Bob Arbogast
Encyclopedia
Robert "Bob" Arbogast was an American radio broadcaster, voice actor, and television host.
in 1639 from Ireland
,and the Arbogasts of France
and Switzerland
, Bob was born in Bellingham, Washington
, the only child of Lewis, a champion tennis player, stockbroker, World War One veteran under an assumed name, and World War Two Coast Guard volunteer and Christine Arbogast, a champion tennis player. Bob attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles where he was on the league champion tennis team and was graduated in 1944. Upon graduation he enlisted in the navy
during which time his unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and Bronze Star for bravery for a multi-ship raid into Tokyo Bay
. He was demoted from Signalman 3rd class to Seaman 1st class when his commanding officer
told him to hop to it and Bob proceeded to jump up and down on the deck of the USS Brush. At the train station in Atwater Village (Glendale
), upon his return from the south pacific theater, he saw the coffins of many of his classmates from Marshall High who gave their last full measure of devotion and did not live to see a world without war. When the war ended, he attended Los Angeles City College
and then the University of Arizona
on the GI bill. A radio program director from WHB
in Kansas City
heard Arbogast's nighttime show on the university's radio station and hired him immediately.
Bob went on to Chicago
's WMAQ where he worked with Pete Robinson from 1951-53 (using as a theme song a charming version of Sicilian
Tarantella
played on an ocarina
) before moving to Los Angeles for a spell and returning to Illinois
where he worked at WEAW in Evanston, Illinois
. Then it was off to New York
where he wrote for two shows, one featuring Tom Poston
and another Peter Marshall
. Next it was on to San Francisco's KSFO and KFRC
and, finally, many stations in Los Angeles including KMPC
from 1962–67, KLAC in 1967, KFI
in 1968, and KGBS in 1969.
At KMPC, he wrote for Dick Whittinghill
and Gary Owens
, and he wrote with and was the partner of Jack Margolis at KLAC and KGBS. Their radio talk show at KLAC had the highest rating of any radio program in LA history up until that time (and perhaps still), with a 14.5 percent share of the audience. Due to a concentrated letter-writing campaign, they were fired for their objection to the Vietnam war and their pro-choice stance. They may have been among the last fired due to the McCarthy dealings of the fifties. The pair also hosted a television show on KTTV
for a while.
Arbogast created the Question Man in Kansas City in 1951 and used it on the Poston Show in NY where it eventually ended up on The Steve Allen Show
, much to the surprise of both Bob and Steve - as Allen acknowledged in his book, The Question Man. The concept lives on in Johnny Carson
's Carnac the Magnificent
and Jeopardy!
.
In 1958, Arbogast teamed with Stanley Ralph Ross
to write and perform the hit 45 rpm single "Chaos, Parts 1 and 2," which when it came out (on Liberty Records
#55197), sold 10,000 copies in three days, and then was banned from radio play on the fourth day - when stations realized that it satirized "Top 40" radio. Dr. Demento
has kept "Chaos" alive. In addition, they co-wrote the album of parody songs titled My Son, the Copycat (a take on Allan Sherman
's albums) and the book Speak When You Hear the Beep.
Arbogast had numerous screen credits for cartoons and commercials, and had appeared on television shows and in movies. He did frequent uncredited voiceovers for Sesame Street segments. He was the voice for the original "What would you do for a Klondike Bar
?" advertising campaign and of the animated Granny Goose for the Granny Goose potato chip campaign (What is Granny's secret? I won't say...") Among hundreds, Arbogast is perhaps most famous for his voicings of General G.I. Brassbottom, Noodles Romanoff, and Ma Ramjet in the Roger Ramjet
cartoon, Jack Wheeler in the Hot Wheels cartoon, and Snogs on the Hanna-Barbera animated series Monchhichis
. He also voiced several characters in the classic Hanna-Barbera series The Jetsons
. Not to be forgotten were Arbo's stylings of Barry Bear and Drummy Drummer, popular seventies pull-string toys - "I'm Barry Bear, like to meet my paw?" "I'm Drummy Drummer. I went to school at the school of hard knocks." - and his renditions of hamburgers in early McDonald's commercials. While in elementary school at Franklin Avenue in Los Angeles, his son John was scolded when asked by his teacher, Mrs. Horowitz, what his father does for a living. John replied "he is a bear." Refusing to recant, a meeting with the teacher, principal and Bob resulted in free hot dogs on "Hot Dog Friday" for John for a year. John also has many voices still running on Sesame Street.
