Bozo lied? I’m not a big clown fan, and I never really liked Bozo that much. But I hate it when people get treated unfairly.
Yahoo! News – Colvig to Join Clown Hall of Fame As Bozo
While it is all well-and-good that Colvig should get credit for being the first Bozo and for all the other work he did in the entertainment field (he was the original voice of Goofy… for that alone he is worthy), why should that strip away everything Larry Harmon has done?
Even if Harmon had gone overboard in claiming to have invented Bozo the Clown, so what? Like he didn’t do anything to develop and popularize the character for the last 50 years? But he didn’t even claim that! His biography page clearly states that he was hired to portray Bozo the Capitol Clown, a character created by Capitol Records in 1946 and originally portrayed by another actor. Then, he bought all the rights to Bozo and promoted the hell out of him.
A quick Google for “Bozo’s Circus” lists a dozen places to find the history of Bozo… all of them mention that Bozo was created by Capitol and that Harmon bought the rights. (Here’s a good one at chicagotelevision.com.) But some bored reporter has convinced the too-lazy-to-check-themselves Clown Hall of Fame to strip Harmon of his “Lifetime of Laughter” award.
As a former member of the Peanut Gallery (circa 1970), I protest.
Eh…clowns. A little scary.
We had our own Bozo here in Bangor, Do you remember him, Sol? He was on Channel 5 for several years in the early 60’s. He was played by Mike Dolley (Who was also your favorite Santa).
Yes. He was also the father of my high school debate team partner, Steve Dolley.
As I was reading the post, I was thinking about Mike (and Steve) Dolley. Have you checked out his (Steve’s) bands web page? I haven’t in a year or two….