The Bozo Show cast members
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- Robert Lewis Bell was born on January 18, 1922 in Flint, Michigan. His father was an assembly worker at General Motors and his mother was a housewife. He had two older brothers. After graduating high school, a friend's family offered to take him along to Arizona, where he dug ditches, worked as a carhop and lumberjack, and signed onto construction jobs. His show business career began as a U.S. Cavalryman extra for the motion picture Arizona (1940), where he also helped build the village of "Old Tucson" for the movie.
Although he was certifiably blind in his right eye, he succeeded in passing the Marine Corps physical in 1941, by memorizing the eye charts. Less than a year later, however, he was given a medical discharge but decided to try again, only this time, with the Navy. With the help of a sympathetic Navy doctor, he was accepted and served in San Francisco and, later, the Philippines, until 1946.
Upon his discharge, he returned to Flint, where he joined a community theater production and was subsequently offered a job as an announcer and disc jockey at WMRP Radio. A year later, he moved to South Bend, Indiana's WHOT Radio where he met and married copywriter Carol Atkinson. In 1950, they moved to Indianapolis, where he broke into television on WFBM-TV.
Bell's flair for comedic character acting surfaced in 1953, when he was paired with variety/talk show host Wally Phillips at WLWT-TV and WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1956, the stations' Executive Vice President, Ward Quaal, left the company to become General Manager of WGN Continental Broadcasting Company (WGN-TV & Radio) in Chicago and brought Bell, Phillips and the show's writer/director/producer Don Sandburg along. During the four years that followed, Phillips and Bell starred on their own variety series, which included "The Wally Phillips Show" and "Midnight Ticker". Bell also doubled as a staff announcer. From 1959 until 1968, he hosted "The Three Stooges" weekday afternoon showcase as "Andy Starr", the elderly custodian of the Odeon Theater. But it was in 1960 when WGN-TV asked him to portray the character that would make him a Chicago television legend, "Bozo the Clown".
Alan Livingston created "Bozo" for Capitol Records in Hollywood, California in 1946. He hired voice artist and former circus clown, 'Pinto Colvig', to portray the character on the recordings and first Bozo television series, "Bozo's Circus", on KTTV-TV in Los Angeles in 1949. In the late 1950s, Livingston and Capitol briefly parted ways and sold the licensing rights to Larry Harmon, whose business partner, Jayark Films Corporation, began distributing Bozo limited-animation cartoons to television stations along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host.
Chicago's Bozo debuted on June 20, 1960 starring Bob Bell on a live 30-minute "Bozo" show weekdays at noon, performing comedy sketches and introducing Bozo cartoons. The program was placed on hiatus in January 1961 to facilitate WGN-TV and Radio's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to the city's northwest side. The show was expanded to an hour and returned as "Bozo's Circus" on September 11, 1961 with additional cast members, a 13-piece orchestra, comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. The show and Bell's portrayal achieved a popularity and success unlike any locally produced children's show in the history of television. His improvisational skills on live television, double-entendres and Jackie Gleason-like mannerisms also attracted a huge adult following. The program began airing nationally via cable and satellite in 1978, and studio audience reservations surpassed a 10-year wait. In 1980, the series moved to weekday mornings as "The Bozo Show" and aired on tape delay.
Bell retired in 1984 with the show remaining #1 in its timeslot. Immediately following his retirement, the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Board of Directors honored him with their Governors' Award. Fellow cast members throughout his 24-year run as Bozo included Ned Locke as Ringmaster Ned, Bob Trendler as Mr. Bob, Don Sandburg as Sandy the Tramp, Ray Rayner as Oliver O. Oliver, Roy Brown as Cooky the Cook, Marshall Brodien as Wizzo the Wizard, and Frazier Thomas. Joey D'Auria took over the Bozo role until 2001.
After raising four children, Bell and his wife Carol moved from Deerfield, Illinois to Lake San Marcos, California, an area he had visited while serving in the Marine Corps during World War II. In addition to presiding over the Kiwanis Club of Lake San Marcos, he served on the board of directors of a community educational association that raised funds for the local school system.
In 1986, he was greeted with a lengthy standing ovation when he returned for a special guest appearance as himself during a live broadcast of "The Bozo 25th Anniversary Special" from Medinah Temple in Chicago. Ten years later, he became the first portrayer of Bozo to be inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.
