eventually reached ten years.
Bell retired in 1984 and was replaced by Joey D'Auria. The WGN version successfully survived competition from syndicated and network children's programs until 1994, when WGN management decided to get out of the weekday children's television business and buried ''The Bozo Show'' in an early Sunday timeslot as ''The Bozo Super Sunday Show.'' It suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of
educational
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...
children's programs per week.
In 2001, station management controversially ended production, citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels. In 2005, WGN's Bozo returned to television in a two-hour retrospective titled '' Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics''. The primetime premiere was No. 1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed live worldwide during the holiday season each year. In 2003, Harmon released six of his ''Bozo's Big Top'' programs with Avruch on DVD and 2 box sets of 30 episodes each in 2007 retitled "Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown Vols.1 & 2." The WGN Bozo shows have not been released commercially in any video format.
On July 3, 2008, Larry Harmon died of congestive
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
at the age of 83. On March 13, 2009, Alan W. Livingston died of age-related causes at the age of 91. On October 2, 2010, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that the father of U.S. Senate candidate
Christine O'Donnell
Christine Therese O'Donnell (born August 27, 1969) is an American conservative activist in the Tea Party movement best known for her 2010 campaign for the United States Senate seat from Delaware vacated by Joe Biden.
O'Donnell was born in ...
"worked a series of small television roles before scoring his signature gig, playing Bozo the Clown." But upon further investigation, a ''New York Times'' follow-up two days later reported that the father, Daniel O'Donnell, was an assistant and
understudy
In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to a ...
for the full-time local television Bozo in Philadelphia and would fill in for the full-time Bozo when the latter was unavailable.
Bozo the Clown series by locality
Boston TV
The Bozo franchise appeared on two separate Boston-area stations from 1959 to 1974.
WHDH-TV Boston
The local
WHDH-TV
WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (nea ...
Boston production of ''Bozo's Circus'', with Frank Avruch playing Bozo, aired daily from 1959 until 1970. In 1965, Larry Harmon became the sole owner of the Bozo licensing rights after buying out his business partners, and produced 130 episodes of the Boston-based Bozo show between 1965 and 1967 and syndicated them to local U.S. television markets that did not produce their own Bozo shows. The half-hour syndicated shows were retitled ''Bozo The Clown'' (on episodes with a 1965 date) and ''Bozo's Big Top'' (on episodes with a 1966 date).
Caroll Spinney
Caroll Edwin Spinney (December 26, 1933 – December 8, 2019) was an American puppeteer, cartoonist, author, artist and speaker, most famous for playing Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on ''Sesame Street'' from its inception in 1969 until 2018.
E ...
(billed in the credits as Ed Spinney) appeared as various characters which included Mr. Lion and Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo. He later went on to portray
Big Bird
Big Bird is a The Muppets, Muppet character designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love for the long-running children's television show ''Sesame Street''. An eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright yellow Anthropomorphism, anthropomo ...
and
Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/ HBO children's television program '' Sesame Street''. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a trash can. Oscar's favorite thing is trash, a ...
on ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...
''. Carl Carlsson also appeared as Bozo's sidekick Professor Tweedy Foofer. Ruth Carlsson also appeared in several 1966 episodes. Del Grosso played Clank the Robot in a few episodes. Harmon personally supervised the taping of these episodes, with Harmon-approved characters added, some based on characters in Harmon's classic 1958–1962 animated ''Bozo'' cartoon shorts which also aired in each episode. These were the only Bozo shows Harmon fully owned. Bozo's frequent exclamations on the show included, "Whoa, Nellie!" and "Wowie Kazowie!" and always ended the show with, "Always keep laughing!"
The Boston show also occasionally featured Nozo the Clown, the brother of Bozo, played by Bill Harrington. Nozo was used to fill in for Bozo on occasion when Frank Avruch was unable to appear on the show. Nozo did not wear the red ball on his nose that other Bozos wore. Instead, his nose was Harrington's nose in makeup.
In 2003, Harmon released six of these shows on DVD and, in 2007, 30 of them in a DVD box set titled ''Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown, Collection 1''. A second box set was released later that year, also containing 30 of the half-hours; the second box set (''Collection 2'') includes the six episodes previously released on the two earlier single DVD releases, and also repeats one show from ''Collection 1'', for a grand total of 59 episodes released on DVD altogether. Although the shows included on the two single-disc DVDs had contemporary computer-animated characters superimposed over some scenes, the 59 episodes included in ''Collections 1 & 2'' are presented in their original form.
