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Cover Story

by STEVE DACRI
Editor-in-Chief

COVER STORY

bozoPromoter and entertainer Larry Harmon portrays Bozo the Clown. Harmon, who appeared as Bozo the Clown for decades and licensed the name to other Bozos around the world, had died at age 83. He died Thursday, July 3, 2008, at his home of congestive heart failure,according to his longtime publicist, Jerry Digney.

Larry Harmon was a funny man. Even without the make-up and the big red nose and cotton candy hair. He was a rare talent, just pure natural funny. He was a joy to be around. He loved to tell stories, many of them true. He was full of energy.

He didn't invent Bozo, but he was responsible for marketing the character and promoting him to the status of "The World's Most Famous Clown", and there was a Harris Poll to prove it, he loved to say. That part is true.

bozo with Larry HarmonWithout Larry Harmon, many generations of kids would have never known Bozo. He bought the rights to Bozo from Capitol Records, where the man who actually created Bozo worked. His name was Alan Livingston, and he came up with the name and the character for a series of audio recordings. When those became popular, the company hired people to play Bozo to make public appearances. Larry Harmon was one of many people who they hired to play the clown.

Shortly afterward, Larry gathered a group of investors and bought the rights to Bozo the Clown and he began to create a television show based upon the loveable clown. He came up with all of the show formats, gags and a basic handbook so the show could be duplicated in more than one city. Remember, this was long before syndication or even video tape. Larry set up a Bozo University (BU) in Texas where TV stations would send their people to learn how to become Bozo, build the sets and format the show. A one time there were over 40 Bozo's around the country, all presenting local versions of the same Bozo's Circus TV show, live every day.

I was on one of those shows. In my hometown, Worcester, Massachusetts. They had recently opened a TV station, and they almost immediately bought the franchise for Bozo the Clown. They sent Tom Matzell (who became and remains one of my closest friends), who played Bozo for 5 years, and a couple of others down to BU and I was one of the bunch.

I ended up working on the live TV show for about 4 years, and it was exciting and fun. Tom Matzell ranks up there with the handful of really great Bozo's, and he and I had an almost instant rapport and a keen ability to improvise together. We created many funny skits and gags. In the summers we would hit a number of large theatres and present a stage show, always with packed houses. Everybody loves Bozo.

Larry with one of his Bozo'sThat's when I first met Larry Harmon. I came up with the stage show concept, and featured Bozo. Larry licensed the character and made money every time someone even mentioned Bozo. I had to negotiate with him in order to be able to present a show with Bozo in it. We did a lot of those live shows, he got a lot of checks. I remember sitting in his New York apartment with his darling wife Susan. I had an evelope with several checks in it, from the various shows we had done all summer. I chose to deliver them myself.

We talked about show business, name brands, marketing, everything. He told me how much he loved magic, especially the sleight of hand stuff, and I did a magic trick which ended with the checks all sitting on the table in front of Larry. He laughed long and hard, and when Larry laughed, you couldn't help but laugh right along with him.

Fast forward about 10 years, and I meet with Larry and Susan Harmon in New York again, pitching them on my idea for a Bozo documentary.

He said he was interested, and then delayed moving forward with the project for the longest time. At the time I wondered why, but of course, once I discovered the facts, it was understandable why he was reluctant to do the documentary,

Larry was fond of telling people that he created Bozo. He didn't. Alan Livingston did.

But his tireless efforts to promote the Bozo name created a brand, a household name, and he got very rich in the process.

He created clones of the character, he had the show in many cities and countries. Today Bozo continues to play all over the world in many markets. Bozo is still making people laugh. Especially kids.

One time, Larry hired me to create a promotional film for his Bozo Theme Park Show.

I remember shooting footage for several days in the Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire, where Kevin Bickford was the Bozo, one of the top guys, and Larry's main Bozo for appearances. Kevin was already aprofessional clown, so stepping into the gigantic Bozo shoes was an easy transition, and he has great comedic skills, improv ability, and the voice.

