Bob Keeshan

Robert James Keeshan (27 June 1927 – 23 January 2004) was an American actor and television presenter, best known as the creator and star of Captain Kangaroo. He was the first presenter on CBS Storybreak, from 1985 to 1987.
== Biography ==
Robert James Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York. As a young man he served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Starting as a page at NBC, Keeshan later began his on-air career as the original "Clarabell the Clown" for The Howdy Doody Show (1947). He was then the first host/performer of WJZ/WABC-TV Ch. 7 NYC's "Time For Fun" / "The Johnny Jellybean Show". Keeshan starred as "Corny the Clown" weekdays at noon from 21 September 1953 to 29 July 1955. He co-created, co-produced and hosted "Tinker's Workshop" with Jack Miller on WJZ/WABC weekday mornings from 15 November 1954 to 9 September 1955. The show continued without Keeshan until 22 August 1958. The later hosts of the show were Henry Burbig, Gene London and Dom DeLuise.
When asked to put together a show for children, Keeshan leaped at the chance. On 3 October 1955, Captain Kangaroo began its near thirty-year run on CBS, until it was moved to PBS in the 1980s. There was a lot of fun in the "Treasure House", with Bunny Rabbit swindling carrots before lunch from the Captain or Mister Moose finding yet another way to get the Captain to stand still long enough to drop dozens of ping-pong balls down on the ever-unsuspecting Captain's head. Dennis (Cosmo Allegretti) asking so many questions that Mister Bainter would almost always lose his cool. All the while during this, Captain Kangaroo taught us values and gave those with busy or absent fathers a gentle and caring male role model to learn good behavior and manners from. A love of reading was encouraged and the animals shown by Mister Green Jeans (Hugh Brannum) allowed children who had never seen a particular animal to experience it though his fascination with it. During its run in 1964, Keeshan also took on a Saturday-morning persona as "Mister Mayor" for a year, but remained the Captain until the end of its run on PBS in 1993. Over the years, he and the show won six Emmys and three Peabody Awards. He was also elected to the Clown Hall of Fame.
In 1989, Keeshan published Growing Up Happy. In October 1996, he published Good Morning Captain: 50 Wonderful Years with Bob Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo. Widowed in the 1990s, he died in Vermont in 2004.
== External Links ==
* Robert Keeshan at the Internet Movie Database
Category:Real People
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