On March 20, 2018, Frank Avruch died of heart failure in Boston at the age of 89.
WSMW-TV Worcester
From 1970 to 1974, WSMW-TV, an independent station in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...
, west of Boston, produced ''Bozo's Big Top'', their local version of the Bozo the Clown franchise. Tom Matzell played Bozo, alongside Gene Sanocki as Bozo's sidekick Professor Tweetyfoofer. Local children were featured on the program daily, with many waiting up to one year or more for their chance to be on the show.
Detroit/Windsor
Bozo first came to Detroit in 1958 on
WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both stati ...
channel 4. Bob McNea, who worked as a clown in various circuses, including the
Shrine Circus
The Shrine Circus is a circus founded in Detroit, Michigan on Woodward Avenue in 1906. It travels to roughly 120 cities per year in the United States and a separate unit travels to about 40 in Canada. It is affiliated with the former Ancient A ...
, was hired to play Bozo.Castelnero (2007), p. 110 McNea's Bozo became very popular, expanding to two shows a day, and becoming the first children's program in Detroit to switch to color. However, there was friction with Larry Harmon. McNea played the character in a more genteel and subdued way than Harmon's playbook required, and McNea did the show without a live audience. After years of increasing the franchise fee,
WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both stati ...
ended the contract with Harmon in 1967.Castelnero (2007), p. 113
WWJ-TV
WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both stati ...
kept McNea, who created his own clown character Oopsy, which continued on WWJ-TV until 1979. McNea then took Oopsy to
CKCO-TV
CKCO-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Part of the CTV Television Network
The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 196 ...
in Ontario where he continued for another 15 years.Castelnero (2007), p. 126-135
Meanwhile, across the Detroit River in Windsor, CKLW-TV channel 9 picked up the Bozo franchise in 1967. Popular local talent Jerry Booth was tapped to play Bozo, but he only did the role for a couple months. He was replaced by local disc jockey and radio program director Art Cervi, who was the definitive Bozo to Detroit families. Now titled ''Bozo's Big Top'', Cervi was joined by Larry Thompson as red-suited, turban wearing Mr. Whoodini, who had hosted his own children's show ''Magic Shoppe'', as his sidekick.Castelnero (2007), p. 120 Also on the show was piano player Mr. Calliope, played by Wally Townsend.
Unlike WWJ-TV, CKLW-TV included a live audience, but they also did things that were not sanctioned by Harmon. CKLW-TV quickly phased out the cartoons, increasing the entertainment on ''Bozo's Big Top''. After a taped opening in which Bozo runs through the streets of Detroit calling kids to his Big Top, and on set singing and dancing to the "Bozo is Back" theme song, with the illuminated, flashing Bozo sign superimposed over in a slightly psychedelic way, Cervi would preside over an hour long variety show that included local dance troupes, singers, musicians, live animals, and national celebrities. In between, kids would play games to win prizes (one of the most plentiful being a six-pack of
Orange Crush
Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemis ...
), Mr. Whoodini would pick kids to assist him in magic tricks, and of course Bozo would provide comedy. Cervi was also a very good singer, and one of the highlights were two or three times per show, Bozo would sit next to Mr. Calliope at his piano and sing a song, most of the time in Cervi's own voice rather than his Bozo voice, with all the kids in the audience clapping in time to the music. The shows would usually end with Bozo and Mr. Whoodini going into the audience and letting kids tell jokes and riddles. At one point ''Bozo's Big Top'' became so popular, that it aired twice a day.
In 1977, after the station's conversion to
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
-owned CBET, the Canadian border protection and labor rules forced the station to cancel ''Bozo's Big Top'' because most of the cast and staff were American.Castelnero (2007), p. 125 ''Bozo's Big Top'' moved to
WJBK-TV
WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facil ...
channel 2, where it lasted for two more years, and was syndicated to other markets such as New York, Las Vegas, Wichita, and Los Angeles. Due to WJBK-TV's lack of interest in producing such an ambitious show, it was cancelled in 1979, ending Bozo's twenty-year reign in Detroit and Windsor.
On November 5, 2005, Bob McNea, the first Detroit Bozo, died at the age of 76.
In 2014, a memoir of Art Cervi's Bozo years, ''I Did What?'', co-written by Herb Mentzer, was published.
On February 5, 2019, Larry Thompson, who played Mr. Whoodini, died at the age of 76.
On February 15, 2021, Art Cervi died at his Novi, MI home at age 86.
Washington, D.C.
