BOB KEESHAN
(June 27, 1927-January 23, 2004)
Notable Roles: Clarabelle
the Clown, Corny the Clown, Tinker, Captain Kangaroo, Mister Mayor, Aesop
After serving in WWII, Keeshan joined The
Howdy Doody Show during the rise of television as the original
Clarabell the Clown. Portrayed as mute, Clarabell would communicate with horns
and would spray host Bob
Smith with a seltzer bottle. Because of a salary dispute, he and most of
the Howdy Doody cast walked off the
show in 1952 and were subsequently replaced. He played another clown, Corny, on
the local ABC program Time for Fun and created and starred in the preschool-aimed program
Tinker’s Workshop.
Developing ideas from Tinker’s, Keeshan
and his friend Jack Miller
submitted the concept of Captain
Kangaroo to CBS when they were
looking for new children’s programming. CBS greenlit the show and Keeshan
starred as the titular Captain Kangaroo, so named for the large pockets on his
coat, beginning on October 3, 1955. CBS continually changed its timeslot and
length throughout its run, before he decided to end it when his contract ran
out in December of 1984. The show earned Emmy
Awards for its last three years on air. During Captain Kangaroo’s run, Keeshan tried to do a second show called Mister Mayor in 1964, but it only lasted a single year. In 1985, Keeshan hosted the
original run of CBS Storybreak for
three seasons, which featured
animated adaptations of various children’s books. He considered a revival of Captain Kangaroo, but was unable to
obtain the rights to do so. In 1987, he co-founded Corporate
Family Solutions, which provided day-care programs to businesses. He took
part in the 1993
congressional hearings against violence in video games and published his memoir
in 1995. Keeshan also received several honorary doctorates for his work with
children. Keeshan had suffered a heart attack in 1981 which led to his
receiving triple-bypass surgery. He died of another heart attack in 2004.
Saturday Credits:
The Howdy Doody Show
Captain Kangaroo
Mister Mayor
CBS Storybreak
Hercules: The Animated
Series
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