Bob Keeshan (June 27, 1927 – January 23, 2004) was an American television producer and actor. He is most famous as the title character of the children's television program Captain Kangaroo, which became an icon for millions of baby boomers during its 30-year run from 1955-1984. Keeshan also played the original "Clarabell the Clown" on the Howdy Doody television program.
Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, New York, and attended Fordham University after serving in the United States Marine Corps reserve during World War II. A persistent rumor is that actor Lee Marvin appeared on "The Tonight Show" and said he had served in the Marine Corps fighting alongside Keeshan at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Marvin never told the story, never served on Iwo Jima (having been invalided out after the battle of Saipan months earlier), and Keeshan never saw combat or overseas duty, having enlisted just before the end of the war.
After World War II, network television programs for children were new. On Howdy Doody, an early show which premiered in 1947 on NBC. Debuting on January 3, 1948, Keeshan played "Clarabell the Clown", a silent Auguste clown who mainly communicated by honking horns attached to a belt around his waist (one of the horns meant "yes"; the other horn meant "no"). Clarabell often spritzed Buffalo Bob Smith with a seltzer bottle and played practical jokes. He gave up the role in 1952, and was replaced by another actor.
In August 1953, Bob Keeshan was back on the air on WABC-TV (New York City), doing a new children’s show, Time for Fun, playing the role of Corny the Clown, a clown who spoke. Later that same year, in addition to Time for Fun, Bob began Tinker's Workshop, a program aimed at preschoolers, where Bob played the grandfatherly Tinker.
Developing the ideas from Tinker's Workshop, Keeshan and long-time friend Jack Miller submitted the concept of Captain Kangaroo to the CBS network, which was searching for innovative new approaches to children's television programming. CBS approved the new show, and Keeshan starred as the title character of Captain Kangaroo when it premiered on CBS on October 3, 1955. Keeshan described his character as based on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children." The show was a great success, and he served as host for almost three decades; it ran until 1984.
Frequently recurring characters included Mr. Green Jeans (played by Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum), and puppets such as "Bunny Rabbit" and "Mr. Moose." The New York Times commented: "Captain Kangaroo, a round-faced, pleasant, mustachioed man possessed of an unshakable calm ... was one of the most enduring characters television ever produced." He also had a Saturday morning show called Mister Mayor during the 1964-65 season.
After Captain Kangaroo ended, Keeshan hosted 1985's CBS Storybreak, which featured animated versions of children's literature. Keeshan appeared in framing sequences for the animated stories, showcasing the book versions and suggesting similar books for the viewers to seek out. In 1987, Keeshan founded Corporate Family Solutions with former Tennessee Republican Governor Lamar Alexander. The company provided day-care programs to businesses.
Keeshan lived on Melbury Road in Babylon Village, Long Island, New York before moving to spend the last 14 years of his life in Vermont, where he became a children's advocate as well as an author. His memoirs, entitled Good Morning, Captain, were published in 1995 by Fairview Press. He was a strong advocate against video game violence and took part in the congressional hearings in 1993. He later became an honorary member of Dartmouth College's Class of 1942.
Keeshan died in Windsor, Vermont, on January 23, 2004, at the age of 76 of natural causes. He is survived by three children. His wife of 40 years, Anne Jeanne Laurie Keeshan, had died in 1990. Bob Keeshan's grandson, Britton Keeshan, became the youngest person at the time to climb the Seven Summits when he summited Mount Everest in May 2004. He did so carrying photos of his grandfather, and buried a photo of the two of them at the summit of Everest.