Howdy Doody
NBC (ended 1960)
Cast & Crew
EDIT
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Dayton Allen
Pierre the Chef
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Allen Swift
Sandy McTavish
Allen Swift seemed destined for a show business career.At an early age.He displayed a talent for mimcry by imitating members of his family and his father's clients(Mr.Stadlin..Swift's father was a realty broker).He won an art contest in grammer school and by the time he was in his teens.He was accepted into NYC"s High School of Music And Arts.But Swift spent more time playing hookey from hiss class and watching the movies and stage shows at NYC's Paramount Theater than paying attention to his studies.He soon left Music and Arts HS and went to The Catskills of Upstate New York.Where in his late teens,he made his debut as a stand up entertainer.Performing for hotel customers in "The Borscht Belt".Swift also found time to write produce and perform on the many dramatic radio shows that were being broadcast in NYC and in many of NYC's most popular night clubs.His radio and stand up career was interrupted by his serving in The US Army Air Corps during WWII.Upon his return to NYC following the war.He continued to write,produce and perform on radio drama shows and in nightclubs.He also did a stint at The mecca of Broadway musicals and vadeville:"The Palace Theater"in the 1950's.When Judy Garland played "The Palace".But he became disatisfied with the unacceptable atmosphere of the clubs and tried to find another venue for his talents.He finally found that venue.When he was invited to join the cast of CBS TV's and Robert Q.Lewis'"Robert Q.Lewis TV Show".He appeared in sketchs and sang some songs with Mr.Lewis and other members of the cast.It was during this time that Ira Stadlin changed his name to Allen Swift(He took the name from Fred Allen and Jonathan Swift).Swift performed on the "Robert Q.Lewis Show"for few years and he also did some voice overs for radio and tv commcercials.In 1953,he would leave the "Robert Q.Lewis Show"and join the cast of"Howdy Doody".Swift would not only ultilize his talents as a comic/character actor and mimic.He would also write the scripts,perform magic tricks and manipulate the puppets.He would also collaborate on the writting of one song for the show with "Howdy's"first head comedy writer and songwriter:Ed Kean:"Freddie The Mistreated Teddy Bear!".Swift would also serve as a puppeteer on the syndicated kids tv puppet series:"The Adventures of Blinky"With Doris Brown,Donald Soames,Lucy Emmrick and with Paul Ashley.He would continue to work on "Howdy Doody".Until he was fired from the show in May of 1956.On Monday September 10,1956.Swift would host the tv show for which he is best remembered by NYC youngsters:"The Popeye Show".Set against the backdrop of the deck and captain's quarters of a ship."Captain Allen"Swift would engage his viewers in songs,stories,craftmaking,hobbies,games,magic tricks,drawing lessions,informational segments and interviews with guest performers and personalities inbetween the reruns of "The Paramount/Fleischer"and"Paramount/Famous Popeye"Movie Cartoons.Swift would host the weekday evening version of the Show(Former "Merry Mailman"Ray Heatherton would host the weekend evening edition of "The Popeye Show" on WPIX TV Ch.11 in NYC.From Saturday and Sunday September 8,& 9,1956 to Saturday March 29,1958 and Sunday April 13,1958)on WPIX TV Ch.11 in NYC.From Monday September 10,1956.Until he was forced to leave the show on Friday September 23,1960 following a creative dispute with station management.(Radio/tv broadcaster and WPIX TV Ch.11's co-founder:"Captain Jack"McCarthy would succeeded Swift as the show's third and last host performer on Monday Evening September 26,1960 and Mc the program for the next 12 years).Swift would continue to do vo's for radio/tv commcercials and for numerious tv and movie cartoon series.He would also write,produce,direct and perform in plays and musicals in summer stock,off-Broadway and Broadway theater.Including a memorable turn in the critically acclaimed dramatic production"Checking Out!"as embittered ex Yidddish stage actor:"Morris Appelbaum".Swift would cut two children's records as"Captain Allen":One with Comic/character actress/mimic and singer:Mae Questel for Cabot Records(in 1957)and"Popeye's Favorite Sea Shanties!"(with the musical team of Bill Simon And The Crew)for RCA Camden Children's Records in 1960.His second children's recording:"Popeye's Favorite Sea Shanties!"was nominaited for a grammy award.But it lost out to Liberty Records and Ross Bagdasarin's"Alvin Show"Record.Swift's only on camera tv appearances have been on CBS TV's:"Kate & Allie"and"The Equilizer"and on NBC TV's"Law & Order".His son:Lewis J.Stadlin has become one of the most successful comic/character actors/singers and mimics in the theaters,the movies and on tv.moreless -
