Well, hi there, gang. How are you today? Sure glad to see you. We're going to have a big time here on the Bozo show. We're going to have cartoons.
Randy Dixon: Last week you said you wanted fun. And you don't get much more fun than Bozo the Clown.
Kyle Kellams: With me in the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio is Randy Dixon from the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History. The last couple of weeks, we've talked about war. There is a lot in the news right now — contemporary times that is deadly serious.
Dixon: This week we're going to bring in the clown.
Kellams: I like it.
Dixon: Some of our listeners are going to remember Bozo as a child and some may not. If you were in the KATV Channel 7 viewing area, you knew who Bozo was if you were a certain age. I grew up in North Arkansas. Did not get Little Rock TV stations. We got Springfield, Missouri, TV stations. There was something called Children's Hour with Aunt Norma every Saturday. I don't think it seeped in because Bozo was daily.
Dixon: Oh, gosh. Ninety minutes every afternoon.
Kellams: I had no idea it was 90 minutes every day.
Dixon: Yeah. It eventually cut back, but in its heyday — we're talking mid-'60s to almost 1990 or '91. Bozo was an international franchise. The original Bozo premiered on television in 1949. In 1956, a man named Larry Harmon purchased the rights to Bozo the Clown, franchised it and made it local to each television market, so each market had its own Bozo.
Kellams: If you were the Bozo in Spokane, Washington, you were far different than the Bozo in Little Rock or Chicago or Albany.
Dixon: The one at KATV, which premiered in 1966, had its own brand, had its own Bozo. The man who filled those giant clown shoes was Gary Weir. He was a young salesperson at the station. He was born and raised in Russellville. At the age of 17, he started in radio, and then got a job at KATV Channel 7 as a sales executive, an announcer and a weatherman.
His on-air talents were recognized, and he was used in a lot of station promotions and commercials. He really liked playing these odd characters. Here's just an example of some of the promotions he did for KATV and a couple of his characters.
Gary Weir promo clip:
I'm your man-in-the-street interviewer, out here to get those voluntary, unrehearsed remarks. There isn't anyone in sight right at this moment. This is weird. Not a living soul anywhere. Let me put my ear to the sidewalk. Strange. No vibrations. What day is this? That's it. What kind of fool am I, doing man-in-the-street interviews on Tuesday night? "Mod Squad," movie of the week, Marcus Welby. Maybe if I hurry I can make it myself. On your way from Tuesday to Wednesday, spend the night with us.
I'm a cop, and this is a busy, busy street corner. Come on, lady, you're holding up the traffic. Oh, it's you, Mrs. Jones. Have a nice walk. Things are a little slow this evening. In fact — there she went. What's wrong with my intersection? What's wrong with me? This is like Monday night on the moon. Monday night. "Let's Make a Deal." Monday night special. Monday night at the movies. On your way from Monday to Tuesday, spend the night with us.
Dixon: When KATV picked up that Bozo franchise, management approached Weir about putting on an orange wig and a red nose and the big shoes to be Bozo. And he agreed.
In 1978, KATV celebrated its 25th anniversary on the air and produced a documentary on the history of the TV station. It was hosted by Steve Barnes. In this clip, he talks about the debut of Bozo, coinciding with the premiere of Channel 7 broadcasting in local color.
Steve Barnes clip:
The switch to live local color was expensive, but we did it first. That didn't make paying the note any easier, nor did it make us better broadcasters. It isn't just equipment, the management kept saying. But with the ability to give the viewer reds and greens and blues and yellows and all the shades in between, it seemed only natural to find someone — or something — to share with the audience the entire spectrum. So a young announcer named Gary Weir, who had joined KATV at age 23, was selected to create the most colorful character in Arkansas television and the most loved.
Bozo clip:
How are you all doing today? Well, good. Can you give me a little kiss right there?
The world's most famous clown on Bozo's Big Top, where everything doesn't always go the way it's planned.
You a little doll, or are you for real? Real good. Oh, watch out there now — because that's what these big shoes are for. If you grab my nose, we have to use our big shoes.
Dixon: Gary Weir's widow, Linda Gillam-Weir, was also a successful broadcaster in her own right. She was first a reporter at KATV and then a promotion director at KARK Channel 4 in Little Rock. I talked to her last week, and she told me about the early days of Bozo.
Linda Gillam-Weir:
He was approached with the concept of doing a clown show. I think they had seen the show in Chicago and asked Gary — even as a young guy back then — whether he would consider coming on for a one-year contract. They were just going to try it out to see how it worked, and he didn't have anything to do with that initial contract, from my understanding. But after the show was so successful and had gone on a couple of years, when it came time to renew, Gary realized that this was an opportunity for him. When he went to negotiate — as far as renegotiating the contract — he had other plans in mind. He negotiated not on behalf of the station but on behalf of himself, and was successful in winning that contract to own the show.
Kellams: I love that you got that conversation. That's fantastic.
