The Bozo Show
Encyclopedia
The Bozo Show is a locally-produced children's television program that aired on WGN-TV
in Chicago
and nationally on what is now WGN America. Recognized as the most popular and successful locally-produced children's program in the history of television, it only aired under this title for 14 of its 40+ years.
in the title role performing comedy bits between cartoons, weekdays at noon for six-and-a-half months beginning June 20, 1960. After a short hiatus to facilitate WGN-TV's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to the city’s northwest side, the show was relaunched in an expanded one-hour format as Bozo's Circus, which premiered at noon on September 11, 1961. The live show featured Bell as Bozo (although he did not perform on the first telecast), host Ned Locke
as "Ringmaster Ned," a 13-piece orchestra, comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. In the early months of the series, a respected English acrobatic clown, "Wimpey" (played by Bertram William Hiles) worked on the show, providing some legitimate circus background and performing opposite Bell's Bozo in comedy sketches. Hiles continued to make periodic guest appearances on the show into the mid-1960s.
In October 1961, Don Sandburg
joined the show as producer and principal sketch writer, and also appeared as the mute clown "Sandy the Tramp," a character partly inspired by Harpo Marx
. By November 1961, another eventual Chicago television legend joined the show's cast, actor Ray Rayner
, as "Oliver O. Oliver," a country bumpkin from Puff Bluff, Kentucky. Rayner was hosting WGN-TV's Dick Tracy
Show (which also premiered the same day as Bozo's Circus) and later replaced Dick Coughlan as host of Breakfast with Bugs Bunny
, later retitled Ray Rayner and His Friends. WGN musical director Bob Trendler led the WGN Orchestra, dubbed the "Big Top Band."
Games on the show included the "Grand Prize Game" created by Sandburg, whereby a boy and girl were selected from the studio audience by the Magic Arrows, and later the Bozoputer (a random number generator), to toss a ping-pong ball into a series of successively numbered buckets until they missed. If they made the winning toss into the sixth bucket, they (and an "at-home player") received a cash prize, a bike and, in later years, a trip. For many years, the cash prize for Bucket #6 was a progressive jackpot
growing by one "silver dollar" each day "until someone wins them all." The Grand Prize Game became so popular, Larry Harmon
, who purchased the rights to the Bozo the Clown
character, later adapted it for other Bozo shows (as "Bozo Buckets" to some and "Bucket Bonanza" to others) and also licensed home and coin-operated versions.
By 1963, the show welcomed its 100,000th visitor and reached the 250,000 mark in 1966. The show was so popular locally, that seven hours after the Chicago Blizzard of 1967
began, there were 193 people standing in line, waiting to use their Bozo show tickets; it was one of the few times the live show was cancelled and the tape of an older show was run instead.
In October 1968, Bell was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm and was absent from the show for several months. Meanwhile, Sandburg resolved to leave the show for the West Coast but stayed longer while Bell recuperated. To pick up the slack, WGN-TV floor manager Richard Shiloh Lubbers appeared as "Monty Melvin," named after a schoolmate of Sandburg's, while WGN Garfield Goose and Friends and Ray Rayner and His Friends puppeteer Roy Brown
created a new character, "Cooky the Cook." Sandburg left the show in January 1969 and Bell returned in March. Lubbers left as well with Brown staying on as a permanent cast member. Magician Marshall Brodien
, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances in which he frequently interacted with the clowns, also began appearing as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired costume in 1968 and by the early 1970s evolved into "Wizzo the Wizard." From the beginning of the show until 1970, Bozo appeared in a red costume; Larry Harmon, owner of the character's license, insisted Bozo wear blue. Harmon did not have his way regarding the costume's color in Chicago until after Don Sandburg, who was also the show's producer, left for California.