One of his most popular bits was his portrayal of little old lady Emily Norton for KMPC.
Among his many TV and radio commercial partners were Pat Harrington, Harry Morgan, Doris Roberts, Joanie Gerber, Edie McClurg, Bob Elliot, Albert Brooks, Shelly Berman, Tim Conway, Lorenzo Music, Gene Moss and Casey Kasem.
Arbogast won an Emmy as a writer for Stars of Jazz in 1958 and a Clio
in the '70's, for the Highland Appliance Co. out of Detroit. He wrote for Sesame Street
and The Pat Paulsen Show. He also has the dubious distinction of writing for the shortest lived television show ever, Turn On, which was canceled after one night. He co-starred (had two lines and 6 minutes on camera) with Timothy Hutton
and Sean Penn
in the motion picture The Falcon and the Snowman
and he drove the bus in Linda Lovelace for President.
Bob was a jazz aficionado, Chicago Cubs
and UCLA Bruins
fan, and animal lover. He and his wife, Jan, lived in Mariposa, California
where they enjoyed country living, tending to their garden, caring for their pets, and the pleasures brought by the internet
and satellite radio
and television
. With his previous wife, Joanna, he raised a daughter and three sons. His oldest son, Peter, is the radio voice of USC Trojan football, his middle son, John, is a USC
honors grad, a highly decorated coast guard officer, retired Los Angeles city park ranger, history teacher, city champion pole vault coach and assistant track and field and cross country coach at John Marshall High School
, and his youngest son, Jerry, is a UCLA grad and teaches physical education and coaches the girls' tennis team at John Marshall High School. His daughter, Paula, retired in June 2006 from her position as a teachers' union representative. With his first wife, Tobi, he had a son, Robert Jr. (Ted), an accomplished musical director and band leader, and the technology coordinator for Terlingua High School in Texas. Bob is also survived by six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Biography
Descended from the Munger and Gookins line, the original settlers of Guilford, ConnecticutGuilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
in 1639 from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
,and the Arbogasts of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Bob was born in Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...
, the only child of Lewis, a champion tennis player, stockbroker, World War One veteran under an assumed name, and World War Two Coast Guard volunteer and Christine Arbogast, a champion tennis player. Bob attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles where he was on the league champion tennis team and was graduated in 1944. Upon graduation he enlisted in the navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during which time his unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and Bronze Star for bravery for a multi-ship raid into Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
. He was demoted from Signalman 3rd class to Seaman 1st class when his commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
told him to hop to it and Bob proceeded to jump up and down on the deck of the USS Brush. At the train station in Atwater Village (Glendale
Glendale
Glendale is the anglicised version of its gaelic name, Gleann Dail, which means valley of fertile, low-lying arable land. The name originates from Scotland.It may refer to:-Places:Australia*Glendale, New South Wales**Stockland, a shopping centre...
), upon his return from the south pacific theater, he saw the coffins of many of his classmates from Marshall High who gave their last full measure of devotion and did not live to see a world without war. When the war ended, he attended Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
and then the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
on the GI bill. A radio program director from WHB
WHB
WHB is a commercial sports radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, and is known as the first full-time Top 40 station in the country...
in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
heard Arbogast's nighttime show on the university's radio station and hired him immediately.
Bob went on to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's WMAQ where he worked with Pete Robinson from 1951-53 (using as a theme song a charming version of Sicilian
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
Tarantella
Tarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
played on an ocarina
Ocarina
The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
) before moving to Los Angeles for a spell and returning to Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
where he worked at WEAW in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. Then it was off to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where he wrote for two shows, one featuring Tom Poston
Tom Poston
Thomas Gordon "Tom" Poston was an American television and film actor. He starred on television in a career that began in 1950...
and another Peter Marshall
Peter Marshall
Peter Marshall may refer to:* Peter Marshall , British author whose works include Demanding The Impossible: A History of Anarchism and Europe's Lost Civilization...