Bob Smith
Buffalo Bob Smith
'Buffalo' Bob Smith, resplendent in his fringed cowboy outfit, was the host and co-creator of the ground-breaking Howdy Doody Show. He even wrote the show's sing-along theme, "It's Howdy Doody Time" (Bob got his start in radio as a singer and musician). Every show, Bob would ask ''Say, kids, what time is it?'' and the Peanut Gallery would roar "'It's Howdy Doody time!" and together they'd sing the theme. It was the first television show to feature live music. In 1947, when the series began, there were perhaps as few as 20,000 U.S. homes that even had television sets. Bob and puppet Howdy helped propel NBC, which had only six stations then, to national prominence. In fact, in 1954, the network's test pattern featured a picture of Howdy. It was the first TV series ever broadcast in color and RCA, which owned NBC at the time, used Bob and the show to help popularize color television sets. After "Howdy" moved to early evenings, the show was so popular that people would gather in front of appliance store windows to watch it, as they did with baseball games. Morning after morning (it was the first network kids show to run 5 days a week and, for a time, the first network show of the day), 'Buffalo' Bob would take care of a growing number of America's kids for half-an-hour while their folks prepared for the busy day ahead. Although after the show was cancelled he "retired" to the life of a radio station owner, Bob Smith was never forgotten by the legion of baby boomers he helped raise and he continued to make personal appearances all over the country (as well as on film and TV) until his passing in 1998.moreless -
Bill McCutcheon
Tim Tremble
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Lee Carney
Assistant Puppeteer
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Bill Lecornec
Chief Thunderthud
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Ed Alberian
King Gus Gasbag
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Marilyn Patch
Happy Harmony
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Frank Parris
Head Puppeteer/Puppet Maker
Frank Parris was born to Franklin Marion Parris, Sr. and Sarah Emma Smith. He had two sisters.....Marie and Betty "Jane". Jane married R.L. "Dick" McSpadden in Amarillo, Texas. -
Rufus Rose
2nd Head Puppeteer/Puppet-Maker
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Nicki Varro
Glory Gritts
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Tom Kenny
Howdy Doody (2005 dub)
Tom Kenny was raised in East Syracuse, New York, where he later attended Catholic School. Tom Kenny was always fascinated with comic books and animated programs, which he read and watched on a constant basis, which permitted him to know more about the two subjects than anyone in his neighborhood. Tom Kenny idolized Bob Clampett and he did everything he could to learn as much as possible about animation; though Tom never imitated the voices of animated characters, as he preferred to create his own voices. Tom Kenny began his entertainment career as a stand-up comedian in Boston, though he later went to San Francisco where he continued to perform stand-up comedy. However, he still credited his comedy career to the legends in animation, such as Tex Avery, rather than other comedians in the field. Tom didn't initially plan to provide voices for a living, though one night when he was performing his comedy routine, there were some executives from Nickelodeon and Hanna-Barbera in the audience, who approached him with an offer to work with them, which changed his life forever.moreless -
Bob Keeshan
Clarabell the Clown
