Will the Original Bozo Please Stand Up?

Growing up as a child of 2 to 12 years old, in the 1960's & 70's, my TV viewing habits tended toward the likes of Bob McAllister's Wonderama (1955-1980's), Sally Baker's Hobo Kelly & Hobo Junction [ Yes, I WAS (some might say still am) a Mischief Maker ] & the Toy Machine, Bob Keeshan's Captain Kangaroo, Mary Ann King's Romper Room ( never was seen in the Magic Mirror, though, darn it! ) in Los Angeles from 1966-77, and Bozo the Clown.

It wasn't until years later that I learned that MY Bozo was probably not THE BOZO, but one trained who was trained by The Original, from the 1950's, Larry Harmon.

Interestingly, in researching further, this story, I just learned, from the website of the Museum, that Colvigs SON was MY Bozo 1962 to 64 ( He was Bozo on Local TV station KTLA from 1959 to 64 ).

No, my world WASN'T turned upside down by these revelations, and NO I"m not freakin' out over the latest twist in the Bozo Saga. :-)

I just find it interesting.

For years, promoter and entertainer Larry Harmon claimed to have both created the character and said he was the original.

Now the International Clown Hall of Fame in downtown Milwaukee is formally endorsing a different version: Capitol Records executive Alan Livingston created Bozo for recordings in 1946, and the late Vance "Pinto" Colvig was the first person to play the clown.

On Friday, the hall is posthumously inducting Colvig as the first Bozo.

That reverses the hall's "Lifetime of Laughter Award" given to Harmon in 1990 as Bozo's creator. The hall has since taken Harmon's plaque off its honor wall.

Is there anyone out there who remembers the old Bozo cartoons, the name of Bozo's sidekick, and the names of some the other characters?

I have fond, though vague, memories of those cartoons. :-)

The full story:

Colvig to Join Clown Hall of Fame As Bozo.

THE WOLF FILES-- King of the Bozos: Clown Fight Looms as Museum Honors First Bozo.

International Clown Hall of Fame

Feel free to share your memories, of all of these shows, in the comments. :-)

Comments

[Justene]

Bab McAllister lived up the block from us when I was a kid in NYC.

[Jim]

Bozo's pal was named "Butchie Boy" was'nt he?

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Hi Jim!

I don't remember! :-)

[Jim]

Kiril, This is something I found @ http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Pinto%20Colvig:1927125476:page=biography It may help you recall.

Not only were various Bozo recording projects released and re-released, but from 1959 through 1964, Colvig's son, Vance Colvig Jr., donned the clown makeup in the only version of the Bozo franchise to feature the character of the sidekick Butch that had been featured in Bozo cartoons.

[Michael Reardon]

The 1946 Bozo the Clown may or may not have been the first Bozo the Clown. However, the first fictional as well as the first documented character to have the name Bozo was created by my father, Foxo Reardon, in 1921. Bozo, which was the original pantomime comic strip, appeared in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where my father was a staff cartoonist, from the early 1920s until it was nationally and internationally syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times sndicate in 1955. Bozo appeared in newspapers in Cincinnati, Boston, Philedelphia, Chicage and many other dailies throughout the world as well as the Stars & Stripes, the newspaper of the U.S. armed forces. It was particularly popular in france and Japan. Unfortunately, my father died of cancer at age 50 in 1955 and the strip was discontinued due to the fact that no other cartoonist could sufficiently duplicate my father's style. For more on Bozo and Foxo Reardon and for samples of the strip, please do a Google search on Foxo Reardon

[Brant]

I recall watching the Bozo cartoons in the late 60s
In addition to Butchie Boy, there was also a talking dog named Elvis whose voice MAY have been provided by Ed Wynn
Bozo also had reoccurring adversaries including
Wacko Wolf, Slippery Bly International Spy, Big Shorty and Short Biggie
Kinda sad that I remember all this, isn't it?

[g. t. reardon]

foxo reardon was my father, he began to draw the original bozo in the late 1920's he was syndicated by the chicago times syndicate i believe in 1937. If you look up foxo reardon on the web. you can see verification of this info.

[Jeff Stephens]

A little update: Bozo's little buddy was Butchie Boy (and this is the right spelling). I know this because, in summer in 1963 I played Butchie Boy on the show in LA (KTLA 5). I won a contest and play him doing that summer.
So, I am the original Butchie Boy.

[John D. Hoskins]

I remember a cartoon that came on during The Bozo show in Grand Rapids, MI., called Super Sniffer. He was a dog whose nose grew larger when it was time to sniff out the truth. I want to say he had some kind of a pill that makes it happen. No one seems to remember this except me. Also, my older brother mixes up Big Shorty & Short Biggie with the two gangsters from Bugs Bunny. I need help with the first one please. Thanks.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Amazing!

Thank you for the 1st comment to my original blog in 6 yrs! :-D

I did a Google but found no cartoon episodes online for Super Sniffer, just Snuffles, Quickdraws dog...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sa32ZoS6mk

I DID find a comment on a blog post, from 2010, that discusses the origin of Super Sniffer a little.

http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com/2010/03/presenting-hanna-barberas-wacko-wolf.html

[Jim Mueller]

Bozo Circus in Chicago ran about 25 years.

One of the better Bozo's was a guy named Bob Bell. He of the demented laugh. We didn't get the Butchie Boy character here.

No doubt WGN was too cheap to spring for another salary.

As it was, WGN worked most of the old Bozo cast into early graves. Making them pull double duty as booth announcers for other shows, hosts of other shows and even shill as time salesmen for the station.

They were treated as punch clock employees--talented actors that should have been treated better.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Thank you, Jim, for the great comment!

It is amazing, to me, how this old post of mine still gets readers and even comments years later.

The Bozos were beloved by so many and the shows were such an important part of growing up for generations of children that it is understandable that people go back and read old stories and view old videos of episodes. :-D