Robert James Keeshan was an American television producer and actor. He created and played the title role in the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which ran from 1955 to 1984, the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. He also played the original Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody television program.
Supermarionation is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films in its puppet TV series and feature films of the 1960s. These productions were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate. The characters were played by electronic marionettes with a moveable lower lip, which opened and closed in time with pre-recorded dialogue by means of a solenoid in the puppet's head or chest. The productions were mostly science fiction with the puppetry supervised by Christine Glanville, art direction by either Bob Bell or Keith Wilson, and music composed by Barry Gray. They also made extensive use of scale model special effects, directed by Derek Meddings.
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performance is also known as a puppet production. The script for a puppet production is called a puppet play. Puppeteers use movements from hands and arms to control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer sometimes speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, while at other times they perform to a recorded soundtrack.
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose.
Howdy Doody is an American children's television program that was created and produced by Victor F Campbell and E. Roger Muir. It was broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States from December 27, 1947, until September 24, 1960. It was a pioneer of children's programming and set the pattern for many similar shows. One of the first television series produced at NBC in Rockefeller Center, in Studio 3A, it pioneered color production in 1956 and NBC used the show to promote color television sets in the late 1950s.
Robert Emil Schmidt, nicknamed Buffalo Bob, was the host of the children's show Howdy Doody.
Ira Stadlen, known professionally as Allen Swift, was an American voice actor, best known for voicing cartoon characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the Underdog cartoon show. He took his professional name from radio comedian Fred Allen and 18th century satirist Jonathan Swift.
Franklin Burr Tillstrom was a puppeteer and the creator of Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
Lewis Burr Anderson was an American actor and musician. He is widely known by TV fans as the third and final actor to portray Clarabell the Clown on Howdy Doody between 1954 and 1960. He famously spoke Clarabell's only line on the show's final episode in 1960, with a tear visible in his right eye, "Goodbye, kids." Anderson is also widely known by jazz music fans as a prolific jazz arranger, big band leader, and alto saxophonist. Anderson also played the clarinet.
Clarabell the Clown is a character who was part of the main cast on the 1947-1960 series The Howdy Doody Show. Clarabell, who wore a baggy, striped costume, communicated through mime and by honking a horn for "yes" or "no". Clarabell would also spray fellow cast member Buffalo Bob Smith with seltzer.
William Cohen was an American actor born in Philadelphia, to an opera actor and singer. As Bill Britten, he is best known for his portrayal of Bozo the Clown in the New York City market.
Velma Wayne Dawson was an American puppet maker and puppeteer. She was best known for creating Howdy Doody marionettes for the Howdy Doody Show.
Ernest Roger Muir was a Canadian-born American television producer who created several television programs and game shows. He was the creator and executive producer of children's program Howdy Doody, which ran from 1947 until 1960.
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling. Puppetry is a very ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex.
Edward George Kean was an American television pioneer and writer who helped create The Howdy Doody Show and wrote over 2,000 episodes of the program.
The Gulf Road Show Starring Bob Smith was an early American prime-time variety television program which aired from 1948 to 1949 on NBC. As the title suggests, it was hosted by Buffalo Bob Smith, who was best known for hosting Howdy Doody, a popular daytime children's show of the era. It is not known how many episodes exist as kinescope recordings, however, Cab Calloway appeared as a guest in a surviving 1949 episode.
Robert Albert Nicholson, also known as "Bobby Nicholson" and "Nick Nicholson" was an American actor and musician.
Le Theatre de Marionette is a marionette theater and production company that began in Arlington, Texas and, later, moved to Dallas, Texas. The theater, which caters to families and school groups, operates both in a physical location and as a touring group.
Margo Rose was an American puppeteer. She designed many puppets for films and the show Howdy Doody with her husband. The couple won a Peabody Award for ''The Blue Ferry" in 1958.
Thomas Hager Tichenor was an American puppeteer, most noted for creating the original puppets for the Broadway musical Carnival!.
