![]() "A child needs to be listened to and talked to at 3 and 4 and 5 years of age," he said. We listened to each other and the interest was not put on it was real." "It wasn't very organized, but everyone was recognized and all the news that had to be told was told by each family member. "Back in the old days, when I was a child, we sat around the family table at dinner time and exchanged our daily experiences," he wrote in The Times in 1979. Nothing could take the place of that, he insisted. He emphasized over the years that he disapproved of parents who used television as a baby sitter, especially when they let their children watch violent "adult" television, with the result that they really didn't talk very much with their children. "We operate on the conviction that it is composed of young children of potentially good taste, and that this taste should be developed." "We have respect for our audience," he told The Times's Steven V. And so they listened when he talked about taking care not to cross the street without looking and why it was important to respect animals as well as playmates. Keeshan never pretended to have any secret formula for dealing with children, except that he never patronized them, and always assumed they were bright and would appreciate him and what he was doing. And more often than not, the parents who had been kids watched the Captain with the new generation. When they grew up and had kids of their own, the new kids became Captain Kangaroo fans, too. just as actors are afraid of child audiences, because they're so honest, I would be scared stiff of going before the big folks."Īnd so for more than 9,000 performances, Mr. Shepard of The Times whether, given his success with children, he would fancy a future in adult television, Mr. ![]() "The children should never be excluded from what I am doing and should never have the feeling of being part of an audience," he told Mr. Keeshan told his director, Peter Birch, that he primarily wanted to talk to the child at home, one on one. There might have been a few kids in the studio from time to time, but Mr. Keeshan never played to a studio audience. Unlike his old boss, Buffalo Bob Smith of the Howdy Doody Show, Mr. The Today show was formidable and had a loyal following of adults, but the kids knew it didn't have Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, the Banana Man and all the other characters Mr. ![]() to 9 a.m., always drawing a large audience, even though from Monday to Friday, it ran opposite NBC's popular "Today" show. ![]() Keeshan, who began to call himself Captain Kangaroo after someone fashioned an outsized jacket for him, a preposterous affair with pockets rivaling the pouches that kangaroos have.įor much of its run, the show ran six days a week from 8 a.m. They were all part of the family that was an unrivaled success on the CBS Television Network for nearly 30 years. Moose and Grandfather Clock character actors like Debby Weems and Carolyn Mignini Ruth Manecke, an expert on animal behavior who coached the cast and the puppeteer Kevin Clash. Green Jeans, who loved nature and got kids to understand and respect it Cosmo (Gus) Allegretti, who gave voice to animal characters like Mr. The program's roster also included Hugh (Lumpy) Brannum, who had been a successful string bass player in jazz bands and in the Fred Waring orchestra but who really came into his own as Mr. That charm never faded Captain Kangaroo was one of the most enduring characters television ever produced. Shanley declared that the show literally "charms the toddlers." He said that parents were finding their "weekdays more bearable because of the delightful artistry of a television performer named Bob Keeshan." Mr. Shanley when he reviewed the show for The New York Times. "Not only does it keep little ones occupied by providing civilized and absorbing fun, but it also does so without being noisy," wrote John P. No cause of death was announced, but he had had heart problems since the 1980's.Ĭaptain Kangaroo, a round-faced, pleasant, mustachioed man possessed of an unshakable calm, was both unique and welcome when his show premiered on Oct. Bob Keeshan, Who Played Captain Kangaroo on TV, Is Dead at 76īob Keeshan, who delighted millions of children and their parents for three decades as television's gentle, patient Captain Kangaroo and before that as the original Clarabelle the Clown on the old "Howdy Doody Show," died yesterday in Vermont, his family said in a statement to The Associated Press.
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