What struck me was the smiling faces, and sometimes even tears from grown-ups who have loved Bozo since they were kids themselves. It was often quite emotional. Parents holding their kids, and acting like they are meeting arock star when they talk to Bozo. One parent told me he was so excited to be introducing his children to Bozo, and he really hoped they will like him. (They did).

Sitting in an edit studio with Larry was a kick, he would often stop things to tell a story he was just recalling. We laughed a lot at the footage and at each other. It was great fun. And he told me he was super-impressed with my finished film.

He once told me that he studied Jack Warner and Walt Disney and their respective successes. Each had created a character that could be cloned, cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse) that became household names. He set out to do the same with Bozo, but he had to hire people to create the character who was a living, breathing clown. He essentially cloned Bozo.

He never stopped dreaming and he never stopped working. He loved the action, the deal making, and being in the smile business. And he loved his wife, Susan. She was his partner, his friend, his life long companion.

My heart goes out to Susan and Larry's children and grand kids, he obviously has left a huge hole in all of their hearts, as well as the hearts of millions who have loved Bozo and the man behind the nose.

Just keep smilin', Larry...

Maybe now I'll finish that documentary.

Be sure to check out our other features on Bozo, especially the history and real story links...

MORE BOZO
The real story behind the Bozo legacy
History of Bozo
Bozo in Boston
Frank Avruch, the Boston Bozo
All the local Bozo's
Larry Harmon's Obit

His Obit...

Larry Harmon, the alter ego behind Bozo the Clown for more than 50 years, died on Thursday of congestive heart failure at age 83.

Harmon, a native of Ohio, died at his home in Los Angeles, his spokesman, Jerry Digney said.

Harmon was not the original Bozo, but he portrayed the flame-haired clown in numerous appearances over the years.

More importantly, he purchased the copyright and trademark to the clown in the 1950s, and as a result was responsible for keeping Bozo working in the entertainment industry for more than half a century.

Since the 1950s, the live "BOZO Show" has aired in 183 U.S. television markets, and 156 BOZO cartoons have played in almost every country around the world. In Chicago, the first "BOZO Show" began airing in 1961 and stayed on the air until 2001.

Over the years, Harmon trained some 200 actors to portray the clown for various local TV stations and other programs franchised around the country.

"We didn't have satellite, syndication and networking like today," Harmon once recalled. "So, I created my own network of local clowns and productions, a cross-country operation that kept me on the road for 50 weeks a year for decades."

Willard Scott, who went on to appear as the weatherman on NBC's' weekday morning program "Today," was one of those recruited by Harmon.

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The Unusual History of Bozo the Clown - attempting to unravel who did what when in the creation of "Bozo, the World’s Most Famous Clown"

Most clowns are created and performed by one individual. There are exceptions, of course, such as the Harlequin, a character from the Comedia del Arte. A more contemporary exception is Bozo the Clown, who is owned, copywritten, and trademarked property of Larry Harmon. But although Mr. Harmon has done an admirable job of marketing Bozo the Clown worldwide, the story of Bozo does not begin with him. Instead, it begins at Capitol Records, in 1946.

Bozo the Clown born at Capital Records

In 1946, Capitol Records was a rather small company, attempting to make an entrance into the children's market. They hired a young man named Alan Livingston, who came up with an idea for a book that would have a record included -- children would listen as they read, with an audio signal to turn the page. This was the world's first "read-along" book, and was a huge hit for the small company. It starred a clown narrator, named Bozo.

Alan Livingston had hired Pinto Colvig to be the voice of Bozo the Clown. Pinto Colvig was a former circus clown, who at that time was doing character voices for Walt Disney, including Goofy and Snow White's dwarf Grumpy, among others. And the book, "Bozo at the Circus," written by Livingston, illustrated by M. Fischer, and voiced by Pinto Colvig, sold over a million copies. This was a success unheard of at that time for a children's recording.