On December 8, 1997, Bob Bell passed away due to heart failure at the age of 75 in San Marcos, California. Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley proclaimed April 18, 1998 "Bob Bell Day" in the State of Illinois and City of Chicago as Addison Street near the WGN-TV Studios was named "Bob Bell Way." In 1999, actor and Chicago native Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson and Krusty the Clown on "The Simpsons" television series, revealed during a national television interview that his voice characterization of Krusty was based on Bob Bell's Bozo. Considering Bell's sly sense of humor, there's no doubt he would be proud. - Actor
- Producer
Ray Rayner was born on 23 July 1919 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for McDonaldland (1963), Riptide (1984) and Shades of Gray (1948). He was married to Jeanne and Marie Moore. He died on 21 January 2004 in Fort Myers, Florida, USA.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Don Sandburg was born on 24 October 1930 in Rocky River, Ohio, USA. He was a producer and actor, known for Big Top (1965), Bozo (1960) and Bozo's Circus (1961). He died on 6 October 2018 in Springfield, Oregon, USA.- Ned Locke was born on 25 December 1919 in Red Wing, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for Big Top (1965) and Bozo's Circus (1961). He died on 4 February 1992 in Kimberling City, Missouri, USA.
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Robert Trendler was born on 11 May 1912 in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for An Evening with... (1965), The Music Show (1953) and Big Top (1965). He died on 18 July 2011 in Ellenton, Florida, USA.- Set Decorator
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Puppeteer, clown and artist. Before graduating the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, he came to Chicago children's television in 1952 doing graphic arts for the Magic Drawing Board on the "Garfield Goose and Friends" program. He became the show's puppeteer shortly thereafter. In 1968, he created Cooky the Cook for "Bozo's Circus" when the producer and writer, who also played Sandy the Tramp, announced he was leaving the show. Brown restyled a discarded Bozo wig and other props, and his "audition" was on a live Bozo program the following week. He won a Chicago/Midwest Emmy award in 1992. In 1993, he was inducted into the Chicago Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Silver Circle, and the Internatonal Clown Hall of Fame in Wisconsin.- Marshall Brodien was born on 10 July 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Bozo's Circus (1961), The Bozo Show (1982) and Bozo: 40 Years of Fun! (2001). He was married to Mary Doyle. He died on 8 March 2019 in Geneva, Illinois, USA.
- Pat Tobin is known for Posse (1975).
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
John Thompson is known for Red Dwarf (1988), Sold (2003) and Huangjia Xianggang jingcha de zuihou yi ye (1999).- Actor
- Editor
- Producer
Frazier Thomas was born on 13 June 1918 in Rushville, Indiana, USA. He was an actor and editor, known for Family Classics (1962), Bozo's Circus (1961) and Garfield Goose and Friends (1952). He was married to Ann Deeds. He died on 3 April 1985 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.- Actor
- Sound Department
- Writer
Joseph J. D'Auria is an American actor who is known for playing Bozo the Clown. He also played Loud Mouth Lime and Captain Black Cherry from Funny Face, Alister Azimuth from Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Mr. Rude, Mr. Fussy and Mr. Scatterbrain from The Mr. Men Show and Kim from Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.- Actor
- Music Department
- Producer
Andy Mitran Composer/Producer
Five time Emmy award winner Andy Mitran started his career in music as a child. From drums to piano, he formed a band in high school, studied composition in college while performing professionally and went on to become the Music Director on TV's longest running children's program in history, the Bozo Show.
Since the Bozo Show went off the air in 2001 Andy has written almost four hundred pieces of music that have been used on the Oprah Winfrey show, the Dr. Oz show, the Nate Berkus show and Oprah's Own Network from 2005 to the present. Andy is also co-owner of Mitran Mitran Music a long time custom music and audio production company founded in 1984. As his studio services expanded, Mitran Mitran Music truly became Chicago's quintessential music and audio company, having completed projects for some of the city's biggest brands - Oprah, the Bulls, Sox, Cubs, WGN, WTTW, Empire Today, and more. Teaming up with internationally acclaimed composer and owner of Laughing Cat Records, Al Jewer, Andy has created a team and business with a reputation for dependability, innovation and unique skills.
In 2011 Andy launched Perfect Choice Music Library with long time co composer Al Jewer. This music can be heard in commercials, broadcast and cable programming on shows including "Lets's Make A Deal", "Martha Stuart Living" "Aftermath with William Shatner" among others.