TV's Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, Dies at 76


By Greg Frost

BOSTON (Reuters) - Bob Keeshan, who enchanted millions of American children as television's grandfatherly Captain Kangaroo, died on Friday in Vermont after a long illness, his family said. He was 76.

The easy-going television personality and his posse of sidekicks, including Mr. Green Jeans and Bunny Rabbit, neatly blended entertainment and education on the "Captain Kangaroo" show.

The program aired on CBS from 1955 to 1985, capturing the hearts and minds of everyone from baby boomers to Generation Xers.

"Our father, grandfather and friend was as passionate for his family as he was for America's children," his family said in a statement. "He was largely a private man living an often public life, as an advocate for all that our nation's children deserve."

A Marine during World War II, Keeshan began his career working as a page at NBC.

Things began to take off when he joined "The Howdy Doody Show" and created the character Clarabell the Clown, who communicated by honking horns and squirting a seltzer bottle, usually at host Buffalo Bob Smith.

Years later, after he had gone his own way as Captain Kangaroo -- so named for the oversized pouch-like pockets on his jacket -- he credited Smith's influence on his creative and professional life.

"One of the reasons that Captain Kangaroo was such a success is that it ran so smoothly, and that happened because I ran that show with all the talents that Bob Smith taught me," Keeshan wrote.

"He is my father in the business," he said. "I put what he taught me to work on Captain Kangaroo, and we ran for thirty years."

Although children loved the program, CBS eventually jettisoned "Captain Kangaroo" to make room for a morning news program with the hopes of challenging NBC's "The Today Show."

Keeshan's show migrated to PBS, where it remained on the air for another six years.

I used to love this show. Very sad news

Stephanie