TV personality who played Bozo the Clown dies at 89....8^(

www.bostonherald.com ^ | 03-22-2018 | Staff

[Red Badger]

BOSTON — A longtime television personality who played a beloved clown had died, according to family.

WCVB-TV says 89-year-old Frank Avruch, who played Bozo the Clown from 1959 to 1970, has died.

Avruch was a contributor to the station for over 40 years as a host of "Man About Town," and "The Great Entertainment."

He died Tuesday at his Boston home from heart disease, and is survived by his wife Betty, two sons Matthew and Steven and several grandchildren.

Avruch graduated from Boston University in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in Communication.

He was an active philanthropist, and was a board member of UNICEF'S New England Chapter.

"We will miss him greatly," the family said in a statement to WCVB-TV. "Our dad loved the children of all ages who remembered being on his show, and was always grateful for their kind words."

[Red Badger]

[VanDeKoik]

A show for a different age, that’s for sure.

I think the person that played Bozo in my town might still be alive. We also watched the show out of Chicago.

[Red Badger]

Willard Scott?...........

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_the_Clown

[VanDeKoik]

Nope. Looks like it was Bob Bell out of WGN in Chicago.

And he died in 1997 too.

[BraveMan]

Always loved those shoes . . .
RIP. May I always consider being called his character’s name a compliment.

[Red Badger]

I barely remember watching it out of Memphis as a kid.

The channel it was on, we only had three, was very weak and fuzzy in my area since we were 70 miles away.................

[Garden Island]

Several other clowns that he was an inspiration to will be present at his funeral to pay their respects. They will all arrive and leave in the same car..

[Red Badger]

LOL!!...........good one!..............

[jjotto]

“A little song,
A little dance,
A little seltzer...”

[cyclotic]

Art Cervi played Bozo in Detroit. He was at a Windsor Canada station from 1960 to 75 then moved to WJBK in Detroit until 1980. Still kicking.

I recall being a member of the studio audience twice in Canada. What a heady experience for a young lad.

My brother got picked for a game. It was something about eating a doughnut from a string.

[billorites]

My mother was a Bozo-ette in high school.

[Lee Enfield]

CNN “Bozo dead, Trump not seen in public since”

[Delta 21]

Rest in God's peace, BOZO. I will miss you.

[Hatteras]

Rest in peace you creepy S.O.B.... ;-)

[COBOL2Java]

Williard Scott was the original Ronald McDonald

[Lockbar]

the next Bozo has some pretty big shoes to fill......

[albie]

On the board for unicef. Hmm

[Red Badger]

I was waiting for that.................B^)

[Political Junkie Too]

Larry Harmon was the "first" Bozo the Clown, in that he purchased the rights in 1956 and franchised Bozo to all the major TV markets.

Harmon died in 2008 at age 83.

-PJ

[Red Badger]

I don’t know if our local [Memphis] ‘Bozo’ was truly local, or a film from some bigger market telecast.........................