Woodrow the Woodsman was a local children's television program host in Cleveland and Detroit from 1961 to 1972, and again in 1997-2000. Lead actor J. Clayton "Clay" Conroy (born 1918 in Jersey City,
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
) attended the
Newark School of Fine and Industrial ArtsNewark School of Fine and Industrial Arts was a city-run vocational and art school in Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 1882 as the Evening Drawing School, its name was changed in 1909 to the Fawcett School of Industrial Arts, and changed again in 1928 to the Newark Public School of Fine and...
, and later the
New England Conservatory of MusicThe New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
, where his instrument was the
tromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
. He moved to Cleveland in 1959, and got his start as a supporting character on
Linn SheldonLinn Sheldon was a Cleveland, Ohio based American children's television host and actor, best known for his character "Barnaby", which was seen in Cleveland for over 30 years.-Biography:...
's Barnaby the Leprechaun program on
KYW-TVKYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
. He branched off with his own show, "Woodrow," in 1961, and remained with Barnaby on Saturdays in "Barnwood Playhouse," moving to Detroit in 1966 shortly after the station was sold.
His show ran through 1972 (returning to Cleveland as "Hey Woody" that year), and was revived for three years starting in 1997 after a chance encounter with a television executive who had loved the show as a child. Remakably, Conroy still had all of his original props and costumes in his basement, including the puppets who were regular characters on the show: Tarkington Whom Owl, Voracious the Elephant, and Freddie the Alley-Croc. The puppet characters were voiced by fellow Cleveland actor Lawson J. DemingLawson J. Deming was a radio and TV character actor best known in Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, D.C. and parts of Canada as the Saturday afternoon television horror movie host "Sir Graves Ghastly."-Early years:...
from 1961-66. Deming went on to portray the popular horror movie host Sir Graves GhastlySir Graves Ghastly was a character created by Cleveland-born actor Lawson J. Deming for the popular television show of the same name....
for 15 years on Detroit television.
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