Mr. Harmon - Bozo the Clown - died Thursday

LOS ANGELES --Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.

His publicist, Jerry Digney, said he died at his home.

Although not the original Bozo, Mr. Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of television stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.

"You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Mr. Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.

"Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us," Mr. Harmon said.

Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, originated Bozo the Clown when Capitol Records introduced a series of children's records in 1946.

Mr. Harmon would later meet his alter ego while answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote the records.

He got that job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo. The business made millions, as Mr. Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets.

CLICK HERE for history and info on the Bozo the Clown show.

The Detroit Bozos were played by:

# Detroit, Michigan

* Jerry Booth (1959) at WWJ-TV
* Bob McNea (1959-1967) at WWJ-TV
* Art Cervi (1975-1980) at WJBK-TV
* Andrew F. Smith (1991-1997) at WADL (TV)

I know that wasn't supposed to be funny but I thought "Detroit Bozos" was kinda cute!

Sad.


Though I must admit I thought he died several years ago!



Hasn't been on TV in years!

I wonder if he was related to me? I see a resemblance. JK