Television producer, host; born Robert James Keeshan in Lynbrook, Long Island, New York on June 27, 1927. As a young man he served in the reserves of the United States Marine Corps. Starting as a page at the National Broadcasting Company, Robert Keeshan later began his on-air career as the original "Clarabell the Clown" for the NBC "Howdy Doody Show". Mister Keeshan was then the first host/performer of WJZ/WABC TV Ch. 7 NYC's "Time For Fun" / "The Johnny Jellybean Show". Keeshan emceed the show as "Corny The Clown" weekdays at noon from Monday, September 21, 1953 to Friday, July 29, 1955. He co-created, co-produced and hosted "Tinker's Workshop" with Jack Miller on WJZ/WABC TV Ch. 7 in New York City weekday mornings from Monday, November 15, 1954 to Friday, September 9, 1955. The show continued without Robert until Friday August 22, 1958. The later hosts of the show were Henry Burbig, Gene London & Dom DeLuise. When asked to put together a children show he leaped at the chance. On October third 1955, "Captain Kangaroo" began its near thirty-year run on CBS television, till it moved to public television in the eighties. 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 "Gus" 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 that Mister Green Jeans (Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum) showed allowed children who had never seen a particular animal to experience it though his fascination with it. During its run in 1964 Bob 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 his show won six Emmys and three Peabody Awards, he was also elected to the Clown Hall of Fame. In 1989 he published Growing Up Happy and then in October of 1996 he published "Good Morning Captain: 50 Wonderful Years with Bob Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo. Mister Keeshan is also the author of the "Itty Bitty Kitty" children's book series. Widowed in the nineties, he died in Vermont in 2004. He was 77.moreless -
Rhoda Mann
Assistant Puppeteer
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Judy Tyler
Princess Summerfall Winterspring
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Bobby Nicholson
Clarabell the Clown
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Lewis Anderson
Clarabell the Clown
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Carl Harms
Assistant Puppeteer
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Marti Barris
Peppi Mint
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Sandy Howard
Director
Sandy Howard, an American writer, director, movie and television producer, is perhaps best known as the producer of A Man Called Horse, 1970, its sequel The Return of a Man Called Horse, 1976, and the cult classic, The Island of Dr. Moreau, 1977. He produced more than 30 movies and television programs. He began his television career as a director for episodes of "The Howdy Doody Show" and then as a producer for "Captain Kangaroo." Howard was the creator, producer, and writer for the program "Night Court USA" in 1958. Howard spent the last ten years of his life in the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.moreless -
Martin Stone
Producer
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Hal Schaffel
Producer
Hal Schaffel started his career as a lawyer and segued into show business as the Producer of the N.Y.C. radio show "Author Meet Critics". He went on to television to Produce "The Patti Page Show" and the famous "Howdy Doody" for NBC. He became Head Of Business Affairs for Screen Gems, the TV arm of Columbia Pictures. From there, he was the Production Manager on Walter Matthau's first (and only) TV series, "Talahassee 7000," gained fame as the Production Supervisor/Location Manager for the seminal TV series "Naked City". "The Defenders" was next as Production Supervisor (for which he was cited by the Television Academy for his work), with "The Nurses" "Hawk" and "Coronet Blue" finishing out his televison career of the '60's. He started his feature career as Production Supervisor with "The Angel Levine" and moved on to the oscar winning "Midnight Cowboy", returning to television in the '80's as Unit Production Manager for many pilots, M.O.W's, series such as "Movin'On" and "Hawaii 5-0" and finished his illustrious career as the loved and respected Production Executive for The Completion Bond Company...overseeing productions such as "Silence Of The Lambs", "Dances With Wolves", "Code Of Silence" and many more right up to his death in 1993. Hal was famed for his personality and knowledge. He was a voracious reader and could be at home with Presidents as well as Teamster Captains. He was considered "THE DEAN OF NEW YORK PRODUCTION MANAGERS" and was one of the original UPMs to bring that position into the DGA. He was also the first UPM to split credit as Associate Producer/Producer.moreless -
Edward Keen
Producer
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