This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(February 2022)
Lawrence Weiss (January 2, 1925 – July 3, 2008), better known by the stage nameLarry Harmon and as his alter ego Bozo the Clown, was an American entertainer.[1] Weiss had four children, including filmmaker Jeff Harmon.
Biography
Harmon was born to Jewish parents in Toledo, Ohio and raised in Cleveland. During World War II, he served as a private in the Army. On returning, he wanted to become a medical doctor, until he met entertainer Al Jolson. According to Harmon's autobiography, The Man Behind the Nose, Jolson told him, "Being a doctor of medicine is honorable, but you'll touch so many more lives as a doctor of laughter!"[2] Harmon instead attended the University of Southern California, where he majored in theater and performed in the Spirit of Troy marching band.[1]
Harmon began making the first of thousands of appearances as Bozo the Clown after attending a casting call in the late 1940s.[3] In 1957, Harmon purchased the licensing rights to the Bozo character from Capitol Records, who had promoted the character on its children’s albums as “Bozo the Capitol Clown”, and marketed the property aggressively. By the late 1950s, Harmon had licensed local Bozo TV shows in nearly every major U.S. market, as well as in other countries.[4] He also produced a series of Bozo animated cartoons intended to be shown with the live-action show, performing Bozo's voice himself.
Harmon's animation studio also produced eighteen Popeye The Sailor cartoons in 1960 as part of a larger TV syndication package.
In 1984 Harmon stood as a write-in candidate in the presidential election with the aim of encouraging people to vote.[6][7] Only Arizona reported the number of votes he received, 21.[8] The total number of U.S. write-in votes was 19,315 or 0.02 percent of the vote.
He wrote an autobiography titled The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other Stupendous Tales, published in 2010 by Igniter Books. One of Harmon's alleged ex-wives disputed the memoir's veracity.[10]
^Manning, Sue (March 3, 1996). "Big time Bozo". The Journal Times (Racine, Wisconsin). Associated Press. p. E1. Retrieved July 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.