"I'm Flippo the Clown! Hello, hello, hello! I wear the crown! King of the Circus Clowns!"
Hey Folks,
I, like many others, grew up with the crazy clown on TV / Channel 10 / WBNS – back in the olden days. Jonathan Winters worked there then, too, and Fritz the Night Owl, and the Old Wrangler, and Aunt Fran, and Captain Kangaroo.
The passing of Bob Marvin/Marvin Fishman/Flippo, the King of the Clowns - and a respected musician/band leader - brings back a flood of memories.
How could Flippo die? Flippo, who was inspired by the Popeye cartoons he showed to sing (among other things), “I love to go swimmin’ with bald-headed women; I’m Popeye the sailor man” ?
Like the Fishmans, my band-mate, Peter English lived in Worthington and grew up knowing the family. Another friend attended Flippo's show as a girl scout. Most of us just knew the clown from the afternoon tube; but anyone who knew anything about Flippo, feels the loss of his passing.
In case you didn’t know the man, below is part of the Dispatch’s “farewell” editorial.
-Uke Man
Farewell, Flippo
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Central Ohio mourns the passing of a consummate entertainer, a gifted jazzman and a sophisticated wit who found his true calling wearing white greasepaint and a red nose. Marvin Fishman, whose professional name was Bob Marvin but who was best known as Flippo the Clown, died Saturday at 79.
Flippo came into being in 1952 as part of the national craze of children’s clown shows. But Marvin’s real shtick and the source of his three decade staying power was a comic sensibility that cracked up college students and hipsters, yet delighted children and left their parents comfortable that the kids were being safely entertained.
The self-proclaimed King of the Clowns, for all his big, floppy collar and baggy suit trimmed with white pom-poms, wasn’t a circus-style clown. He employed just enough slapstick, including the occasional practical joke on a TV-studio crew member, to keep things lively. But he is most remembered for the mischievous wisecracks with which he peppered the breaks during films, shown weekday afternoons on The Early Show.
Flippo’s daily show was enough to provide thousands of people who grew up in central Ohio in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s with memories of watching the show or, if they were industrious or lucky enough, actually appearing on it.
I, like many others, grew up with the crazy clown on TV / Channel 10 / WBNS – back in the olden days. Jonathan Winters worked there then, too, and Fritz the Night Owl, and the Old Wrangler, and Aunt Fran, and Captain Kangaroo.
The passing of Bob Marvin/Marvin Fishman/Flippo, the King of the Clowns - and a respected musician/band leader - brings back a flood of memories.
How could Flippo die? Flippo, who was inspired by the Popeye cartoons he showed to sing (among other things), “I love to go swimmin’ with bald-headed women; I’m Popeye the sailor man” ?
Like the Fishmans, my band-mate, Peter English lived in Worthington and grew up knowing the family. Another friend attended Flippo's show as a girl scout. Most of us just knew the clown from the afternoon tube; but anyone who knew anything about Flippo, feels the loss of his passing.
In case you didn’t know the man, below is part of the Dispatch’s “farewell” editorial.
-Uke Man
Farewell, Flippo
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Central Ohio mourns the passing of a consummate entertainer, a gifted jazzman and a sophisticated wit who found his true calling wearing white greasepaint and a red nose. Marvin Fishman, whose professional name was Bob Marvin but who was best known as Flippo the Clown, died Saturday at 79.
Flippo came into being in 1952 as part of the national craze of children’s clown shows. But Marvin’s real shtick and the source of his three decade staying power was a comic sensibility that cracked up college students and hipsters, yet delighted children and left their parents comfortable that the kids were being safely entertained.
The self-proclaimed King of the Clowns, for all his big, floppy collar and baggy suit trimmed with white pom-poms, wasn’t a circus-style clown. He employed just enough slapstick, including the occasional practical joke on a TV-studio crew member, to keep things lively. But he is most remembered for the mischievous wisecracks with which he peppered the breaks during films, shown weekday afternoons on The Early Show.
Flippo’s daily show was enough to provide thousands of people who grew up in central Ohio in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s with memories of watching the show or, if they were industrious or lucky enough, actually appearing on it.
1 Comments:
Tom, very nice tribute to Flippo. I too grew up watching his show almost every day. He certainly had an influence upon my sense of humor and love for showbiz. Heck, The Moops even dedicated a show to him back in July.
Jim Hutter
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