Frazier Thomas facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frazier Thomas
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Thomas on Garfield Goose and Friends
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| Born |
William Frazier Thomas
June 13, 1918 |
| Died | April 3, 1985 (aged 66) |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Deeds Thomas |
| Children | 2 |
| Career | |
| Show | I Cover the Movies Inside Radio BC Battle of the Bands Collect Calls From Lowenthal Morning Matinee The 50 Club What's The Answer Shopper's Special Meet the Little People The Frazier Thomas Show Musical Nite-cap Petticoat Party Garfield Goose and Friend Garfield Goose and Friends Family Classics Bozo's Circus |
| Station(s) | WLW, WLWT and WKRC-TV, Cincinnati WBKB/WBBM-TV, WBKB-TV/WLS-TV and WGN-TV, Chicago |
William Frazier Thomas (born June 13, 1918 – died April 3, 1985) was a famous TV personality from Chicago. He wrote nine children's books. But he was most known for creating, hosting, writing, and producing the popular kids' TV show Garfield Goose and Friends on WGN-TV.
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Frazier Thomas: Magician and Broadcaster
Frazier Thomas started performing magic when he was just 12 years old. This was in his hometown of Rushville. As a teenager, he even wrote a book about magic tricks. He toured the United States as "Thomas the Magician and Company." His shows were called "the Mystic Revue." They were full of magic, fun, music, and mystery.
By 1935, he was writing a weekly newspaper column for kids. It was all about magic. He first signed it as "Thomas the Magician." Later, he used his real name, Frazier Thomas. The tricks in his column were easy enough for young readers to do. His column appeared in newspapers from 1935 to 1940. Frazier Thomas was also a member of the Society of American Magicians. He went to their national meetings.
From Magic to Radio
By 1936, Frazier Thomas found a new interest: radio. He became the host of a summer show about movies. This was for the Cincinnati radio station WLW. A year later, he interviewed a famous ventriloquist named Edgar Bergen. This made Thomas interested in ventriloquism and puppets. He even visited the workshop where Charlie McCarthy, Bergen's famous dummy, was made.
He kept working at WLW. He wrote and created his own radio shows. These included I Cover the Movies and Inside Radio. He also worked as a DJ for other shows, like BC Battle of the Bands. Later, he teamed up with Ruth Lyons for a show called Collect Calls From Lowenthal.
Still at WLW, Thomas and Lyons moved to a morning radio show. It was called Morning Matinee (and later The 50 Club). They hosted it together for eight years. During this time, Thomas also made public appearances. He would serve as an announcer and perform magic tricks.
In 1949, he decided to leave Morning Matinee. He wanted to start his own radio and TV production company. He married Ann Deeds, who was an artist for WLWT. Together, they hosted one of the station's first TV shows, Shopper's Special. Thomas then moved to Cincinnati's WKRC-TV. There, he hosted his first children's program, Meet the Little People. By 1950, Frazier and Ann Thomas were top local TV stars in Cincinnati. This is also where Garfield Goose first appeared on television.
Garfield Goose: A TV Star is Born
Frazier Thomas got the idea for Garfield Goose from his childhood. He remembered Catholic nuns at bazaars using a goose sock puppet. The puppet would ask children for charity donations. Kids would "feed" the goose their pennies. Thomas thought it would be a great idea to use a goose puppet on his TV show. This puppet would help give prizes to children. The goose's name, Garfield, came from the TV station's telephone number. Back then, phone exchanges had names, and the station's was Garfield.
Garfield Goose Comes to Chicago
In 1951, Chicago TV station WBKB hired Frazier Thomas. He hosted an afternoon variety show called The Frazier Thomas Show. He also hosted an evening music program, Musical Nite-cap. Thomas's afternoon show was later renamed Petticoat Party. Ray Rayner was his announcer for this show. Garfield Goose made his Chicago debut on Petticoat Party.
Soon, the station realized that Thomas and his goose puppet were the most popular parts of the show. So, on September 29, 1952, Frazier and Garfield got their own show. It was called Garfield Goose and Friend. The show aired at the same time as NBC's Howdy Doody.
This was a time of big changes in Chicago television. CBS bought WBKB in February 1953. It was then renamed WBBM-TV. The WBKB call letters were then taken by WENR-TV, which was owned by ABC. A rule in the sale contract said that all shows on the station had to stay on the air for one year. Before that year was over, Thomas and his goose moved to the new WBKB (now WLS-TV), which was under ABC's control.