Dixon: It was great. During his nearly two decades as Bozo at KATV, Weir raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities and was adored by young and old fans statewide. In this clip, the station teamed up with Ideal Bread to raise money for the March of Dimes.
Bozo clip:
Well, Ron, tomorrow actually kicks off the March of Dimes drive for 1973. Every year at this time, the Rainbow and DeMolay chapters of Pulaski County all get together and have a bread sale door-to-door throughout the entire county, and of course all the money they make goes to the March of Dimes. But this year we're selling those good old Ideal brown-and-serve rolls. You know, Ron, we don't actually sell them at all. We give them to you when you make a contribution to the March of Dimes.
Kellams: What is coming through here is that KATV understood that Bozo was something to celebrate and lean into. It was not a liability, not something you're embarrassed about.
Dixon: It was a phenomenon. He even started producing and directing these prime-time Bozo specials. He did a special on the zoo and helped raise money. Every year he would do a special exhibition game with the Arkansas Travelers. He went down on the farm. He did all kinds of special programs that we have in the archives.
Kellams: Oh, fun.
Dixon: Here's a little montage of some of the programs we have.
Bozo montage:
Hi there, boys and girls. Your old pal Bozo, standing right here at the entrance to the zoo in Little Rock.
Well, boys and girls, look who's here with us now — our good pal from Channel 7, Ron Sherman. And I'll bet old Dusty's around here somewhere. Isn't that right, Ron?
Bozo baseball superstar. A super Channel 7 summer special just for kids of all ages.
Well, boys and girls, Bozo's worked awful hard to get ready for this year's game with the Arkansas Travelers coming up this Friday night. And you know what? This will be the 12th year that we've had the Bozo game right out here at Ray Winder Field.
Hey, gang, here it is right here — the entrance to the Roaring Tornado. All throughout the show the boys and girls have been wanting to ride it. So I'll tell you what I think I'll do. I'm going to go over here and test it out. Come on along with me and let's ride the Roaring Tornado.
Kellams: Bozo started on KATV in 1966. By the mid-'70s, just wildfire.
Dixon: Oh my gosh. There's a later interview where he says there was a one-year waiting list to get on Bozo. Actually, at his peak, there was like a five-year waiting list. A lot of parents, when their child was born, they'd name them first and then sign them up for the Bozo show. It was sort of like, I guess these days, preschool. You've got to get them into a great preschool, and by gosh, we've got to get them on Bozo. And if you wait till they're 5, they're going to go on there when they're 10 or 12 years old. Anyway, he was this huge figure. He received numerous honors and awards over the years. In 1976, he had been on the air for 10 years, and then-Gov. David Pryor proclaimed — I believe it was Sept. 8 — as Bozo Day in Arkansas.
David Pryor proclamation clip:
For 10 years on KATV Channel 7, Bozo's Big Top has been a weekday event in the lives of Arkansas children of all ages. During those 10 years, Bozo the Clown has hosted over 2,600 programs on KATV, entertaining 28,600 children as guests under the Big Top and countless others in their homes.
It is therefore a great pleasure for me, as governor of the state of Arkansas, to proclaim September the 9th, 1976, as Bozo Day in the state of Arkansas.
Gary Weir:
Thank you very much, sir. It's been a lot of fun for me and a real pleasure. And of all the honors I've received, this one goes at the top of my list.
Kellams: Some people might go, well, what's going on in that hour and a half?
Dixon: How do you fill 90 minutes? It was mostly cartoons, but they would run segments in between. They were short segments, but it would feature all the kids. He would have four kids at a time and interview them for maybe 30, 45 seconds each.
Kellams: I'm just laughing at the questions that would —
Dixon: He would just really confuse the kids. He'd say, "Well, do you walk to school or carry your lunch?" or "Do you like your mama — 100 or 45?" And they'd usually say 45. And then he'd say, "All right, tell me this. Rootie Kazootie, Wowie Kazowie! Old Bozo's my best pal." He had the kids entertained. And then — this was a brilliant move — he might have 40 kids up. It looked like a big top, you know, the stands. They'd play a song and show close-ups of every kid. So if you knew somebody or were related to somebody who was going to be on the Bozo show, you were certainly going to watch.
And here's what's crazy: Channel 7 does not have any of the shows — not an entire show. An entire week was shot between the 6 and 10 o'clock news on a Tuesday night. So on Tuesday evening, you'd walk down to the lobby of the television station, and it was packed with kids and their mothers. They would just move them in and out of there and shoot a whole week's worth with one giant group of kids. That would fill up the week the next week. Channel 7 had it down to a system. Bozo had made up games and took the Harmon Bozo playbook and clowned around with it a little and came up with his own stuff.
Now, going along with his popularity — and I hate to say this, but I don't know exactly what this story is that I found in the archives. I've searched and researched and cannot find out any of the background on this story. All I know is that in 1972, children were kidnapped — the children of a lady named Linda Shibley. This film I found is of these two children returning to the state from wherever they had been. They're getting off an airplane at Little Rock airport, and there's a crowd at the airport waiting to welcome them home, along with their mother. And who do they see there in the crowd? Bozo the Clown. And they were thrilled. This clip starts off with the mother, Linda Shibley.