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC bro ...
played Bozo on WRC-TV from 1959 to 1962. Dick Dyszel played the character on Washington, D.C. broadcast TV, WDCA channel 20, in the 1970s to millions of viewers. Dyszel also played TV horror host "Count Gore De vol" and hosted "Captain 20" afternoon kids' TV shows in D.C.
Chicago TV
The Chicago Bozo franchise was the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television. It also became the most widely known Bozo show as WGN-TV became a national
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
Superstation
''Superstation'' (alternatively rendered as "super station" or informally as "SuperStation") is a term in North American broadcasting that has several meanings. Commonly, a "superstation" is a form of distant signal, a broadcast television sign ...
. WGN-TV Chicago's "Bozo" show debuted on June 20, 1960, starring Bob Bell on a live half-hour program weekdays at noon, performing comedy sketches and introducing cartoons. The series was placed on hiatus in January 1961 to facilitate WGN's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to 2501 West Bradley Place on the city's northwest side. WGN-TV's "Bozo's Circus" debuted on September 11, 1961.
Hollis Hollis may refer to:
*Hollis (singer)
*Hollis (name)
Places
* Hollis, Alaska
* Hollis, Kansas
* Hollis, Maine
* Hollis, Missouri
* Hollis, New Hampshire
* Hollis, Oklahoma
* Hollis, Queens, neighborhood in New York
**Hollis (LIRR station), its L ...
(2001), p. 361
The live hour-long show aired weekdays at noon and featured comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. The program began airing nationally via cable and satellite in 1978, and studio audience reservations surpassed a 10-year wait. In 1980, the series moved to weekday mornings as "The Bozo Show" and aired on tape delay. In 1994, it moved to Sunday mornings as "The Bozo Super Sunday Show" and became "education and information" in 1997 following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours per week of "educational and informational" children's programs. The final Bozo show, a primetime special titled "Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!" was taped on June 12, 2001, and aired on July 14, 2001. Reruns of "The Bozo Super Sunday Show" aired until August 26, 2001.
Cast members throughout the program's 40-year run included Bob Bell as Bozo (1960–1984) (Bell's voice was later the pattern for that of
Krusty the Clown
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
on ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''),
Ned Locke
Norbert Locke, better known as Ned Locke (December 25, 1919 – February 4, 1992), was an American television personality and radio announcer, best known for the role of "Ringmaster Ned" on WGN-TV's '' Bozo's Circus'' from 1961 - 1976.
Locke, wh ...
as Ringmaster Ned (1961–1976),
Don Sandburg
Don Sandburg (1930 – October 6, 2018) was an American writer, actor, and producer who worked in television, most notably as producer of ''The Banana Splits'' for Hanna-Barbera as well as WGN-TV's ''Bozo's Circus''.
Career Early career
Sandbur ...
as Sandy the Tramp (1961–1969),
Ray Rayner
Ray Rayner (born Raymond M. Rahner; July 23, 1919 – January 21, 2004) was an American television presenter, actor and author, he was the staple of Chicago children's television in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV.
Early life
Rayner (the name was ...
as Oliver O. Oliver (1961–1971),
Roy Brown Roy Brown may refer to:
Arts, music and entertainment
* Roy Brown (blues musician) (1920/25–1981), American blues musician who was a pioneer of rock and roll
* Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician) (born 1945), Puerto Rican musician and folk singer
...
as Cooky the Cook (1968–1994),
Marshall Brodien
Marshall Brodien (July 10, 1934 – March 8, 2019) was a professional magician who played Wizzo the Wizard, a wizard clown character which appeared on WGN-TV's ''Bozo's Circus'' and ''The Bozo Show'' from 1968-1994.
Early life
Brodien was born a ...
as Wizzo the Wizard (1968–1994),
Frazier Thomas
William Frazier Thomas (June 13, 1918 – April 3, 1985) was a Chicago television personality. Although Thomas wrote nine children's books, he was best known for creating, hosting, writing and producing the long-running children's television pro ...
as the circus manager (1976–1985),
Joey D'Auria
Joseph J. D'Auria (born May 18, 1952) is an American film, television and voice actor, best known for his role as Bozo the Clown in '' The Bozo Show'', succeeding original actor Bob Bell. He is also known as J.W. Terry, Joseph J. Terry, and Jo ...
as Bozo (1984–2001), Andy Mitran as Professor Andy (1987–2001) and Robin Eurich as Rusty the Handyman (1994–2001). Bozo returned to television on December 24, 2005, in a two-hour retrospective titled " Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics." The primetime premiere was No. 1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed annually during the holiday season. Bozo also continues to appear on the WGN-TV float in Chicago's biggest parades.