Mindfreak.) Rayner periodically returned to guest-host as himself in his morning show's jumpsuit as "Mr. Ray" when Ned Locke was absent. The show had its 500,000th visitor in the same year. By 1973, WGN gave up on Thompson, and increased Brodien's appearances as Wizzo. In 1975, Bob Trendler retired from television and his Big Top Band was reduced to a three-piece band led by Tom Fitzsimmons. Locke also retired from television in 1976 and was replaced by Frazier Thomas
, host of WGN's Family Classics
and Garfield Goose and Friends, at which point Garfield Goose and Friends ended its 24-year run on Chicago television with the puppets moving to a segment on Bozo's Circus. As the storyline went, Gar "bought" Bozo's Circus from the retiring Ringmaster Ned and appointed "Prime Minister" Thomas as the new Circus Manager. In 1978, the series began airing nationally on cable and satellite. The Bozo Show and Ray Rayner and his Friends added a video game called "TV Powww!
" in 1979, where those at home could play by phone.
(a puppet on Ray Rayner and His Friends voiced and operated by Roy Brown) and more cartoons were added. In 1983, Pat Hurley from ABC-TV's Kids Are People Too joined the cast as himself, interviewing kids in the studio audience and periodically participating in sketches.
The biggest change occurred in 1984 with the retirement of Bob Bell, with the show still the most-watched in its timeslot and a ten-year wait for studio audience reservations. After a nationwide search, Bell was replaced by actor and NBC-TV Gong Show contestant Joey D'Auria
, who would play the role of Bozo for the next 17 years.
In 1985, Frazier Thomas
died and Hurley filled in as host for the final six shows that season, stepping into a semi-authority character. In 1987, Hurley was dropped and the show's timeslot returned to 60 minutes. In 1987, a synthesizer
replaced the three-piece Big Top Band.
In a 1986 episode of The Bozo Show, a young boy named Phil Brooks took part in a game. He would grow up to become the professional wrestler CM Punk
. Punk's aunt found the footage of him on the show, and sent it to WGN News in December 2010.
on September 11, 1994. Immel was replaced by Robin Eurich as "Rusty the Handyman," Michele Gregory as "Tunia" and Cathy Shenkelberg as "Pepper." In 1996, Shenkelberg was dropped and the show suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission
mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of educational children's programs
per week. In 1998, Michele Gregory left the cast following more budget cuts.
of The Smashing Pumpkins
, who performed, and Bob Bell's family. Many of the costumes and props are now part of The Museum of Broadcast Communications
collection. Reruns of The Bozo Super Super Sunday Show aired until August 26, 2001. Bozo returned to television on December 24, 2005 in a two-hour retrospective titled Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics
. The primetime premiere was #1 in the Chicago market and continues to be nationally rebroadcast annually during the holiday season.
Bozo also returned to Chicago's parade scene and the WGN-TV float in 2008 as the station celebrated its 60th anniversary. He also appeared in a 2008 public service announcement alerting WGN-TV analog viewers about the upcoming switch to digital television. Bozo was played by WGN-TV staff member George Pappas. Since then, Bozo continues to appear annually in Chicago's biggest parades.
^ Costume part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bozo's Circus collection.
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
in 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...
and nationally on what is now WGN America. Recognized as the most popular and successful locally-produced children's program in the history of television, it only aired under this title for 14 of its 40+ years.
1960s
WGN-TV's first incarnation of the show was a live half-hour cartoon showcase titled Bozo, hosted by character actor and staff announcer Bob BellBob Bell (actor)
Robert Lewis Bell , better known as Bob Bell, was famous for his alter-ego, Bozo the Clown. He was the original portrayer of the character for Chicago superstation WGN-TV.- Early life :...
in the title role performing comedy bits between cartoons, weekdays at noon for six-and-a-half months beginning June 20, 1960. After a short hiatus to facilitate WGN-TV's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to the city’s northwest side, the show was relaunched in an expanded one-hour format as Bozo's Circus, which premiered at noon on September 11, 1961. The live show featured Bell as Bozo (although he did not perform on the first telecast), host Ned Locke
Ned Locke
Norbert Locke, better known as Ned Locke , was an American television personality and radio announcer, best known for the role of "Ringmaster Ned" on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus from 1961 - 1976....
as "Ringmaster Ned," a 13-piece orchestra, comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. In the early months of the series, a respected English acrobatic clown, "Wimpey" (played by Bertram William Hiles) worked on the show, providing some legitimate circus background and performing opposite Bell's Bozo in comedy sketches. Hiles continued to make periodic guest appearances on the show into the mid-1960s.