Bozo as a live person

The success of "Bozo at the Circus" generated more read-along books, including 15 that featured Bozo. The continued success led to various spinoffs, including Bozo dolls, and a demand for Bozo in person. In 1949, on KTTV in Los Angeles, California, Pinto Colvig became the first televised Bozo the Clown, with Bozo's trademark hair, suit and white faced clown make up.

In order to meet the demand for personal appearances by Bozo, Alan Livingston had hired numerous actors in several cities to perform as Bozo at various events. One of them, named Larry Harmon, became a pivotal point in Bozo's history.

Larry Harmon and Bozo the Clown, the world's most famous clown

Together with a group of investors, Larry Harmon purchased the licensing rights to the Bozo character from Capitol Records. Larry Harmon had a great talent for marketing, and by the late 1950's had created local Bozo TV shows in nearly every major U.S. market, and across the world in places as far away as Thailand, Greece and Brazil.

At this point, the history of Bozo diverges wildly, as numerous Bozos were operating simultaneously across the world. Notable individuals include Bob Bell, who portrayed Bozo for WGN-TV in Chicago for decades, eventually retiring and being replaced by Joey D'Auria, the longest-running, and last Bozo TV show. In Washington, D.C. Bozo was portrayed for a time by Willard Scott, now well known as NBC weatherman. In Boston, Frank Avruch wore the giant shoes. And Larry Harmon created a well-known series of cartoons featuring Bozo as well. In recent years, Bozo has appeared to be in decline, as most of the TV franchises have gone away, in favor of nationally syndicated morning programming. However, DVD's are now available of Frank Avurch's portrayal. In addition, a new music record (CD, actually) titled "Get Down with the Clown" -- proving that everything old is new again.

Bozo the Clown is the name of a clown whose widespread franchising in early television made him the best-known clown character in the United States. Although the generic name Bozo is reckoned "of uncertain origin" by the Random House Unabridged Dictionary and given an earliest use of c. 1915–20, when it was a common term referring to hobo or tramp clowns, the equation of "Bozo" and "dunce" may be credited to Anselm of Canterbury, who laid out many of his treatises in the familiar form of a dialogue, between A, who was Anselm, and B, who was Boso, who never got it right. Bozo has been named in several US presidential elections as a write-in candidate when people felt they were choosing between the lesser of two evils. The name had previously been carried by numerous Carolingian aristocrats (see Boso of Provence).

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History

Created as a character in 1946 by Alan W. Livingston who produced a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set which Livingston called a "Record Reader", the first of its kind, titled Bozo at the Circus for Capitol Records. Pinto Colvig portrayed the character on this and subsequent Bozo read-along records. The albums were extremely popular and the character became a mascot for the record company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown." In 1949, Capitol and Livingston began setting up royalty arrangements with manufacturers and television stations for use of the Bozo character. KTTV-TV in Los Angeles began broadcasting the first show, Bozo's Circus, featuring Colvig as Bozo with his blue-and-red costume, oversized red hair and classic "whiteface" clown makeup on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

