Bozo was created by Alan W. Livingston The name came from the tradition of circuses calling clowns Bozos.
Bozo was created for a series of Capitol children's records in 1946, with Vance "Pinto" Colvig, the voice of Walt Disney's Goofy, providing the clown's voice.
The First Bozo Pinto Colvig
Bozo needed a voice so Livingston hired a former circus clown, Pinto Colvig, to portray Bozo on the recordings and at promotional appearances.
CBS Los Angeles broadcasted the first Bozo television show, Bozo's Circus. Bozo's Circus starred Pinto Colvig Sr.
Larry Harmon
Larry Harmon formed a partnership that purchased the rights (except for records) to the Bozo the Clown character, and turned it into a nationwide franchise. He took over the role of Bozo the Clown which he had been occasionally hired in the past to play at promotionals, and credited himself as training over 200 Bozo the Clowns.
In 1960, WGN-TV asked character actor and staff announcer Bob Bell to portray Bozo the Clown on a live, 30-minute afternoon show consisting of one-man sketches and cartoons. “Bozo’s Circus” was a live, hour-long telecast that aired weekdays at noon.
clown picture - Bob Bell, as Bozo the clown, in the final incarnation of his makeup In 1970, Bob Bell receives an Emmy for WGN-TV’s “Bozo’s Circus” during a live broadcast of the 11th annual Chicago Emmy Awards at the Drury Lane Theatre in Evergreen Park, Illinois on WBBM-TV (CBS) in Chicago. Bob Bell retired from WGN-TV in April 1984, and was inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame on August 3, 1996.
Joey J. D'Auria (born May 18, 1952) is an actor and a voice actor who is best known for his role of WGN-TV Chicago's Bozo the Clown from 1984 to 2001. D'Auria was hired after a long search for the next Bozo in part because his improvisational skills were very good. D'Auria also blended well with Roy Brown, who said he knew right away that D'Auria would be a hit after telling him he had broken his arm in three places and getting a response of, "Then don't go in those three places!" D'Auria played Bozo until the show's cancellation in 2001.
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