The Captain's real name was Bob Keeshan. He was born June 27, 1927 in New York
City, and passed away January 23, 2004 in Vermont. He was the first Clarabell
the Clown on the Howdy
Doody Show. While
Captain Kangaroo's show (first called the Treasure House and then the
Captain's Place) ran for almost 30 years, Bob Keeshan
appeared on many other shows. We remember the magic drawing board that
kept us guessing until the picture was almost finished. We remember it raining
ping pong balls. But we just don't remember any potty humor. The Captain's TV
show premiered October 3, 1955, the same day as the
Mickey Mouse Club show.
We
can't speak for The Captain, but it's appropriate to remember him in these
ways:
- Put your kids on your lap and read to them. (Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel would be a good one!) Watching television isn't all bad, as The Captain proved! But I think it was The Captain who encouraged moderation in all things. (Well, no, that was Ben Franklin, but he was a good guy, too.)
- Support your kids' school activities and teachers.
The part of Mr. Green Jeans was played by Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum. Lumpy was born in Sandwich, Illinois on January 5, 1910 and died in Sailorsburg, Pennsylvania on April 19, 1987. He was a musician and storyteller, and contrary to rumor was not related to musician Frank Zappa.
The theme song was taken from a recording of "Puffin' Billy", a short piece
composed by Edward White that had been used as theme music for a BBC radio
program in Britain. A recording happened to be in the CBS library when the
Captain went looking for a theme. A "Puffing Billy" is an early style steam
locomotive, and the music was written for such a locomotive seen on the Isle of
Wight. Gerry Marshall provided an MP3 of the original BBC recording.
Listen
*** HERE *** and
*** HERE *** (JavaScript must be enabled, and see this
acknowledgement).
Captain Kangaroo videos
I am not aware of any commercially available DVDs, tapes or other media showing
the original TV shows, and I personally have no such recordings. I don't mind
your emails, but I just don't have the material. There are some kids' song
recordings for sale at the usual internet music sites. There are a few
interesting videos on YouTube (search for
Captain Kangaroo).
In 1999, Karen Herman interviewed Bob Keeshan, and the video is available
online in seven 1/2 hour segments. This touches on his life and career and was
produced by the Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences Foundation. It's a great fan resource.
*
Part 1 - Growing up, military service, Fordham U.
*
Part 2 - TV is born, Bob develops Clarabell.
*
Part 3 - Clarabell and Howdy Doody details.
*
Part 4 - Bob leaves Howdy Doody, joins Time for Fun, creates Tinker's
Workshop.
*
Part 5 - Origins of Captain Kangaroo.
*
Part 6 - Lots of C.K. details. Advent of color TV.
*
Part 7 - Mr. Mayor. PBS. Bob's opinions - lots of good TV, but not
enough for kids.
Contact info
You may contact the whole happy crew:
- The
Captain
- Mr.
Green Jeans
- Mr. Moose
- Bunny
Rabbit
- Dancing
Bear
- Town Clown
-
Grandfather Clock