In October 1961, Don Sandburg
Don Sandburg
Don Sandburg is an American writer, actor, and producer who has worked in television, most notably as producer of The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera as well as WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus....
joined the show as producer and principal sketch writer, and also appeared as the mute clown "Sandy the Tramp," a character partly inspired by Harpo Marx
Harpo Marx
Adolph "Harpo" Marx was an American comedian and film star. He was the second oldest of the Marx Brothers. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances...
. By November 1961, another eventual Chicago television legend joined the show's cast, actor Ray Rayner
Ray Rayner
Ray Rayner was a staple of Chicago children's television in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV.-Early life:...
, as "Oliver O. Oliver," a country bumpkin from Puff Bluff, Kentucky. Rayner was hosting WGN-TV's Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
Show (which also premiered the same day as Bozo's Circus) and later replaced Dick Coughlan as host of Breakfast with Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
, later retitled Ray Rayner and His Friends. WGN musical director Bob Trendler led the WGN Orchestra, dubbed the "Big Top Band."
Games on the show included the "Grand Prize Game" created by Sandburg, whereby a boy and girl were selected from the studio audience by the Magic Arrows, and later the Bozoputer (a random number generator), to toss a ping-pong ball into a series of successively numbered buckets until they missed. If they made the winning toss into the sixth bucket, they (and an "at-home player") received a cash prize, a bike and, in later years, a trip. For many years, the cash prize for Bucket #6 was a progressive jackpot
Progressive jackpot
A progressive jackpot is a jackpot for a gaming machine where the value of the jackpot increases a small amount for every game played...
growing by one "silver dollar" each day "until someone wins them all." The Grand Prize Game became so popular, Larry Harmon
Larry Harmon
Lawrence Weiss , better known by the stage name Larry Harmon and as his alter-ego Bozo the Clown, was a Jewish American entertainer.-Biography:...
, who purchased the rights to the Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...
character, later adapted it for other Bozo shows (as "Bozo Buckets" to some and "Bucket Bonanza" to others) and also licensed home and coin-operated versions.
By 1963, the show welcomed its 100,000th visitor and reached the 250,000 mark in 1966. The show was so popular locally, that seven hours after the Chicago Blizzard of 1967
Chicago Blizzard of 1967
The Chicago Blizzard of 1967 struck northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana on January 26, 1967 with a record-setting of snow falling on Chicago and its suburbs before the storm abated the next morning. To this day, it is the worst blizzard in Chicago history. The snow fell continuously on...
began, there were 193 people standing in line, waiting to use their Bozo show tickets; it was one of the few times the live show was cancelled and the tape of an older show was run instead.
In October 1968, Bell was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm and was absent from the show for several months. Meanwhile, Sandburg resolved to leave the show for the West Coast but stayed longer while Bell recuperated. To pick up the slack, WGN-TV floor manager Richard Shiloh Lubbers appeared as "Monty Melvin," named after a schoolmate of Sandburg's, while WGN Garfield Goose and Friends and Ray Rayner and His Friends puppeteer Roy Brown
Roy Brown (clown)
Roy Thomas Brown was an American television personality, puppeteer, clown and artist best known for playing "Cooky the Cook" on Chicago's long running Bozo's Circus.-Early years:...
created a new character, "Cooky the Cook." Sandburg left the show in January 1969 and Bell returned in March. Lubbers left as well with Brown staying on as a permanent cast member. Magician Marshall Brodien
Marshall Brodien
Marshall Brodien, known for his role as Wizzo the Wizard, played a wizard clown that performed on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus and The Bozo Show from 1968-1994. Brodien, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances since 1968, later appeared as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired...
, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances in which he frequently interacted with the clowns, also began appearing as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired costume in 1968 and by the early 1970s evolved into "Wizzo the Wizard." From the beginning of the show until 1970, Bozo appeared in a red costume; Larry Harmon, owner of the character's license, insisted Bozo wear blue. Harmon did not have his way regarding the costume's color in Chicago until after Don Sandburg, who was also the show's producer, left for California.
1970s
Ray Rayner left Bozo's Circus in 1971 and was briefly replaced by actor Pat Tobin as Oliver's cousin "Elrod T. Potter" and then by magician John Thompson (an acquaintance of Roy Brown's and Marshall Brodien's) as "Clod Hopper." (Tobin previously had played Bozo on KSOO-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Thompson has appeared on A&E's Criss AngelCriss Angel
Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos , better known by the stage name Criss Angel, is an American illusionist, writer, director, musician, and actor...
Mindfreak.) Rayner periodically returned to guest-host as himself in his morning show's jumpsuit as "Mr. Ray" when Ned Locke was absent. The show had its 500,000th visitor in the same year. By 1973, WGN gave up on Thompson, and increased Brodien's appearances as Wizzo. In 1975, Bob Trendler retired from television and his Big Top Band was reduced to a three-piece band led by Tom Fitzsimmons. Locke also retired from television in 1976 and was replaced by Frazier Thomas
Frazier Thomas
William Frazier Thomas was a Chicago television personality. While Thomas became the author of nine children's books, he was best known for creating, hosting, writing and producing the long-running children's television program Garfield Goose and Friends on WGN-TV.-Magic and broadcasting:Thomas...
, host of WGN's Family Classics
Family Classics
Family Classics was a Chicago television series which began in 1962 when Frazier Thomas was added to another program at WGN-TV. Thomas not only hosted classic films but also selected the titles and personally edited them to remove those scenes which he thought were not fit for family viewing. After...
and Garfield Goose and Friends, at which point Garfield Goose and Friends ended its 24-year run on Chicago television with the puppets moving to a segment on Bozo's Circus. As the storyline went, Gar "bought" Bozo's Circus from the retiring Ringmaster Ned and appointed "Prime Minister" Thomas as the new Circus Manager. In 1978, the series began airing nationally on cable and satellite. The Bozo Show and Ray Rayner and his Friends added a video game called "TV Powww!
TV POWWW
TV POWWW was a franchised television game show format, in which home viewers controlled a video game via telephone in hopes of winning prizes.-History:...
" in 1979, where those at home could play by phone.
1980s
By 1980, Chicago's public schools stopped allowing students to go home for lunch and Ray Rayner announced his imminent retirement from his morning show and Chicago television. The show stopped issuing tickets; the wait to be part of the audience was eight years long. Beginning a summer hiatus and airing taped shows the next year pushed the wait back to ten years. On August 11, 1980, Bozo’s Circus was renamed The Bozo Show and moved to weekdays at 8:00 a.m., on tape, immediately following Ray Rayner and His Friends. On January 26, 1981, The Bozo Show replaced Ray Rayner and His Friends at 7:00 a.m. The program expanded to 90 minutes, the circus acts and Garfield Goose and Friends puppets were dropped, while Cuddly DudleyCuddly Dudley
Cuddly Dudley is a lifesize shiny plush stuffed animal nostalgic cocker spaniel doll that was used as a subscription sales promotional item by the Chicago Tribune in the mid-1960s...
(a puppet on Ray Rayner and His Friends voiced and operated by Roy Brown) and more cartoons were added. In 1983, Pat Hurley from ABC-TV's Kids Are People Too joined the cast as himself, interviewing kids in the studio audience and periodically participating in sketches.
The biggest change occurred in 1984 with the retirement of Bob Bell, with the show still the most-watched in its timeslot and a ten-year wait for studio audience reservations. After a nationwide search, Bell was replaced by actor and NBC-TV Gong Show contestant Joey D'Auria
Joey D'Auria
Joey D'Auria is an actor and a voice actor who is best known for his role of WGN-TV Chicago's Bozo the Clown from 1984-2001. D'Auria was hired after a long search for the next Bozo in part because his improvisational skills were very good...