. Next it was on to San Francisco's KSFO and KFRC
KFRC (defunct)
KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California in the United States, which made its first broadcast on Wednesday, September 24, 1924, from studios in the Hotel Whitcomb 1231 Market Street. KFRC originally broadcast with 50 watts on the 270 meter wavelength , then moved to 660 kHz. in...
and, finally, many stations in Los Angeles including KMPC
KMPC
KMPC is a radio station based in Los Angeles, California and is owned by P&Y Broadcasting Licensee, LLC. Radio Korea is a division of the Radio Korea Media Group. The station airs Korean-language programming...
from 1962–67, KLAC in 1967, KFI
KFI
KFI is an AM radio station in Los Angeles, California. It received its license to operate on March 31, 1922 and began operating on April 16, 1922 as one of the United States' first high-powered, "clear-channel" stations...
in 1968, and KGBS in 1969.
At KMPC, he wrote for Dick Whittinghill
Dick Whittinghill
Dick Whittinghill was an American movie and television actor, recording artist and radio disc jockey in the United States...
and Gary Owens
Gary Owens
Gary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...
, and he wrote with and was the partner of Jack Margolis at KLAC and KGBS. Their radio talk show at KLAC had the highest rating of any radio program in LA history up until that time (and perhaps still), with a 14.5 percent share of the audience. Due to a concentrated letter-writing campaign, they were fired for their objection to the Vietnam war and their pro-choice stance. They may have been among the last fired due to the McCarthy dealings of the fifties. The pair also hosted a television show on KTTV
KTTV
KTTV, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Los Angeles, California. Serving the vast Los Angeles metropolitan area, KTTV is a sister station to KCOP , Los Angeles' MyNetworkTV station...
for a while.
Arbogast created the Question Man in Kansas City in 1951 and used it on the Poston Show in NY where it eventually ended up on The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show
The Steve Allen Show is an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on ABC, and in first-run syndication from 1962 to 1964....
, much to the surprise of both Bob and Steve - as Allen acknowledged in his book, The Question Man. The concept lives on in Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
's Carnac the Magnificent
Carnac the Magnificent
Carnac the Magnificent was a recurring comedic role played by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. One of Carson's most well known characters, Carnac was a "mystic from the east" who could psychically "divine" unseen answers to unknown questions...
and Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
.
In 1958, Arbogast teamed with Stanley Ralph Ross
Stanley Ralph Ross
Stanley Ralph Ross was raised in Brooklyn New York, starting his career in advertising, then soon going to work as a writer and actor on various television shows, most notably cult-classics such as the 1960s Batman series starring Adam West and also The Monkees...
to write and perform the hit 45 rpm single "Chaos, Parts 1 and 2," which when it came out (on Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
#55197), sold 10,000 copies in three days, and then was banned from radio play on the fourth day - when stations realized that it satirized "Top 40" radio. Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento
Barret Eugene Hansen , better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present....
has kept "Chaos" alive. In addition, they co-wrote the album of parody songs titled My Son, the Copycat (a take on Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman
Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
's albums) and the book Speak When You Hear the Beep.
Arbogast had numerous screen credits for cartoons and commercials, and had appeared on television shows and in movies. He did frequent uncredited voiceovers for Sesame Street segments. He was the voice for the original "What would you do for a Klondike Bar
Klondike bar
Klondike is a brand name for a dessert generally consisting of a vanilla ice cream square coated with a thin layer of chocolate-flavored coating. The first recorded advertisement for the Klondike was on February 5, 1922 in the Youngstown Vindicator. They are generally wrapped with a silver-colored...
?" advertising campaign and of the animated Granny Goose for the Granny Goose potato chip campaign (What is Granny's secret? I won't say...") Among hundreds, Arbogast is perhaps most famous for his voicings of General G.I. Brassbottom, Noodles Romanoff, and Ma Ramjet in the Roger Ramjet
Roger Ramjet
Roger Ramjet is an animated American children's television comedy series that first ran in 1965 and has aired in syndication since. Starring Roger Ramjet and the American Eagle Squadron, the show was known for its crude animation, frenetic pace, and frequent references to popular culture, which...
cartoon, Jack Wheeler in the Hot Wheels cartoon, and Snogs on the Hanna-Barbera animated series Monchhichis
Monchhichis
is a line of Japanese stuffed toy monkeys from the Sekiguchi Corporation. They are licensed by Mattel in the United States. Two television series were produced based on the characters: the Japanese anime series in 1980, and the American cartoon series Monchhichis in 1983.-History:The Monchhichi...
