So, it was shortly afterward that Bob Keeshan become a clown on camera for the first time. However, a producer saw Keeshan on tape, and was upset at having a “normal” person on camera, since the show was supposedly a circus. On Howdy Doody, Bob Keeshan’s tasks were initially fairly menial - handing out prizes to children (the “Peanut Gallery”), and quieting the youngsters when they weren’t supposed to be heard. Bob Keeshan followed along, having graduated from a page to a low-level employee at NBC, still working for Bob Smith.ĭue to a blizzard, Keeshan missed the first filming of Puppet Playhouse - but most other people didn’t the children’s show set viewership records, and was quickly expanded, and renamed after the lead puppet character - The Howdy Doody Show. With the advent of television, NBC asked him to copy his children’s program to a new TV show, Puppet Playhouse. After the war ended, Bob returned to NBC to finish his time as a page, working for Bob Smith during the day, and attending college at night - he was planning to become a lawyer.īob Smith was a popular radio personality of the day, doing both a program from adults and a morning program for children. Shortly before his 18th birthday, Bob joined the Marines, and underwent basic training. Before Bob could discover this for himself, World War II interrupted. A page was a low-level gopher, giving an individual an “in” at NBC, and giving them time to find where, if anywhere, they belonged at NBC. Instead, in his 18th year, he began working for NBC in their page program. His mother died when Bob was only 15, and this deeply impacted him - without the influence of a school guidance counselor, Bob would have stayed mired in his grief. He had a happy childhood, living with his immigrant father, mother, younger sister and two older brothers. Bob was born in Long Island, but moved to Forest Hills, NY shortly after his birth. Better known to millions of viewers as the original Captain Kangaroo, Long Island native Bob Keeshan first came to national prominence as Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody TV show (1947 – 1952).
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