Linda Shibley clip:
I was thrilled to death to see him. Of course, I was a little upset with the way they looked at first, but they picked up and they looked just great to me now.
Reporter: How does it feel to be back?
I just don't know how it feels to be back. Didn't think this day would come. But with the help of the people in Arkansas and the senator and the investigator, we got them back where they belong.
Reporter: What are your plans now with the children?
I don't know. I'm going to take a few days, I think, and just be alone with them for a while.
Bozo:
How you doing, old buddy? Fine. Are you glad to be home? Yes. Well, good. How are you, Nova? Fine. Say hi, Bozo. Hi, Bozo. Rub noses with old Bozo there. Sure glad to see you. Now you can watch old Bozo. OK. Hey. All right, darling, welcome home. And thanks for coming out to see old Bozo today. Say thank you, Bozo.
Dixon: I keep trying to find out what that is. If anybody knows anything, let us know. I'm going to keep looking into that. That may be a whole segment in itself.
Kellams: Exactly.
Dixon: Anyway, Bozo left KATV in the mid-'80s and literally moved across the street to KARK Channel 4. And when I say literally, I'm talking three blocks away. They put the entire Bozo set — which was a mock-up of a ring at a circus with the stands — on rollers, rolled it out of KATV and pushed it down Main Street to Third and rolled it into KARK.
Kellams: I'm going to guess that since he was leaving KATV, there wasn't a news story about that move on Channel 7.
Dixon: No. But I'm sure there is somewhere in the archives of Channel 4. I haven't seen those yet. Maybe I should work on that.
He was over there until 1991, and then he retired the character. He did create a new clown character named Candy the Clown — he had a pink wig instead of an orange wig — and hosted a new show called Clown Town USA. It aired for 13 years in Arkansas and Mississippi. But the times had changed, and he never really had the explosion of popularity he had had in the past. He kind of switched his game. He stayed in broadcasting, stayed on the air, but found a career in horse racing and handicapping at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs.
Kellams: This is how I know the name Gary Weir. Being a handicapper.
Dixon: I used to buy his tip sheets. Yeah, but he also did a daily program on racing results and even appeared regularly on KARK with an Oaklawn report — I believe it was on their morning show. He'd have his picks of the day.
Linda Gillam-Weir:
He told me that he gained a love of horses when his father became ill. His father had had a heart attack, and he started working with horses. His father bought one and started training it, and he became involved with that. Thus developed his love of horses. It's really hard to describe how good he was with handicapping and knowing what horses could do, because he studied it all the time, even when he was doing his show. He could pick horses in about 30 minutes, and I guarantee you more than half of them were going to win, just like he said. It was just amazing for me to watch. In fact, even when I first met him, he talked about how he wanted to do a horse show. He felt like he had enough knowledge and would be able to convey it to the public and help people win. That's what he wanted to do. And from there it just became such a love of his. Even around our house — horse pictures, horse books, horse statues. I was married to him, but I wasn't number one. I was number two to horses.
Kellams: I didn't know this about him until we started preparing for this piece. He actually had one more television show.
Dixon: The last project he had was called Good Old Days — D-A-Y-S — and it was a dance program, like the old days in the '50s, but it featured dancers over 50 years old. But he'll always be known as good ol' Bozo.
Linda Gillam-Weir:
He did what he did because he loved doing it, not just for a paycheck or for status. He loved being around the kids. He loved making them laugh. He loved confusing them when he asked, "Do you walk to school or carry your lunch?" Those are all phrases he made up himself. I like the fact that he was pretty much the same person with everyone. He didn't have two or three faces. If he saw you, he was going to smile, he was going to pat you on the back. He wasn't adjusting to being Gary Weir or Bozo the Clown. He was just pretty much the same person every time you met him. And I really admired that about him, and I do miss it.
Dixon: Gary Weir died in October 2017 at the age of 75. If you would like to see a Bozo program in its entirety, we have up on the front page of our website a program from 1979 called "Bozo Baseball Superstar?" — with a question mark. It's him preparing to play with the Travelers in an exhibition game. He did it every year for a long time.
Kellams: Just put Pryor Center into a search engine and you'll find it? All right. I said let's do fun. You met that challenge.
Dixon: Do we get serious again?
Kellams: Well, it's news, so probably.
Dixon: How about the heptachlor contamination scare of 1986? Remember that one?
Kellams: Yes, but that's one of those things I wouldn't remember unless someone brings it up to me. I remember.
Dixon: I'd forgotten about it until I saw it looking at Bozo's stuff. There was a heptachlor scare.
Kellams: All right. Bozo this week, heptachlor next week. Why not?
Dixon: Why not?
Kellams: Randy Dixon is with the Pryor Center. Thank you, Randy. See you next week.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