. He also voiced several characters in the classic Hanna-Barbera series The Jetsons
The Jetsons
The Jetsons is a animated American sitcom that was produced by Hanna-Barbera, originally airing in prime-time from 1962–1963 and again from 1985–1987...
. Not to be forgotten were Arbo's stylings of Barry Bear and Drummy Drummer, popular seventies pull-string toys - "I'm Barry Bear, like to meet my paw?" "I'm Drummy Drummer. I went to school at the school of hard knocks." - and his renditions of hamburgers in early McDonald's commercials. While in elementary school at Franklin Avenue in Los Angeles, his son John was scolded when asked by his teacher, Mrs. Horowitz, what his father does for a living. John replied "he is a bear." Refusing to recant, a meeting with the teacher, principal and Bob resulted in free hot dogs on "Hot Dog Friday" for John for a year. John also has many voices still running on Sesame Street.
One of his most popular bits was his portrayal of little old lady Emily Norton for KMPC.
Among his many TV and radio commercial partners were Pat Harrington, Harry Morgan, Doris Roberts, Joanie Gerber, Edie McClurg, Bob Elliot, Albert Brooks, Shelly Berman, Tim Conway, Lorenzo Music, Gene Moss and Casey Kasem.
Arbogast won an Emmy as a writer for Stars of Jazz in 1958 and a Clio
Clio
thumb|Clio—detail from [[The Art of Painting|The Allegory of Painting]] by [[Johannes Vermeer]]In Greek mythology, Clio or Kleio, is the muse of history. Like all the muses, she is a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne...
in the '70's, for the Highland Appliance Co. out of Detroit. He wrote for Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and The Pat Paulsen Show. He also has the dubious distinction of writing for the shortest lived television show ever, Turn On, which was canceled after one night. He co-starred (had two lines and 6 minutes on camera) with Timothy Hutton
Timothy Hutton
Timothy Tarquin Hutton is an American actor. He is the youngest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he won at the age of 20 for his performance as Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People . He currently stars as Nathan "Nate" Ford on the TNT series Leverage.-Early life:Timothy...
and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
in the motion picture The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee , who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union...
and he drove the bus in Linda Lovelace for President.
Bob was a jazz aficionado, Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
and UCLA Bruins
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...
fan, and animal lover. He and his wife, Jan, lived in Mariposa, California
Mariposa, California
Mariposa is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Mariposa County, California, United States. The population was 2,173 at the 2010 census, up from 1,373 at the 2000 census. Its name is Spanish for "butterfly", after the flocks of Monarchs seen overwintering there by early...
where they enjoyed country living, tending to their garden, caring for their pets, and the pleasures brought by the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and satellite radio
Satellite radio
Satellite radio is an analogue or digital radio signal that is relayed through one or more satellites and thus can be received in a much wider geographical area than terrestrial FM radio stations...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. With his previous wife, Joanna, he raised a daughter and three sons. His oldest son, Peter, is the radio voice of USC Trojan football, his middle son, John, is a USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
honors grad, a highly decorated coast guard officer, retired Los Angeles city park ranger, history teacher, city champion pole vault coach and assistant track and field and cross country coach at John Marshall High School
John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, California)
John Marshall High School is a high school located in the Los Feliz district of the City of Los Angeles at 3939 Tracy Street, in Los Angeles, California, USA.Marshall, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
, and his youngest son, Jerry, is a UCLA grad and teaches physical education and coaches the girls' tennis team at John Marshall High School. His daughter, Paula, retired in June 2006 from her position as a teachers' union representative. With his first wife, Tobi, he had a son, Robert Jr. (Ted), an accomplished musical director and band leader, and the technology coordinator for Terlingua High School in Texas. Bob is also survived by six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.