Allen Hall, the long-time producer, died September 6, 2011, after an 18-month battle with lung cancer at the age of 82. Hall worked at WGN for 40 years. He joined the station in 1961, a year after "Bozo" debuted on WGN, as the show's director until 1966 and returned to the program as producer in 1973 until 2001.
Few episodes from the show's first two decades survive; although some shows were recorded to videotape for delayed broadcasts, the tapes were reused and eventually discarded. In 2012, a vintage tape was located on the Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection Web site archive list by Rick Klein of
The Museum of Classic Chicago Television
The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (also known as FuzzyMemoriesTV) is an online museum dedicated to the preservation of Chicago television broadcasts. Most of the museum's footage originates from " airchecks" of local Chicago channels (and t ...
, containing material from two 1971 episodes. WGN reacquired the tape and put together a new special entitled "Bozo's Circus: The Lost Tape," which aired in December 2012.
On October 6, 2018, Don Sandburg, "Bozo's Circus" producer and writer from 1961 to 1969 and the last surviving original cast member, died at the age of 87. Four months later, WGN-TV paid tribute to Sandburg and the rest of the original cast with a two-hour special titled "Bozo's Circus: The 1960s."
Grand Rapids, Michigan
From 1966 to 1999,
WZZM-TV
WZZM (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station has studios on 3 Mile Road NW in Walker (with a Grand Rapids mailing a ...
produced a Bozo show, starring Dick Richards for the majority of the run. Significant is that when it was cancelled in 1999, it was the last Bozo show other than the Chicago WGN show to be on the air.
Brazilian TV
In 1979, Brazil's most famous TV show host
Silvio Santos
Senor Abravanel, known professionally as Silvio Santos (Portuguese: /ˈsiwvju ˈsɐ̃tus/) (born December 12, 1930), is a Brazilian entrepreneur, media tycoon and television host. He is the owner of holdings that include SBT, the second largest ...
(founder and owner of the
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
television network) decided to produce a national version of Bozo show for the former TVS-Record TV alliance station. Comedian Wandeko Pipoca was chosen by
Larry Harmon
Lawrence Weiss (January 2, 1925 – July 3, 2008), better known by the stage name Larry Harmon and as his alter ego Bozo the Clown, was an American entertainer.Dennis McLellanLarry Harmon, 83; entrepreneur made Bozo the Clown a star ''Los ...
to be the first Brazilian Bozo. Brazilian characters were created for the Brazilian Bozo show, like Salci Fufu — played by famous comedian
Pedro de Lara
Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter.
The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...
— and Vovó Mafalda, played by Valentino Guzzo. With the clown's large success in Brazil, two more actors, Luís Ricardo and Arlindo Barreto, were hired to play Bozo for additional shows which ran from mornings to afternoons and more comedians were chosen to play Bozo in other parts of the country. Brazil's Bozo shows ended in 1991, following the death of Décio Roberto, the last actor to portray the clown in that country. Brazil's Bozo won five ''Troféu Imprensa'', a Brazilian award given to personalities and productions in the media (in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989), as well as three Gold Albums. In the last years of the program,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
bestowed the Brazilian Bozo with its Ambassador of Goodwill recognition, for its outstanding success among children and the youth.
In 2012, when the audience of children's shows started to fall, SBT decided to rehire the clown to a new building on the success of the program clowns
Patati Patatá
Patati Patatá is a Brazilian clown duo, with the brand having been active since 1983, and being known throughout Brazil and in a some other Latin countries. In 2010, they launched the ''Brincando com Patati and Patatá'' music collection via So ...
who also had a program on the same channel. But, unlike the 1980s versions, the character ended up being very poorly received by the public. A criticism was having its premiere in early children's program Bom Dia e Companhia, where he was abruptly inserted into the program, replacing one of the presenters. Bozo continued to show up to receive their own program in 2013 on Saturday mornings, but the program ended up being a failure and canceled after a month. After that the channel decided to return it to Bom Dia e Companhia, but after a while was removed and the contract to continue to use the character was broken.
Mexican TV
In 1961, Mario Quintanilla, chairman of
XEFB-TV
XEFB-TDT is a television station located in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. It is known as Televisa Monterrey and carries Televisa's local programs for Monterrey, including local news, sports and entertainment programming.
History
XEFB signed on ...
