Monday, October 8, 2012

Russell Scott aka Blinky the Clown

TV children's show host -- via the Denver Post.

He passed away on Aug. 27. He had the longest carer of a children's television show host in American history. He started "Blinky's Fun Club" in 1958 in Colorado Springs on KKTV; in 1966 he moved to KWGN in Denver, where he remained on the air until 1998.

He was an integral part of our childhoods in Denver. We all watched Blinky. He did funny routines with puppets such as Barney the Dog; he sang silly songs; he gave us safety tips; he interviewed police officers, firefighters, zoo personnel -- anyone who might interest a kid. He sang "Happy Birf-day" every day --



Of course, his appeal was cheesy, and we laughed at him as much as we laughed with him. Yet it was nice to know he was always there. Through him, we got to see old Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, and Mighty Mouse, Popeye, The Mighty Hercules, and more. He told us to "Please stay out of those streets." He told us to "Mind your mommies and daddies." He told us not to trust strangers, or play with matches, or to forget our pleases and thank yous.

(Did you know that, for a time, he had a second noon-time show as a different persona? Yes indeed. I can't find any documentation on it, but he played Cap'n Dooley, a silly old-time riverboat captain, who had a mascot, the morose puppet Moe the Crow.)

It was our deepest wish to get to go to Blinky's show in person. My friend Tony Watson got to go as part of his Boy Scout troop -- I remember watching him wave at me from the screen as I cursed him bitterly (and ineptly, as only an 8-year-old can). There had long been rumors that Blinky was actually mean. When Tony got back to school the next day, we asked him about his brush with fame. "Before the show," he said, "Blinky was sitting in the back, playing piano and SMOKING." GASP! Our hero was, if not a misanthrope, at the least a melancholy jester.

Blinky's later years were tough. The station brought in Berg and Prince, mimes who clashed with the irascible star. He was dumped unceremoniously by Channel 2. In 2004, his wife of 62 years divorced him. Of the more than 10,000 shows he performed, only TEN survive. Most were thrown out by KWGN.

He kept on with Blinky's Antiques on South Broadway until 2008. Brian Malone's documentary "Blinky" provides us with an in-depth portrait of him --



Clowns are creepy and scary, by and large. But Blinky was loved, despite his flaws. I miss him.


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