Ron Penfound
Encyclopedia
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
market, specifically on WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. WEWS has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception, and is an affiliate of the ABC television network...
channel 5 where from 1955 to 1971 he hosted an afternoon program for children. As host, he was known as Captain Penny
Captain Penny
Captain Penny was the host of a children's television series on WEWS-TV in Cleveland, Ohio from 1955 to 1971. The show starred Ron Penfound as "Captain Penny" and was produced by Earl Keyes....
and was attired in railroad engineer
Railroad engineer
A railroad engineer, locomotive engineer, train operator, train driver or engine driver is a person who drives a train on a railroad...
clothing.
Ron Penfound was born on January 28, 1927 in Elyria, Ohio
Elyria, Ohio
-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...
, to Archie and Marjorie (Saywell) Penfound, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He attended Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
and was a classmate of actor Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
. He had originally planned to become an Episcopal priest, but then transferred to study broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
at the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
.
Penfound worked as a radio announcer at KLMR in Lamar, Colorado, while attending school (1950). He was an announcer for KVOD
KVOD
KVOD is a radio station broadcasting a classical music format. Licensed to Lakewood, Colorado, USA, it serves the Denver area. The station is currently owned by Public Broadcasting Of Colorado...
in Denver before returning to Elyria as news and sports director at WEOL
WEOL
WEOL — branded AM930 WEOL — is a commercial radio station licensed to Elyria, Ohio. The station serves both Elyria and Lorain, as well as the western portion of Greater Cleveland...
radio. He also worked at Cleveland radio station WERE
WERE
WERE — branded News/Talk 1490 WERE-AM — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland Heights, Ohio broadcasting a news/talk format. The station is owned by Radio One, and has studios at 2510 St. Clair Avenue, while the transmitter is along Euclid Avenue near East 118th Street, adjacent to...
as an announcer and salesman.
On April 26, 1953, Penfound was hired as a sports announcer and floorman for WEWS-TV, and began hosting the Captain Penny program on March 2, 1955. During the course of its 16 years on the air, the show featured old cartoons, along with Little Rascals and Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
shorts. In addition, there were live appearances by Captain Penny and a variety of guests. Following a 1961 appearance by actor Chuck Connors, Penfound was given a small role in Connors' show, The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, in the fourth season episode, "The Princess".
During the holiday season, the character of Mr. Jingeling
Mr. Jingeling
Mr. Jingeling is the "Keeper of the Keys" to Santa's workshop - a holiday tradition in the region around Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Jingeling was originally sponsored by Halle's, a local department store. He served as the store's holiday season spokesman on television and also acted as Santa's...
, played by the show's producer, Earl Keyes, would appear. Throughout the year, a feature of the daily program was on a certain day of the week, Captain would present animals from the Cuyahoga County animal shelter
Animal shelter
An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.Parrots, for example, are the third most common pet owned by people...
available for adoption. The segment was known as Captain Penny’s Pooch Parade.
In 1957, a second program was added in a late afternoon time slot Captain Penny's Fun House. The show featured Captain Penny (Ron Penfound), Wilbur Wiffenpoof (Earl Keyes) and other guests such as Bobo (an inflated clown). Captain Penny also hosted a 2 hour show Captain Penny's Fun Farm on Saturday mornings.
Captain Penny would close his daily program with the words of advice to his little viewers: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool Mom. She's pretty nice and she's pretty smart. Do what Mom says, and you won't go far wrong."
After the Captain Penny show had its final broadcast on September 4, 1971, Penfound served as weekend weatherman and staff announcer at WEWS. He was also served as the public address announcer for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
from 1969-72. Upon leaving the station in 1972, Penfound worked as a sales manager and sportscaster for WKBK in Keene, New Hampshire for one year, before moving to Florida, where he worked in both radio and television.
Penfound married Gail Gilmore in 1951 and had one child, Amy, but their marriage ended in divorce in 1959. He then married Phyllis Yoder Hunter in 1960, with the couple having two children, Tracy and Matthew. Tragically, Phyllis committed suicide on May 10, 1964, when she jumped off the Cuyahoga River Bridge of the Ohio Turnpike in nearby Summit County. On May 20, 1967, Penfound married Jo Ann Dudas and had two children, Julie and Samantha.
Although Captain Penny never appeared on camera with a cigarette, Ron Penfound was a cigarette smoker. He died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in Naples, Florida
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...
on September 16, 1974.