In 1956, Larry Harmon, one of several actors hired by Livingston and Capitol Records to portray Bozo at promotional appearances, formed a business partnership and bought the licensing rights (excluding the record-readers) to the character when Livingston briefly left Capitol in 1956. Harmon had the vision and drive to take advantage of the growing television industry and make a better future for Bozo. He renamed the character "Bozo, The World’s Most Famous Clown" and slightly modified the voice, laugh and costume. He then worked with a wig stylist to get the wing-tipped bright orange style and look of the hair that had previously appeared in Capitol's Bozo comic books. He started his own animation studio and distributed (through business partner Jayark Films Corporation) a series of cartoons (with Harmon as the voice of Bozo) to television stations, along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host, beginning with KTLA-TV in Los Angeles on January 5, 1959 and starring Vance Colvig, Jr., son of the original "Bozo the Clown", Pinto Colvig. Unlike many other shows on television, "Bozo the Clown" was mostly a franchise as opposed to being syndicated, meaning that local TV stations could put on their own local productions of the show complete with their own Bozo. Another show that had previously used this model successfully was Romper Room. Since each market used a different portrayer for the character, the voice and look of each market's Bozo also differed. One example is the voice and laugh of Chicago's Bob Bell, who also wore a red costume throughout the first decade of his portrayal. In 1965, Harmon bought out his business partners and became the sole owner of the licensing rights. Thinking that one national show would be more profitable for his company, Harmon produced 130 of his own half-hour shows from 1965 to 1967 titled Bozo's Big Top with WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV) Boston's Bozo, Frank Avruch, for syndication in 1966. Avruch's portrayal and look resembled Harmon's more so than most of the other portrayers at the time. Harmon was met with resistance though and the show's distribution was limited as most television stations preferred to continue producing their own versions, the most popular being Bob Bell and WGN-TV Chicago's more elaborate Bozo's Circus which ultimately went national via cable and satellite in 1978. Bell retired in 1984 and was replaced by Joey D'Auria.

The series successfully survived competition from syndicated and network children's programs for many years until 1994 when 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 Show. It 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 2001, station management controversially ended production citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels.

In 2005, Chicago's Bozo returned to the national television airwaves 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 rebroadcast annually during the holiday season. In 2003, Harmon released six of his Bozo's Big Top programs with Avruch on DVD and a box set of 30 episodes in 2007 retitled "Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown Vol.1".

The wigs for Bozo were originally manufactured through the famous Hollywood firm Emil Corsillo Inc. This long time Hollywood company designed and manufactured toupees and wigs for the entertainment industry. Bozo's headpiece was made from horsehair which was adhered to a canvas base with a starched burlap interior foundation. The hair was first styled, formed, then sprayed with a heavy coat of lacquer to keep it's form From time to time the headpiece needed freshening and was sent to the Hollywood factory for a quick refurbishing. The canvas top would slide over the actors forehead. The eyebrows were permanently painted on the headpiece


Following is a partial list of Bozo television portrayers since the original (Pinto Colvig):

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National Cable & Satellite TV Bozos

  • Bob Bell (1978-1984) at Superstation WGN Chicago
  • Joey D'Auria (1984-2001) at Superstation WGN Chicago

(Signal-reach throughout North America included the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean among others.)

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Local Bozos (don't bother hitting any of the links, we didn't connect any of them)

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International

Brazil

  • Wandeko Pipoca at SBT
  • Luis Ricardo at SBT
  • Decio Roberto at SBT
  • Charles Myara at SBT
  • Nanni de Souza at SBT
  • Reinado Rossetto at SBT
  • Marcos Paje at SBT
  • Edilson Oliveria SBT
  • Arlindo Barreto at SBT

Canada

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Bozo on Boston TV

Nationally Syndicated Bozo

  • Frank Avruch (1966-1970s) at WHDH-TV (now WCVB) Boston

(Produced 1965-1967 with syndication limited to local U.S. TV markets that were not producing their own Bozo shows.)

Frank Avruch as Bozo
Frank Avruch as Bozo

The local WHDH-TV (now WCVB-TV) Boston production of Bozo's Circus with Frank Avruch aired from 1959 until 1970, and 130 episodes taped between 1965 and 1967 were produced and syndicated by Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation to local U.S. television markets that did not produce their own Bozo shows. The half-hour syndicated shows were retitled Bozo's Big Top and included Caroll Spinney as "Mr. Lion" and "Kookie The Boxing Kangaroo", who later went on to portray "Big Bird" and "Oscar the Grouch" on PBS's Sesame Street. Licensor Larry Harmon supervised the taping of these episodes, with Harmon-approved characters added, some based on characters in Harmon's classic animated Bozo cartoon shorts. The series was rerun locally in the late 1970s and early 1980s on WLVI-TV. In 2003, Harmon released six of these shows on DVD and, in 2007, 30 of them in a DVD box set entitled "Larry Harmon's Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown Vol.1
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