Roy Brown (clown) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Roy Brown
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Brown at WGN-TV in 1966.
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| Born | 8 July 1932 |
| Died | 22 January 2001 (aged 68) |
| Occupation | Graphic artist, puppeteer, clown |
| Known for | Cooky the Cook Bozo's Circus Garfield Goose and Friends Ray Rayner and His Friends |
Roy Thomas Brown (born July 8, 1932 – died January 22, 2001) was a talented American artist, puppeteer, and clown. He was famous for playing "Cooky the Cook" on the popular TV show Bozo's Circus in Chicago.
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Roy Brown's Early Life and Art
Roy Brown was born in Tucson, Arizona. However, he grew up in the Chicago area. His mother was an artist who worked from home. This helped Roy become interested in art too.
Roy went to Austin High School in Chicago. After high school, he studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He planned to become a cartoonist.
Starting in Television
In 1952, Roy started working on a children's TV show called Garfield Goose and Friends. This was at WBKB-TV. He worked as a puppeteer and an art director. When Garfield Goose moved to WGN-TV in 1955, Roy went with the show. He stayed until it ended in 1976.
Behind the Scenes: A Puppet Master
When Frazier Thomas hired Roy for Garfield Goose and Friends in 1952, Roy was still an art student. He had never worked with puppets before. But Roy quickly showed he was very good at it!
Roy worked with Frazier Thomas for many years. Thomas was very careful about details. But he also let Roy be creative with the puppet characters. Roy even found a way to make Garfield Goose look like he was smiling. Roy also drew greeting cards for young viewers. These cards were sent to kids who wrote letters to the show. He also made title cards for the show. And he drew pictures of Garfield Goose's adventures.
By 1953, the Garfield Goose show was very popular. Frazier Thomas wrote a book about the character. It was called Garfield Goose Memory Book. The book told about Garfield's family and his life as "King of the United States." Roy Brown drew all the pictures for this 32-page book. Kids could also use it as a coloring book.
Creating New Characters
Roy's first new puppet for the show appeared on Christmas Day, 1953. This was Christmas Goose, Garfield's nephew. Before that, only Garfield Goose and a capuchin monkey named Geronimo (who was a butler) were on the show.
While working on Garfield Goose, Roy also made puppets for another WGN-TV show. It was called Quiet Riot. One of his puppets for this show was a rabbit named Romberg. When Quiet Riot was canceled, Roy brought Romberg Rabbit to Frazier Thomas. Thomas liked Romberg so much that he added him to the Garfield Goose cast.
The show was first called Garfield Goose and Friend. This was because it only had Thomas and his goose puppet. But with more characters, Thomas changed the name to Garfield Goose and Friends.
Roy's next puppet was a sleepy bloodhound named Beauregard Burnside III. Beauregard would wake up when someone said "hotdogs, hamburgers, spaghetti and meatballs" into his ear! Then, Macintosh Mouse joined the show to work in the castle mailroom.
Art Director for Other Shows
In 1961, Frazier Thomas started a weekly show called Family Classics. He introduced classic movies that families could watch together. Roy Brown was the art director for this show too. He took Thomas's ideas for the set and made them real. The set looked like a cozy study. It even had an oil painting of Garfield Goose by Roy Brown. You can see this painting and the set at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
Roy also worked as an art director for Ray Rayner's shows. These included Ray Rayner and His Friends and the Dick Tracy Show on WGN-TV. For the Dick Tracy Show, Roy created a dog puppet named Tracer. He also performed a puppet called Cuddly Dudley on Rayner's morning show. Cuddly Dudley was a big, orange dog. The WGN-TV owner, the Chicago Tribune, created him for promotions. The Cuddly Dudley puppet and his dog house are now at the Museum of Broadcast Communication. Roy stayed on the Rayner show until it ended in 1981. When Rayner joined Bozo's Circus as Oliver O. Oliver, Roy designed and built the clown noses for him.
Roy also made puppets for other WGN television shows. These included The Blue Fairy, Treetop House, and Paddleboat. Ned Locke, who later starred on Bozo's Circus, was on Paddleboat.
On-Camera Star: Cooky the Cook
Roy Brown got his chance to be on TV with Bozo's Circus. In 1968, the show's producer, Don Sandburg, decided to leave. Sandburg also played a clown named Sandy the Tramp. Roy took one of Bozo's old red wigs and styled it. He also put together other props and clothes. Before he found the perfect makeup for Cooky, Roy tried 60 different looks!
Sandburg told Roy that if he wanted to replace Sandy, he had to try out live on TV. So, Roy did his audition right on the air as the circus cook, Cooky. Roy had never been on camera before. He created the Cooky character as a funny reference to the food at the TV station's cafeteria. Roy also performed Cuddly Dudley in new parts with Bozo.
Viewers really liked Cooky. But Roy was not the only person who wanted to replace Sandy. Dick Lubbers, a WGN-TV floor manager, also tried out as Monty Melvin. Roy and Lubbers took turns appearing on the show for about a year. When Lubbers left, the job finally belonged to Roy Brown.
When Ray Rayner left Bozo's Circus in 1971, Cooky became Bozo's main partner. Roy played Cooky until he retired in 1994. Another cast member, Marshall Brodien, played Wizzo the Magician. In 1973, Brodien and Roy teamed up for an act. They performed it at the Kane County and DuPage County fairs every summer for 21 years. Brodien also retired from the show in 1994.
The tradition on Bozo's Circus was that Bozo would lead the audience out of the studio in a "Grand March" at the end of the show. In 1987, viewers collected 10,000 names on a petition. They wanted Roy Brown's Cooky character to lead the Grand March. So, Roy was given the honor for one day!
Roy's Cooky character was on the show for one year longer than Bob Bell's 24 years as Bozo. However, during his last year, Cooky's appearances were from older shows because Roy had health problems. Joey D'Auria replaced Bell as Bozo after Bell retired.
Roy Brown's Legacy
Roy Brown won a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award in 1992. The next year, he was chosen for the International Clown Hall of Fame. Three years later, his friend and colleague, Bob Bell, also joined him there. Roy also became a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle in Chicago in 1993.
Due to his health, Roy retired in 1994. When he retired, he gave some of his costumes and clown items to the International Clown Hall of Fame. Roy was able to be part of the 35th anniversary Bozo's Circus show in 1996. He also took part in "An Evening With Roy Brown" at the Museum of Broadcast Communications. Roy made his last appearance on the show on August 26, 2000. He passed away in 2001 from heart failure.
Roy was survived by his second wife, Mary Lu, his four sons, three stepsons, and three step-grandchildren. He was buried at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
One of Roy Brown's Cooky costumes is now part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bozo's Circus collection. The puppet characters he created for Garfield Goose and Friends are also at the museum.
In 2005, the Museum of Broadcast Communications honored WGN-TV's Studio 1. They placed a plaque there to remember the forty years of children's television broadcast from that studio. Garfield Goose and Friends, Ray Rayner and Friends, and Bozo's Circus are all on the plaque. Roy Brown was a very important part of all three of these shows. His work brought joy to three generations of young people in Chicago.
