Robert Lewis Bell (January 18, 1922 – December 8, 1997), better known as Bob Bell, was famous for his alter-ego, Bozo the Clown. He was the original portrayer of the character for Chicago superstation WGN-TV.
Bell was born in Flint, Michigan to a General Motors factory worker. He spent his life after high school doing odd jobs until he enlisted first in the United States Marine Corps and later the United States Navy during World War II, though he...
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Robert Lewis Bell (January 18, 1922 – December 8, 1997), better known as Bob Bell, was famous for his alter-ego, Bozo the Clown. He was the original portrayer of the character for Chicago superstation WGN-TV.
Bell was born in Flint, Michigan to a General Motors factory worker. He spent his life after high school doing odd jobs until he enlisted first in the United States Marine Corps and later the United States Navy during World War II, though he did not see any combat action due to poor vision in one eye.
He broke into broadcasting in Flint as an announcer at local station WMRP (now WWCK), then left for South Bend, Indiana station WHOT (now WDND). He met his future wife Carolyn while working there. He moved into television with Indianapolis station WFBM-TV (now WRTV) in 1950.
Bell moved on to Cincinnati, Ohio and WLW Radio and WLWT-TV in 1953. He joined the cast of the Wally Phillips Show and proved to have a gift for comedy, playing numerous characters. After WLW and WLWT's...
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