, who would play the role of Bozo for the next 17 years.
In 1985, Frazier Thomas
Frazier Thomas
William Frazier Thomas was a Chicago television personality. While Thomas became the author of nine children's books, he was best known for creating, hosting, writing and producing the long-running children's television program Garfield Goose and Friends on WGN-TV.-Magic and broadcasting:Thomas...
died and Hurley filled in as host for the final six shows that season, stepping into a semi-authority character. In 1987, Hurley was dropped and the show's timeslot returned to 60 minutes. In 1987, a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
replaced the three-piece Big Top Band.
In a 1986 episode of The Bozo Show, a young boy named Phil Brooks took part in a game. He would grow up to become the professional wrestler CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
. Punk's aunt found the footage of him on the show, and sent it to WGN News in December 2010.
1990s
Roy Brown began suffering heart-related problems and was absent from the show for an extended period during the 1991–92 season. This coincided with the show's 30th anniversary and a reunion special that included Don Sandburg as Sandy, who also filled in for Cooky for the first two weeks that season. Actor Adrian Zmed (best known from ABC-TV's T.J. Hooker), who was a childhood fan of Bozo's Circus and former Grand Prize Game contestant, also appeared on the special and portrayed himself as a "Rookie Clown" for the following two weeks. Actor Michael Immel then joined the show as "Spiffy" (Spifford Q. Fahrquahrrr). Brown returned in January 1992, initially on a part-time basis but suffered additional health setbacks and took another extended leave of absence in the fall of 1993. Brown's presence on the show remained, though, as previously aired segments as Cooky and Cuddly Dudley were incorporated until 1994, when he and Marshall Brodien retired from television. Later that year, WGN management decided to get out of the weekday children's television business and buried The Bozo Show in an early Sunday timeslot as The Bozo Super Sunday ShowThe Bozo Super Sunday Show
The Bozo Super Sunday Show is the final version of WGN-TV's 40+ year-old Bozo series, which aired on Sunday mornings for seven seasons. It was taped in Chicago. The lead star of the show was Bozo the Clown, played by Joey D'Auria...
on September 11, 1994. Immel was replaced by Robin Eurich as "Rusty the Handyman," Michele Gregory as "Tunia" and Cathy Shenkelberg as "Pepper." In 1996, Shenkelberg was dropped and the show suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of educational children's programs
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
per week. In 1998, Michele Gregory left the cast following more budget cuts.
2000s
In 2001, station management controversially ended production citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels. The final taping, a 90-minute primetime special titled Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!, was taped June 12, 2001 and aired July 14, 2001. By this time, it was the only Bozo show that remained on television. The special featured Joey D'Auria as Bozo, Robin Eurich as Rusty, Andy Mitran as Professor Andy, Marshall Brodien as Wizzo and Don Sandburg as Sandy. Also present at the last show were Billy CorganBilly Corgan
William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional poet best known as the frontman and sole permanent member of The Smashing Pumpkins. Formed by Corgan and guitarist James Iha in Chicago, Illinois in 1987, the band quickly gained steam with the...
of The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
, who performed, and Bob Bell's family. Many of the costumes and props are now part of The Museum of Broadcast Communications
Museum of Broadcast Communications
The Museum of Broadcast Communications is an American museum that currently exists exclusively on the Internet and not in any physical capacity. Its stated mission is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain...
collection. Reruns of The Bozo Super Super Sunday Show aired until August 26, 2001. Bozo returned to television on December 24, 2005 in a two-hour retrospective titled Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics
Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics
Bozo, Gar and Ray: WGN TV Classics is a two-hour television special produced by WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois. It debuted in 2005 and featured on both WGN-TV and its superstation simulcast, WGN America...
. The primetime premiere was #1 in the Chicago market and continues to be nationally rebroadcast annually during the holiday season.
