Bozo DEAD

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

BOSTON (AP) —
Longtime Boston television personality and entertainer Frank Avruch, who was the star of the popular children's TV program "Bozo the Clown," has died. He was 89.

Avruch died Tuesday at his Boston home from heart disease, his family said in a statement to WCVB-TV.

Avruch played Bozo the Clown from 1959 to 1970, a clown character particularly popular in the U.S. in the 1960s because of widespread franchising in television. Avruch became the first nationally-syndicated Bozo the Clown.

"He had a heart of gold," manager Stuart Hersh told The Associated Press on Wednesday, "He brought the Bozo the Clown character to life better than anyone else's portrayal of Bozo the Clown."

Avruch also was a contributor to WCVB-TV for more than 40 years as a host of "Man About Town" and "The Great Entertainment."

He was an active philanthropist and a board member of UNICEF'S New England chapter. He toured the world performing as Bozo the clown for UNICEF.

"He touched so many people with his portrayal," Hersh said.

Avruch is survived by his wife Betty, two sons Matthew and Steven and several grandchildren.

"While it's hard to say goodbye, we celebrate the legacy of joy and laughter he brought to millions of children around the world as Bozo the Clown on TV and as a UNICEF Ambassador and later as host of Channel 5's Great Entertainment and Boston's Man About Town," Avruch's family said in a statement to the station. "Our dad loved the children of all ages who remembered being on his show and was always grateful for their kind words. We will miss him greatly."

[jjchieffan]

RIP Sweet Daddy Hate. Oh. Wrong Bozo.

[Dayze]

the sick part of me hopes that instead of the cliche'd gurgly death rattle last breath, the sound that came out was from the whoopie cushion he had tucked under his armpit.

[Rausch]

I still have a very old and very rust-backed Bozo pin...

[HemiEd]

RIP Bozo.

My younger siblings watched him and "Freddy Fudd the Forest Ranger", "Mr. Green Jeans" and "Howdy Doody."

[DJJasonp]

the sick part of me hopes that instead of the cliche'd gurgly death rattle last breath, the sound that came out was from the whoopie cushion he had tucked under his armpit.

I damn near spit out my orange juice on this........well-played sir, well played!

:clap:

[Hydrae]

Lived in Chicago in the late 60's as a kid. Loved Bozo! Sad day (although I had no idea he was still alive).

[ptlyon]

RIP. Oh, and fuck clowns.

[Frazod]

Lived in Macon as a kid - we got 3, 7 and 10 (or at least we got 3 when the weather was right). No Bozo for me, just Captain Kangaroo.

[alpha_omega]

RIP sir...sounds like he was a good guy.

Also...Ed gets it right.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jh5qRrC3BKQ/VcEbQA8yOuI/AAAAAAAAE7E/nl0sehoetbA/w205-h318-n/Eddie%2BNo%2BBozo2.jpg

[Dartgod]

http://www.soapblox.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/sad_ronald_mcdonald-618x347.jpg

[Amnorix]

Lord I remember that show! RIP.

https://factsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/bozo-the-clown-7a285c390f653450.jpg

[BWillie]

Used to watch this shit on WGN growing up, just remember the goofy clown running around and people trying to throw ping pong balls into some sort of jar in a contest. I don't know if this guy was the Bozo then, though?

[Dayze]

RIP
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/e/e5/Krusty_The_Clown.png/revision/latest?cb=20131004191501

[Rausch]

BTW I always loved clowns on TV, adds, or in cartoons.

It wasn't until some traveling carney show came to town (that looked like "Something Wicked This Way Comes) that I saw the happy clown that looked like he was counting the hours until he could down the gallon of antifreeze he was saving up for.

The complete contrast of the make up and the person forever put me off.

[Rasputin]

HOLY COW/Harry Carry voice, also rip. One of the channels we got growing up when we finally got cable that increased our channel selection from 3 to 13 was Chi town very own WGN. I watched Bozo in the mornings and much of Cubbies games after noons.



RIP :o)

[sd4chiefs]

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[big nasty kcnut]

It was the grand prize game with the bucket. Also this guy wasn't the wgn bozo.

[stumppy]

Bozo is not dead. He is currently working in the White House. He may be hard to recognize after changing his white face paint to orange.

[BWillie]

Bozo is not dead. He is currently working in the White House. He may be hard to recognize after changing his white face paint to orange.

He and Joe Biden are talking about how they can beat each other up this morning. The leader of our free world...

[alpha_omega]

Bozo is not dead. He is currently working in the White House. He may be hard to recognize after changing his white face paint to orange.

He and Joe Biden are talking about how they can beat each other up this morning. The leader of our free world...

Hey....we're mourning Bozo in here.....Delta Charlie with that shit.

[Imon Yourside]

Sad day for clowns everywhere man, gonna give myself a little me or "clown" time.

[rabblerouser]

RIP Sweet Daddy Hate. Oh. Wrong Bozo.

SDH is my favorite Bozo.

Sometimes you ride the Bozo bus, sometimes you ride the Bolo bus.

"The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began..."

[BWillie]

It was the grand prize game with the bucket. Also this guy wasn't the wgn bozo.

Ok then. #NotMyBozo

[Mennonite]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">doctor: treatment is simple. go see orville, very funny clown<br><br>pagliacci: what about pagliacci?<br><br>doctor: pagliacci? man i could not name a more suckass clown<br><br>pagliacci:<br><br>doctor: just downright dogshit of a clown</p>&mdash; Colin Spacetwinks (@spacetwinks) <a href="https://twitter.com/spacetwinks/status/965428890830344193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[T-post Tom]

Went to a Bozo tv show when I was a kid. I remember one of the tv station's employees yelling at the kids for talking. Angry/rant yelling. So bad, one kid peed her pants and had to leave. Bozo must have had athlete's foot. He kept taking off one of his clown shoes during breaks and scratching his foot like a madman. Good times. Funny what you remember.

[Dayze]

Went to a Bozo tv show when I was a kid. I remember one of the tv station's employees yelling at the kids for talking. Angry/rant yelling. So bad, one kid peed her pants and had to leave. Bozo must have had athlete's foot. He kept taking off one of his clown shoes during breaks and scratching his foot like a madman. Good times. Funny what you remember.

LMAO

[AssEaterChief]

Used to watch this shit on WGN growing up, just remember the goofy clown running around and people trying to throw ping pong balls into some sort of jar in a contest. I don't know if this guy was the Bozo then, though?

Pretty sure we grew up with a different Bozo.

[threebag]

Did they both give away Skip-Bo?

[SuperBowl4]

Remember what your pal BOZO always says - Always Keep Laughing!

[srvy]

In the KC area it was Whizzo the Clown. Im sure Bozo was on some channel but we didnt watch that I recall. Its where you got your Popeye fix.
https://images.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2003/185/11326_1057437181.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQthXvKIJj8eIKZkx6Qam5wAe5zhrSKCMYeydGMEI10iuOVWWURyw

[RINGLEADER]

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BLXtHU_HGXs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fun fact: the guy playing the clown in this Seinfeld episode was Jon Favreau, the star of the movie Swingers (among others), Happy Hogan in the Marvel movies, and director of the first two Iron Man movies, Jungle Book, Elf and others.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Planet member

[RippedmyFlesh]

Watched Bozo in mid 60s and thank him because I don't have a clown phobia. That said every clown after Bozo seemed creepy to me.