There are truly no Bozos...

[CaptainGonzo]

From MSN.com
Larry Harmon, longtime Bozo the Clown, dead at 83
July 3, 2008, 4:40 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Larry Harmon, who appeared as Bozo the Clown for decades and licensed the name to other Bozos around the world, has died at age 83.

Harmon died Thursday at his home of congestive heart failure, his longtime publicist, Jerry Digney, told The Associated Press.

Although not the first person to play Bozo, Harmon took on the famous clown's persona and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly TV stations. Those stations then recruited their own Bozos for local shows.

Harmon met his alter ego after answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote records. He got the job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo.

Along the way, he embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume.



Back in the late 50's and early 60's the old Channel 5. WHDH-TV had their own Bozo the Clown show, with Bozo hosted by Frank Averuch, who also was the film critic for WHDH and later a host for the Sunday Afternoon Movie on WCVB-TV, the present channel 5 in the Boston market.

I can still remember the words to the theme song...

I am such a happy clown
I love to travel around and round
the circus is my home
I always seem to roam
in a rocket ship I soar
and I explore the ocean floor
but you know, I'll never go
unless you come along!

Bozo , Bozo
always laughs, never frowns
Bozo , Bozo,
I'm Bozo the Clown.

yeah, I have way too much time on my hands... :D

[fireman4949]

I remember watching Bozo on the ole B&W tv when I was a kid. Channel 5 was one of the few (there were 3 or 4 others, as I recall) Boston channels we could receive. :D

That was a long, log time ago, I'm afraid! :o

R.I.P. Bozo!

BTW Gonz, do you remember Major Mudd or Rex Trailer? ;)

[CaptainGonzo]

I remember watching Bozo on the ole B&W tv when I was a kid. Channel 5 was one of the few (there were 3 or 4 others, as I recall) Boston channels we could receive. :D

That was a long, log time ago, I'm afraid! :o

R.I.P. Bozo!

BTW Gonz, do you remember Major Mudd or Rex Trailer? ;)


But of course!! I was lucky enough to be on Boomtown and got to meet Rex, Goldrush ( his Palomino horse) and Pablo, his trusty sidekick.

Who can forget "Boomtown's Sherif of the day" and "I'll Be Blasting You!" :D

Good times, Kevin.. good times!

FYI.. the other 4 stations in Boston at that time were Channel 2 (WGBH)Channel 7 (WNAC) and Channel 4 (WBZ).. and if you wanted to change the channel, you had to get up and do it manually! :p :p

[AHAPPYMOM]

I grew up watching Bozo the Clown. :) When one of my students does something funny and I call them "Bozo" they have NO idea who/what I am referring to.

[fireman4949]

But of course!! I was lucky enough to be on Boomtown and got to meet Rex, Goldrush ( his Palomino horse) and Pablo, his trusty sidekick.

Who can forget "Boomtown's Sherif of the day" and "I'll Be Blasting You!" :D

Good times, Kevin.. good times!

FYI.. the other 4 stations in Boston at that time were Channel 2 (WGBH)Channel 7 (WNAC) and Channel 4 (WBZ).. and if you wanted to change the channel, you had to get up and do it manually! :p :p

You have a great memory Gonz! I'm very impressed! :eek:

Wasn't there a UHF channel as well? I seem to remember channel 55 or 56 coming in if you played with the ring antenna and the fine tune dial just right.

I never got to actually meet Rex, but I did get to see him on stage at the Sportsman's Show. I believe it was in '69. :D

[CaptainGonzo]

The two UHF stations in Boston began broadcasting in the late 60's.

Channel 56 was WLVI, Chanel 38 was WSBK.

If you had a really good antenna, you could alos get Channel 9 WMUR in Manchester, NH and WJAR channel 10 from Providence.

Channel 9 had the "Uncle Gus" show.

[rhvfd1214]

What about turning the dial on the antenna rotator. It used to sit beside the "preferred" chair in the living room. You know, that chair that everyone wanted to sit in because it had the best view of the television. If you want to watch the locale station here, turn the antenna South, if you wanted to watch the other station, turn it North. If you wanted the UHF station, point west. If the wind blew hard in a storm, we had to reset the antenna with a compass so that the controller would be aligned right.

We still have a manual TV. It still works, dial fine tuning around the channel selector knobs. Color/Contrast/Darkness adjustment knobs on front. I was the youngest child, therefore, I was my parent's "remote control" when it was time to change the channel or volume.

I remember "Clyde the Frog" show being on PBS. My memories of Captain Kangaroo are fading with time, but I still remember the ping pong balls. Saturday nights growing up (1980s) meant "Hee-Haw" or "Solid Gold" and my dad cooking something on the grill. Good times..

[fireman4949]

What about turning the dial on the antenna rotator. It used to sit beside the "preferred" chair in the living room. You know, that chair that everyone wanted to sit in because it had the best view of the television. If you want to watch the locale station here, turn the antenna South, if you wanted to watch the other station, turn it North. If you wanted the UHF station, point west. If the wind blew hard in a storm, we had to reset the antenna with a compass so that the controller would be aligned right.

We still have a manual TV. It still works, dial fine tuning around the channel selector knobs. Color/Contrast/Darkness adjustment knobs on front. I was the youngest child, therefore, I was my parent's "remote control" when it was time to change the channel or volume.

I remember "Clyde the Frog" show being on PBS. My memories of Captain Kangaroo are fading with time, but I still remember the ping pong balls. Saturday nights growing up (1980s) meant "Hee-Haw" or "Solid Gold" and my dad cooking something on the grill. Good times..

You had (have) an external antenna with a motorized rotator? Wow, that's "uptown"!
All we had were the antennae on the TV itself. :D

Most certainly "good times"! :D :D :D

[firecat1]

I hate to admit it but Bozo scared me when I was a tot. Cap'n Kangaroo didn't tho....especially those golf balls dropping outa nowhere.

[MalahatTwo7]

Sorry to blow a bubble here, but even as a small child, I always thought that programs like Bozo The Clown and Capt Kanagroo etc were pretty dumb. Never got into those, other than Sesame Street, I guess. Even after making age 6, lost interest in that pretty quick too.

Thats what happens when you only get three channels, CBC (English and French) or BCTV. No adjustment of the rabbit ears would make anything else come in. Didnt know there were additional channels until I turned 7. :) Then I found Scooby Doo and Banana Splits. Get Smart was in there somewhere too. :D

[JHR1985]

good. I hate clowns

[fireman4949]

good. I hate clowns

Hey! Why did you have to go and make this personal?! :mad: ;)

[fireman4949]

I hate to admit it but Bozo scared me when I was a tot. Cap'n Kangaroo didn't tho....especially those golf balls dropping outa nowhere.

Ah, Mr Green Jeans (only they were just a shade of gray in B&W), Dancing Bear, Bun Bun and the rest. Great show!

I miss the old cartoons of yesteryear as well. I find clips of them on the internet from time to time and show them to my girls. It's a real treat to hear them howl at the toons I watched some 35-40+ years ago! :D

[MalahatTwo7]

Hey! Why did you have to go and make this personal?! :mad: ;)

Maybe he was looking in the mirror when he wrote that reference?? ;) :D:D

[len1582]

Saw Paul Winchell with Jerry Mahoney at a local Woolworths as a kid.