Bozo the Clown, Still the Most Famous of Them All
Ask almost anyone to name a clown and they will say ‘Bozo’. ‘Bozo the Clown’ is the most famous clown in history but didn’t start out as a live person, the first ‘Bozo’ was a character in a read along book in 1946. The idea came from a record company to market a book with a record so kids could read along as the listened.
On the record, the voice of ‘Bozo’, was done by Pinto Colvig, who was an ex circus clown and the voice of Disney’s Goofy character and Sleepy and Grumpy in Snow White. Colvig went on to become ‘Bozo the Clown’ appearing for the first time in ‘Bozo’s Circus’ on T.V. in Los Angeles. ‘Bozo’ was in big demand after that and due to many personal appearances other actors were used as well. Larry Harmon was the actor, in the 1950’s, that got licensing rights for ‘Bozo’ and changed the name to ‘Bozo, The World’s Most Famous Clown’. With cartoons and T.V. shows that followed, ‘Bozo’ is still thought of as the world’s most famous clown.
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