Channel 3 obtained the local rights of the Bozo Cartoons, including the authorization of the Bozo characterization. José Marroquín (who later became famous with his ''Pipo'' character) was chosen as the first Mexican Bozo. He portrayed the character on local XHX-TV Channel 10
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...
television shows until 1963, when the licensing rights ended. After that, José Manuel Vargas Martínez, under sponsorship by Antonio Espino (famous comedy actor of the late 1940s and 1950s, known by his nickname,
Clavillazo
José Antonio Hipólito Espino Mora (13 August 1910 – 24 November 1993), better known as ''Clavillazo'' (Great Little Nail) was a Mexican comedic actor who was mostly popular during the 1940s to the 1960s.
History
His catchphrases were "''"¡P ...
), portrayed the character. He was the most famous Bozo in Latin America and created his own version of Bozo's Circus, which traveled all along Latin America for decades. He started as a television artist participating in a dance marathon he won dressed as Bozo. After his success as Bozo, he traveled to several countries representing the Bozo character. He made special presentations in Italy, Greece, Spain, Hawaii and Canada with his circus. In 2000, he received the ANDA's Arozamena Award for 50 years of uninterrupted career. He died one year later, October 19, 2001, due to a lung disease.
In Mexico, television star, comedian and political commentator
Víctor Trujillo
Víctor Alberto Trujillo Matamoros (born July 30, 1961) is a Mexican actor and comedian. He is best known for his character ''Brozo el Payaso Tenebroso'' (Brozo the Creepy Clown), a green-haired, unkempt, obscene and aggressive clown (an anti-c ...
created the character "Brozo, El Payaso Tenebroso" (Brozo, the Creepy Clown) in 1988 as a parody of Bozo for a
TV Azteca
TV Azteca, S.A.B. de C.V. is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate owned by Grupo Salinas. It is the second-largest mass media company in Mexico after Televisa. It primarily competes with Televisa as well as some local operators. It owns two nation ...
program with Ausencio Cruz called ''La Caravana'' (The Caravan). He pleased the audience with double-entendres and adult humor, telling sarcastic and sometimes obscene versions of classic children's tales. He became so popular that TV Azteca asked him to join the reporters and anchors during coverage of the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...
in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
,
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...
and
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
, also doing the same with
Televisa
Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content.
In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...
for the
2002 World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...
. He also gave his commentary on the Olympics, starting with the
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
in Barcelona, Spain until the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. From 2000 to 2004, Trujillo as Brozo was the anchor of a popular and successful television news show, ''El Mañanero''. It was first broadcast on Canal 40
XHTVM-TV
XHTVM-TDT (virtual channel 40) is a television station in Mexico City, owned by Televisora del Valle de México and operated by TV Azteca. It is branded as ''adn40'' and available over the air in much of Mexico on TV Azteca's transmitters. Progr ...
and later Televisa's 4TV from 2001 onwards. Trujillo discontinued the Brozo character following the death of his wife, producer Carolina Padilla, but brought back Brozo in a new television program that began in early 2006 on Televisa's
Canal de las Estrellas
Las Estrellas ("The Stars"; previously El Canal de las Estrellas, or "The Channel of the Stars") is one of the cornerstone networks of TelevisaUnivision, with affiliate stations all over Mexico, flagshipped at XEW-TDT in Mexico City. Many of th ...
, "El Notifiero." He is considered an influential political commentator in Mexico.
Ronald McDonald
Immediately following
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC bro ...
's three-year-run as WRC-TV Washington, D.C.'s Bozo, the show's sponsors,
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...
drive-in restaurant franchisees John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein (Gee Gee Distributing Corporation), hired Scott to portray "
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and ...
, the Hamburger-Happy Clown" for their local commercials on the character's first three television "spots". McDonald's replaced Scott with other actors for their national commercials and the character's costume was changed. One of them was
Ray Rayner
Ray Rayner (born Raymond M. Rahner; July 23, 1919 – January 21, 2004) was an American television presenter, actor and author, he was the staple of Chicago children's television in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV.
Early life
Rayner (the name was ...
(Oliver O. Oliver on WGN-TV's ''Bozo's Circus''), who appeared in McDonald's national ads in 1968. In the mid-1960s, Andy Amyx, performing as Bozo on
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, television station
WFGA
WFGA (106.7 FM, "Real Country 106.7") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Hicksville, Ohio. Owned by Swick Broadcasting Company, Inc., it broadcasts a classic country format. Its studios are located in Auburn, Indiana, and its transmi ...