One year later, in 1955, the pair found their permanent TV home at WGN-TV. There, other characters joined them. This is when the show became Garfield Goose and Friends.
By 1953, Garfield Goose was very popular with young viewers in Chicago. Frazier Thomas created a book for them called Garfield Goose Memory Book. In the book, Thomas told Garfield Goose's life story. It included details about his family and his daily life in the castle. Roy Brown drew the pictures for the 32-page book. It was also designed to be used as a coloring book.
Learning with Frazier Thomas
Besides entertaining, Frazier Thomas also taught his young viewers. He did this in a fun way. His guests included people like Dr. Lester Fisher from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo. Also, J. Bruce Mitchell from the Museum of Science and Industry visited. Their visits were both fun and taught new things. Thomas also had a "Hobby Corner" feature. Children would come on the show to talk about their hobbies and show off their collections.
Thomas also gave gentle moral lessons. He would explain to Garfield why something he did or wanted to do was wrong. During holidays, Thomas would sing "Jingle Bells" in Latin. He taught the words and their meaning to his TV audience. Children and their parents could write in for a copy of the words. It took Thomas weeks to mail out all the replies.
Sometimes, Thomas would take his Jew's harp from his pocket and play it. His goose friend would react to the music. Garfield might retreat into his castle or playfully hit Thomas on the head with his beak. Thomas also visited local schools to perform magic shows. The Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences started giving local Emmys in 1958. Frazier Thomas was the first to win the award for Male Best Children's Performer. He won it again in 1964 for his work on Garfield Goose and Friends and Family Classics.
Family Classics and Other Shows
In 1961, WGN-TV had many films that were good for families. But they were not shown very often. Fred Silverman, a WGN executive, had an idea to use these films. He wanted to air them when children and their parents could watch together. Frazier Thomas would be the host. Thomas agreed, but only if he could edit the films. He also wanted to choose them himself and refuse any he thought were not suitable.
A set was designed by Thomas. It looked like a cozy home library. It even had a Roy Brown painting of Garfield Goose. Thomas then started his weekly show, Family Classics, on Friday evenings. Family Classics became very successful. It even beat many network shows in the Chicago area. The networks responded by buying new movies for the same time slot. This made it necessary for Family Classics to move to Sunday afternoons. The Family Classics set is now part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications' collection.
Frazier Thomas also took a movie camera on his vacations. The videos he shot became special programs for the station. The Thomas family's trip on an 85-foot (26 m) schooner became Sailing the Seas of Columbus. Their trip to England resulted in The Legend of Arthur, the Phantom King.
By the 1970s, how Chicago children watched TV had changed. Garfield Goose and Friends moved to mornings on WGN. When Ned Locke, the ringmaster of Bozo's Circus, retired in 1976, Thomas was asked to take his place. This meant that Garfield Goose and Friends would join Bozo's Circus. The last Garfield Goose and Friends show aired on September 10, 1976. Frazier's puppet friends were off the air for good on January 26, 1981. This happened after changes to the Bozo program. Frazier Thomas continued to work on Bozo's Circus as the circus manager. He also kept hosting Family Classics.
Frazier Thomas's Legacy
Frazier Thomas had a stroke at the WGN-TV studios on April 1, 1985. He passed away on April 3, 1985. The day before his stroke, he had hosted the local Easter Seals telethon. He was survived by his wife, Ann, his daughter, Kitty, and his son, Jeff. Thomas received the Chicago Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Governors' Award after his death in 1985.
The Thomas family gave Garfield and the other puppets, along with Thomas's uniform, to the Museum of Broadcast Communications. The 2500 block of West Bradley Place in Chicago, in front of WGN-TV's studios, is honorarily named "Frazier Thomas Place" in his memory. In 2005, the Museum of Broadcast Communications gave WGN-TV's Studio 1 a plaque. This was to celebrate forty years of children's television broadcast from that studio. Garfield Goose and Friends, with a picture of Thomas and Garfield, is on the plaque. Also shown are Ray Rayner with Ray Rayner and Friends and Bob Bell and Bozo's Circus.
See also
In Spanish: Frazier Thomas para niños
