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Bozo The ClownBozo the Clown is the name of a clown whose widespread syndication in early television made him the best-known clown character in the United States. Partly as a result, the word "bozo" has become synonymous in America with a generic clown or a foolish person: For example, "I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus" was the title of a 1971 album by the comic group Firesign Theater. The word is said to have originated earlier, among carnival entertainers. Bozo was created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingston. He released a children's record titled Bozo at the Circus for Capitol Records, along with an illustrative read-along book. Pinto Colvig narrated this record and subsequent read-along records. They were extremely popular and by 1949, KTTV in Los Angeles was broadcasting a children's show featuring Pinto Colvig as Bozo with his blue-and-red costume, oversized red hair and classic "whiteface" clown makeup, appearing on the then-new medium called "television." Bozo became even more famous after Larry Harmon purchased the licensing rights to the character in 1956, and franchised it to local television stations in 1959 as a daily half-hour show with a live Bozo the Clown — a different man in each city in front of a studio audience of children — as well as six-minute cartoons. Many people became famous locally such as Frank Avruch at WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV) in Boston, and Bob Bell and later Joey D'Auria at WGN-TV in Chicago. One performer who later became nationally known also took a turn as Bozo, Willard Scott, later a weatherman on NBC's Today Show. Helped along by the widespread local publicity, Bozo-themed toys and novelties were sold widely. By the mid-1960s, Bozo was reportedly grossing over $150 million in merchandise worldwide. Bozo on Chicago TV The Chicago Bozo franchise was the most popular and longest-running. It also became the most widely-known as WGN became a national cable television staple. Chicago's Bozo's Circus debuted in 1961 as a live, daily half-hour show and underwent various format changes over the years. The final version aired its last episode in 2001. Other significant characters on the Chicago TV show through its 40+ year run included "Ringmaster Ned" Locke and fellow clowns Sandy the Tramp (producer/writer Don Sandburg) and Oliver O. Oliver (Ray Rayner). Later on, Frazier Thomas, Cooky the Cook (Roy Brown), Wizzo the Wizard (Marshall Brodien) and Rusty the Handyman (Robin Eurich) joined in as well. At the peak of its run, the WGN Bozo show was wildly popular. By the early 1980s, there was a 10-year waiting list for tickets to the show. The show also featured contests including "The Grand Prize Game," where two child contestants were selected from the studio audience with the Magic Arrows (later the Bozoputer). The game involved tossing a ping-pong ball into a series of successively-numbered buckets until the contestant missed. If they reached the sixth bucket and made the winning toss, they received a cash prize, a new bike and a trip. The Bozo Super Sunday Show was the final incarnation of the WGN show, airing from 1994 to 2001. It starred Joey D'Auria as Bozo. The show's format was revised in 1997 in response to an FCC rule requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours per week of "educational and informational" childrens programs. Bozo stories Many rumors have arisen about misbehavior on a Bozo show making it onto the air although none have been substantiated, particularly because relatively few of the local Bozo episodes were preserved on tape. The most famous tale involves Bozo attempting to manage the behavior of an outspoken child by making the comment, "That's a Bozo no-no," which is said to have elicited the response from the kid: "Cram it, clownie!" External Links: Bozo the Clown Bozo Super Sunday Show, The Bozo Super Sunday Show, The
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