, was hired to do local appearances of Ronald McDonald periodically. Andy recalls having to return the wardrobe to the agency after each performance.
Actors
The following is a partial list of Bozo television portrayers since the original (
Pinto Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), professionally Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, newspaper cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. C ...
):
* Frank Avruch (1959–1970)
(Produced at
WHDH-TV
WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (nea ...
Boston 1965–1967 and syndicated to U.S. TV markets that were not producing their own local versions at the time, including New York City, Los Angeles & Washington, D.C. These were the only Bozo shows that were wholly owned and syndicated by Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation, 60 of which are currently available on worldwide DVD distribution entitled "Bozo The World's Most Famous Clown" Volumes 1 & 2.) On March 20, 2018, Avruch died at age 89 after a long fight against heart disease.
* Bob Bell (1960–1984) at
Superstation WGN
NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consistin ...
Chicago
*
Joey D'Auria
Joseph J. D'Auria (born May 18, 1952) is an American film, television and voice actor, best known for his role as Bozo the Clown in '' The Bozo Show'', succeeding original actor Bob Bell. He is also known as J.W. Terry, Joseph J. Terry, and Jo ...
(1984–2001) at
Superstation WGN
NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consistin ...
Chicago
(WGN's signal-reach throughout North America included the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean among others. A 2005 retrospective titled '' Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics'' and 2019 special titled "Bozo's Circus: The 1960s" continue to air annually. WGN's Bozo show is recognized as the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television, boasting a 10-year-wait for studio audience reservations and over 40 years in production.)
Local TV Bozos
*
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
**
Stu Kerr
Thomas Stewart "Stu" Kerr (March 9, 1928 - July 17, 1994), was a Baltimore television personality who developed and hosted a number of programs on Baltimore television from 1952 through the 1980s.
Kerr was born in Yonkers, New York and as a teenag ...
(1960s) at
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( ...
*
Bangor, Maine
Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121).
Modern Bangor ...
** Mike Dolley (1962–1967) at
WABI-TV
WABI-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on Hildreth Street in West Bangor, and its transmitter is atop Peaked Mountain ...
*
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
** Bart Darby (1961–1962) at
WBRC-TV
WBRC (channel 6) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WTBM-CD (channel 24). The two stations studios ato ...
**
Ward McIntyre Walter Wharton "Ward" McIntyre, Jr (1930 – July 20, 2007) was a television and radio personality from Birmingham, Alabama. A graduate of Ramsay High School and Birmingham-Southern College, he worked at WSGN radio before he was hired by WBRC ...
(1962–1968) at
WBRC-TV
WBRC (channel 6) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WTBM-CD (channel 24). The two stations studios ato ...
WHDH-TV
WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (nea ...
(now
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on TV Place (off Gould Street near the I-95/ MA 128/Highland Avenue int ...
)
*
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
** Francis X Stack at
WUTV
WUTV (channel 29) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYO-TV (channel 49). Both stations share studios on Hertel ...
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
** Jonas Santos (1980s) at
TV Alterosa
TV Alterosa is a television station in Belo Horizonte, capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It transmits programming of the national Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão in Minas Gerais, as well as local programs on channels 5 VHF analo ...
** Evandro Antunes (1980s) at
TV Alterosa
TV Alterosa is a television station in Belo Horizonte, capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It transmits programming of the national Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão in Minas Gerais, as well as local programs on channels 5 VHF analo ...
*
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
(national broadcasting based in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
(1981–1982)
** Luis Ricardo (1982–1990) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Arlindo Barreto (1983–1986) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Marcos Pajé (now Marcos Fiel) (1983–1986) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Luiz Leandro (1985–1986) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Edilson Oliveira (1986–1987) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Décio Roberto (1984–1991) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Paulo Seyssel (1980s) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** André Luiz Sucesso (2007–2011, guest appearances) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Jean Santos (2012–2014) at
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
** Cláudio Siqueira (2021-2022 present)
SBT
sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle.
Its main features are:
*Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks
*Continuous compilation, te ...
*
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
** Jim Patterson (1962–1966) at
WBTV
WBTV (channel 3) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located off Morehead Street, just west of Uptown Charlotte, and its transmitter ...
-TV
*
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
Joey D'Auria
Joseph J. D'Auria (born May 18, 1952) is an American film, television and voice actor, best known for his role as Bozo the Clown in '' The Bozo Show'', succeeding original actor Bob Bell. He is also known as J.W. Terry, Joseph J. Terry, and Jo ...