Bozo also returned to Chicago's parade scene and the WGN-TV float in 2008 as the station celebrated its 60th anniversary. He also appeared in a 2008 public service announcement alerting WGN-TV analog viewers about the upcoming switch to digital television. Bozo was played by WGN-TV staff member George Pappas. Since then, Bozo continues to appear annually in Chicago's biggest parades.
Characters
Character | Actor | Years |
|---|---|---|
Bozo | Bob Bell Bob Bell (actor) Robert Lewis Bell , better known as Bob Bell, was famous for his alter-ego, Bozo the Clown. He was the original portrayer of the character for Chicago superstation WGN-TV.- Early life :... ^ | 1960-1984 |
Oliver O. Oliver | Ray Rayner Ray Rayner Ray Rayner was a staple of Chicago children's television in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV.-Early life:... ^ | 1961-1971 |
Sandy | Don Sandburg Don Sandburg Don Sandburg is an American writer, actor, and producer who has worked in television, most notably as producer of The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera as well as WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus.... ^ | 1961-1969 |
Ringmaster Ned | Ned Locke Ned Locke Norbert Locke, better known as Ned Locke , was an American television personality and radio announcer, best known for the role of "Ringmaster Ned" on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus from 1961 - 1976.... ^ | 1961-1976 |
Mr. Bob | Robert Trendler | 1961-1975 |
Cooky | Roy Brown Roy Brown (clown) Roy Thomas Brown was an American television personality, puppeteer, clown and artist best known for playing "Cooky the Cook" on Chicago's long running Bozo's Circus.-Early years:... ^ | 1968-1994 |
Wizzo | Marshall Brodien Marshall Brodien Marshall Brodien, known for his role as Wizzo the Wizard, played a wizard clown that performed on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus and The Bozo Show from 1968-1994. Brodien, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances since 1968, later appeared as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired... ^ | 1968-1994 |
Elrod T. Potter | Pat Tobin | 1971-1972 |
Clod Hopper | John Thompson | 1972-1973 |
Frazier Thomas Frazier Thomas William Frazier Thomas was a Chicago television personality. While Thomas became the author of nine children's books, he was best known for creating, hosting, writing and producing the long-running children's television program Garfield Goose and Friends on WGN-TV.-Magic and broadcasting:Thomas... | Himself | 1976-1985 |
Pat Hurley | Himself | 1983-1987 |
Bozo | Joey D'Auria Joey D'Auria Joey D'Auria is an actor and a voice actor who is best known for his role of WGN-TV Chicago's Bozo the Clown from 1984-2001. D'Auria was hired after a long search for the next Bozo in part because his improvisational skills were very good... ^ | 1984-2001 |
Professor Andy | Andy Mitran ^ | 1987-2001 |
Spiffy | Michael Immel | 1991-1994 |
Rusty | Robin Eurich ^ | 1994-2001 |
Pepper | Cathy Schenkelberg | 1994-1996 |
Tunia | Michele Gregory | 1994-1998 |
^ Costume part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bozo's Circus collection.
Local Emmys
External links
Watch
- [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/TV%20Radio%20News/TV_00241-1/stream0.asf Bozo's Big Top] circa 1960s Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/features/chicagotv/signmaker65.wmv "Bozo the Signpainter"] 1965. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/features/chicagotv/balloonskit.wmv "Bozo's Balloon Trick"] 1966. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/features/chicagotv/bozoleadsband.wmv "Bozo Leads the Band"] 1966. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/features/chicagotv/sandyandoliver.wmv Sandy and Oliver] 1966. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/features/chicagotv/piemaker.wmv Oliver and Bozo] 1968. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/TV%20Radio%20News/TV_01476/stream0.asf Bozo's Circus at Chicagofest] 1979. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
) - [mms://208.100.39.213:80/MGWMS/MBC/features/chicagotv/bozo25anv.wmv Bozo 25th Anniversary] 1986. Museum of Broadcast Communications (Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
)