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.

And yet another legacy of my childhood is gone forever. (Sigh)

I still try to sometimes flip the spoon into the glass, which on the show way back when got a kid able to do so a truckload of toys to bring home as a prize. This doesn't register like the passing of George Carlin, whom was probably my favorite stand-up, but...

Does anyone recall how to get the dollar bill from under the inverted soda bottle without touching the bottle or causing it to tumble?

He also lent his name to one of the most memorable exchanges in some film (The title of which escapes me.)

Wise guy:  OK Bozo

Tough guy:  That's Mr. to you.

Wise guy:  OK, Mr. Bozo.

Just precious.

My first "All Time top Ten Memory" is of a taping of Bozo the Clown in Los Angeles, circa 1955-56.

I was one of the children sitting onstage on the bleacher benches, and we all knew at some point Bozo would come and sit down between two of us and we would be very happy and get prizes and do fun things and it was sooooooo good to be a child in those days. And hss shoes were sooooo big, and he was soooooooooo tall and his hair... that hair...

Bozo didn't sit next to me that day, but I do remember how happy and delighted he used to make me feel as a child.

I shed more than one tear when I read the news. The world of children has lost a wonderful soul.






-- Modified on 7/4/2008 11:27:04 AM

there was also the Seinfeld episode, where George wonders why is Bozo called "Bozo the Clown"?  Ain't the name Bozo sufficient to identify him?  There is no  Bozo the Bost Accountant [ or Bozo the TER Addict]  or Bozo The Brain Surgeon for example.