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...
**
Bob Shreve Robert Gerald Shreve (July 16, 1912 – February 20, 1990) was a first-generation television broadcasting personality based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Biography
Described by Cincinnati television producer Len Goorian as "the closest thing I've ever s ...
(1965-1968) at
WKRC-TV
WKRC-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR-TV (channel 64) under a lo ...
*
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...
** (July–October 1968)
KMEC-TV
KMEC-TV, UHF analog channel 33, was a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States. The station broadcast in two stints, from 1967 to 1968 as KMEC-TV (owned by Maxwell Electronics Corporation) and in 1972 as KBFI-TV (owned by Bere ...
*
Dayton
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
/
Springfield, Ohio
Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northe ...
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
''(see also Windsor, Ontario)''
** Bob McNea (1959–1967) at WWJ-TV (now WDIV-TV)
** Jerry Booth (1967) at CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT)
** Art Cervi (1967–1979) at CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT) (1967–1977) and
WJBK
WJBK (channel 2) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilitie ...
-TV (1977–1979)
*
El Paso, Texas
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...
WJRT-TV
WJRT-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for northeastern Michigan. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on Lapeer Road in Flint, with off ...
*
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
** Dan Berry (1987–1989)
*
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...
** Bill Merchant (August 1966 – 1968) at
WZZM-TV
WZZM (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station has studios on 3 Mile Road NW in Walker (with a Grand Rapids mailing a ...
** Dick Richards (1968–1999) at WZZM-TV
*
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea l ...
** Jerry Drake (1960s) at WLUK-TV
*
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
** Andrew H. Amyx (1961–1966) at WFGA-TV (now WTLV-TV)
** Bill Boydston (1967–1975) at WFGA-TV (now WTLV-TV)
*
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. J ...
** Roger Bowers (1960–1961) at
WJHL-TV
WJHL-TV (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Johnson City, Tennessee, United States, serving the Tri-Cities area as an affiliate of CBS and ABC. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on East Main Street ...
(Bowers used a ventriloquist dummy that looked like Bozo's "little pal Butchie" in the cartoons.)
*
Little Rock, Arkansas
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
** Gary Weir (1966–early 1970s) at
KATV-TV
KATV (channel 7) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located at the former Worthen Bank Building on East 4th and Main Streets in d ...
; also (late 1980s) at
KARK-TV
KARK-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate KARZ-TV (channel 42); Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox affi ...
; also at
KAIT
KAIT (channel 8) is a television station in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with ABC, NBC, and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on New Haven Church Road (County Road 766) north of Jonesboro, and it ...
-TV in Jonesboro, Arkansas (1970s–1980s); also at
KLRT-TV
KLRT-TV (channel 16) is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting alongside Pine Bluff–licensed ''de facto'' CW owned-and-operated station KASN (channe ...
in Little Rock in the late 1980s.
*
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...
**
Syd Saylor
Syd or SYD may refer to:
*Syd (name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Syd.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Hans Sydow (1879–1946), German mycologist
* Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
** IATA code for Sydney Airport, New Sout ...
(1950s at KTTV, the second Bozo the Clown after Pinto Colvig.
**
Vance Colvig
Vance DeBar Colvig Jr. (March 9, 1918 – March 4, 1991) was an American actor and writer. He voiced the Chopper bulldog character on ''The Yogi Bear Show''. In the 1980s, he made guest appearances in various films, television series, and ...
Jr. (1959–1964) at KTLA-TV (son of the original Bozo the Clown)
*
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...
** Jim Chapin (1955-1956) at
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Imagicomm Communications. The station's studios are located on South Highland Street (near the campus of the Univers ...
*
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
** Jose Manuel Vargas (1960s–1990s) at
Canal de las Estrellas
Las Estrellas ("The Stars"; previously El Canal de las Estrellas, or "The Channel of the Stars") is one of the cornerstone networks of TelevisaUnivision, with affiliate stations all over Mexico, flagshipped at XEW-TDT in Mexico City. Many of th ...
*
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
Moline, Illinois
Moline ( ) is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. With a population of 42,985 in 2020, it is the largest city in Rock Island County. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island ...
** Keith Andrews (1967) at
WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Moline, Illinois, United States, serving the Quad Cities area as an affiliate of ABC and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Park 16th Street in Moline, and ...
*
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...
** Tom Tichenor (1959) at WSM-TV (now WSMV-TV)
** Dick Brackett (late 1959–1966) at WSM-TV (now WSMV-TV) (Tom Tichenor accepted a Broadway show opportunity and Dick Brackett took his place.)
