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From the Beginning
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All Pictures on this page are courtesty of
WGN-TV |
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1946
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Alan W. Livingston, who would one day receive
the
Clown
Hall of Fame Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award, created
the Bozo
the Clown
character (which Bob would later make famous),
for children's recordings and small books, the first being a record
entitled Bozo and the Circus. The name came from the tradition
of circuses calling
clowns
Bozos. Bozo needed a voice so Livingston hired a former circus
clown,
Pinto Colvig, to portray Bozo on the recordings and at promotional appearances.
Colvig was the original voice of many of Walt Disney's creations
(i.e. Goofy, Pluto, Grumpy, and
Sleepy) and other animated characters.
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1950
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Creator Alan Livingston and Capitol Records
began setting up royalties with with television stations and manufacturers
who wanted to use the Bozo character. KTTV
(CBS) in Los Angeles broadcasted the first Bozo
television show, Bozo's Circus. It was a weekly
live 30-minute program. Bozo has remained a television favorite
in many areas right into the 21st Century. Bozo's Circus starred Pinto
Colvig Sr., the original Bozo (above left)
, but several others have been behind Bozo's makeup
over the years.
Capitol
Records also made thirteen 30 minute Bozo shows, starring Syd Saylor as
Bozo (right), and Bozo creator Alan
Livingston as the ringmaster. Acrobats from Jimmy Woods All-American
Circus acted as Bozo stunt doubles..
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1950
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KTTV (CBS) in Los Angeles ended its broadcast
of Bozo's Circus, starring Pinto Colvig Sr. Capital
Records, which had also created several Bozo shows for television, shut
down its television division.
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1955
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The next Bozo the
Clown
television show, Bozo and
His Friends, premiered on WHBQ-TV (Memphis).
This time the man behind the Bozo makeup was Jim Chapin. The
television show was cancelled the following year when the legal rights to
the Bozo the
Clown
character changed hands.
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1956
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Larry Harmon formed a partnership that purchased the rights
(except for records) to the Bozo
the
Clown character, and turned it into a nationwide
franchise He often took over the role of Bozo the
Clown which he had been occasionally hired in
the past to play at promotionals, and credits himself as training
over 200 Bozo the
Clowns.
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1958
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Several
Bozo cartoons were made for distribution to television
stations all over the country along with the rights to hire a live
Bozo host to introduce them. The voice of the cartoon Bozo was Bozo's
owner, Larry Harmon.
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1959
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The Bozo the
Clown
Show began to air all over the nation, beginning
with
KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, as
individual television stations purchased franchises. Each station had its
own actor portraying Bozo the
Clown, such as Pinto Colvig, Jr.
(son of the original Bozo) at KTLA and Bill Britten
(left) who was Bozo for WPIX in New York. Although each local Bozo looked
slightly different, each wore the traditional pointed tufts yak hair wig.
Over the years, the name of the shows have changed slightly (i.e.
Bozo's Circus, Bozo and his Friends,etc.).
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1960
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Bob Bell took over the role of Bozo the
Clown
for WGN-TV in Chicago. (WGN-TV aired the longest running Bozo show
in history, 50 years). He performed the role until 1984, becoming
one of the most famous and beloved portrayers of the character to date,
leading to Bob's selection as a
Clown Hall of
Fame inductee.
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1963
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Bozo's Circus
starring Bob Bell (WGN-TV) received its first Emmy award.
(It won the Emmy again in 1965.)
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 Larry Harmon (left)
bought out his partners and became the sole owner of the rights to
the Bozo the
Clown
character (except for the record rights,
which were still held by Capital Records). Harmon syndicated 130 episodes
of a Boston Bozo's Circus television show (re-titled
Bozo's Big Top) for stations that wanted
Bozo, but didn't want to produce their own shows. It is said that
Harmon preferred Frank Avruch's portrayal of Bozo
(right) and wanted to have him
play the role exclusively, but the various stations that already had their
own people behind the makeup objected.
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1967
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Vance Debar "Pinto" Colvig Sr., the original Bozo the
Clown,
died. (born 1892)
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1970
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Bob Bell received an Emmy award for
his portrayal of Bozo the
Clown.
This was also the year of a major change in Bob's "Bozo" costume.
It was changed from
red
to
blue.
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1970
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 The
Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation purchased Capital Records' copyright
to the Bozo the
Clown
records. Harmon now owned the
exclusive rights to every facet of Bozo the
Clown.
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1978
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WGN-TV began to broadcast via satellite, and
Bob Bell's Bozo the
Clown became
a familiar face to children and adults throughout the United States.
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1984
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Bob
Bell (left) retired from portraying
Bozo the
Clown on
WGN-TV, Chicago. At this time, The Bozo Show was number one in its
local time slot. After a three month talent search, Joey
D'Auria
(right) was chosen to take over
the role of Bozo, and remained in that role until the show's sad demise
in 2001.
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Bozo the
Clown
ran for President of the United States. (hope he runs and wins next
time;
clowns
have morals, and know how to lose gracefully!)
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1991
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Vance "Pinto" Colvig Jr., who was the son of the original
Bozo the
Clown and
who portrayed Bozo himself for a number of years, died.
(born 1919)
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1997
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Bob "Bozo" Bell died of heart failure.
(click on picture for larger
view)
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1998
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Joey "Bozo" D'Auria received another Emmy award for his television
portrayal of Bozo the
Clown.
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Alan
Livingston, creator of Bozo the
Clown,
received the
Clown
Hall of Fame Lifetime of Laughter Achievement
Award.
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1999
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WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids, aired it's final episode of
Bozo's Bigtop, making WGN-TV, Chicago, the only
station in the world to still be airing a live "Bozo the
Clown"
Show.
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2001
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The Bozo Show aired its last episode,
a celebration of the last 40 years on WGN-TV. It starred Emmy award winner
Joey D'Auria, who has been the man behind Bozo's makeup at WGN-TV,
Chicago, for the past 17 years.
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