** Joe Holcombe (mid 1960s – late 1970s) at WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV). His wife played Cousin Littlefoot, an Indian Maid Clown.
** Jim Kent (late 1960 to early 1970s) at WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV)
* New Bedford, Massachusetts
** Bennett B. Schneider IV (1969–1971) at WTEV-TV (now WLNE-TV)
*
WWL-TV
WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). Both stations share studios on Rampart S ...
New York City, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
**
Bill Britten
William Cohen (1928 – February 4, 2020) was an American actor born in Philadelphia, to an opera actor and singer. As Bill Britten, he is best known for his portrayal of Bozo the Clown in the New York City market.
College Education And E ...
(1959–1964) at
WPIX-TV
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 of The CW ...
**
Gordon Ramsey
Gordon Ramsey (June 19, 1930 – November 5, 1993) was an American actor and singer, who was based in New York City.
Early life
Ramsey was born in Minneapolis, on June 19, 1930.
Career
After moving to New York in 1958, Ramsey made his acting ...
Hollis Hollis may refer to:
*Hollis (singer)
*Hollis (name)
Places
* Hollis, Alaska
* Hollis, Kansas
* Hollis, Maine
* Hollis, Missouri
* Hollis, New Hampshire
* Hollis, Oklahoma
* Hollis, Queens, neighborhood in New York
**Hollis (LIRR station), its L ...
WFTV-TV
WFTV (channel 9) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside independent station WRDQ (channel 27). Both stations share studios on East South Street (SR 15) in do ...
*
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
** Doug Wing (1969) at WTAF-TV (now WTXF-TV)
** Craig Michael Mann (1970) at WTAF-TV (now WTXF-TV)
** Deon Aumier (1989–1990) at WGBS-TV (now WPSG)
** Bob McCone (1990–1994) at WGBS-TV (now WPSG)
*
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...
** Deeny Kaplan at
WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV (channel 53) is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT (channel 22). Both stations share studios on I ...
*
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
** Jeremy Baker at
WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded on-air as Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) ...
*
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...
** Paul Montgomery (1960–1961) at
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company, which h ...
*
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
** Jerry Harrell (until 1974) at
WTVR-TV
WTVR-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its studios are located on West Broad Street on Richmond's West End, and its transmitter is located ...
*
Salvador, Bahia
Salvador ( English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisi ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the locally based KTBS, LLC (owned by the Wray Properties Trust, which is managed by Betty Wray Anderson, John D. ...
** Terry MacDonald (now
Mac McDonald
Mac McDonald (born Terence McDonald; June 18, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for playing Captain Hollister on the BBC TV series ''Red Dwarf'' and frequently plays American characters in other British TV shows. He has also had many mo ...
) (1968) at
KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the locally based KTBS, LLC (owned by the Wray Properties Trust, which is managed by Betty Wray Anderson, John D. ...
** Drew Hunter (1969–1970) at
KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. The station is owned by the locally based KTBS, LLC (owned by the Wray Properties Trust, which is managed by Betty Wray Anderson, John D. ...
*
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up ...
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and accordin ...
** Jim Chaplin (1960s) at
WSPD-TV
WTVG (channel 13) is a television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Dorr Street ( SR 246) in Toledo, and its transmitter is located on Stadium Road ...
WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the CBS network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studi ...
*
Utica, New York
Utica () is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York State, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 U.S. Census. Located on the Mohawk River at the foot ...
** Ed Whittaker (early to late 1960s) at WKTV-TV
*
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
**
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC bro ...
(1959–1962) at
WRC-TV
WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 4 ...
** Tony Alexi (1971–1972) at
WDCA
WDCA (channel 20), branded on-air as Fox 5 Plus, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet WTTG (channel 5). WDCA and WTTG share stu ...
WDCA
WDCA (channel 20), branded on-air as Fox 5 Plus, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet WTTG (channel 5). WDCA and WTTG share stu ...
-TV
*
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...
''(see also Detroit, Michigan)''
** Jerry Booth (1967) CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT)
** Art Cervi (1967–1977) at CKLW-TV (now CBET-DT)
*
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second- most populous city in New England after ...
List of local children's television series (United States)
The following is a list of local children's television shows in the United States. These were locally produced commercial television programs intended for the child audience with unique hosts and themes. This type of programming began in the late ...
Snopes.com
''Snopes'' , formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source f ...