Editing Bob Keeshan (section)

==Television career==
[[File:Bob keeshan captain kangaroo 1977.JPG|thumb|upright|Keeshan as Captain Kangaroo]]
Network [[television program]]s began shortly after the end of the war. ''Howdy Doody'', which premiered in 1947 on [[NBC]], was one of the first. Starting on January 3, 1948,<ref name="query.nytimes.com">{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E3D61E39F937A15752C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print | work=The New York Times | first=Richard | last=Severo | access-date=April 26, 2010 | title=Bob Keeshan, Creator and Star of TV's 'Captain Kangaroo,' Is Dead at 76 | date=January 24, 2004}}</ref> Keeshan played Clarabell the Clown, a silent [[Clown#White clown and Auguste|Auguste clown]] who communicated by honking several horns attached to a belt around his waist. One honk meant "yes"; two meant "no". Clarabell often sprayed [[Buffalo Bob Smith]] with a [[seltzer bottle]] and played practical jokes. Keeshan had conflicts with Smith and in late 1952 left the show, or possibly was fired, after hiring an agent for himself and other workers on the show.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://famousclowns.org/famous-clowns/bob-keeshan-captain-kangaroo-the-original-clarabell-the-clown/|title=Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo, the original Clarabell the Clown|date=January 28, 2012}}</ref>

By September 21, 1953, Keeshan came back to local TV on [[WABC-TV]], Channel 7 in New York City, in a new children's show, ''Time for Fun''. He played Corny the Clown, and this time he spoke.<ref name="Keeshan, Bob">{{Cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/keeshanbob/keeshanbob.htm|title=The Museum of Broadcast Communications – Encyclopedia of Television|access-date=October 7, 2007|archive-date=October 31, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031042723/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/keeshanbob/keeshanbob.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later that same year, in addition to ''Time for Fun'', he began ''Tinker's Workshop'', a program aimed at preschoolers, where he played the grandfather-like Tinker.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.tvparty.com/lostny2tinker.html| website= tvparty.com| title= Tinker's Workshop | publisher= | date= | access-date= December 13, 2022}}</ref>

Developing ideas from ''Tinker's Workshop'', Keeshan and his long-time friend Jack Miller submitted the concept of ''[[Captain Kangaroo]]'' to the [[CBS]] network, which was looking for innovative approaches to [[children's television]] programming. CBS approved the show, and Keeshan starred as the title character when it premiered on CBS on October 3, 1955.<ref name="Keeshan, Bob"/> He described his character as based on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children". The show was an immediate success, and he served as its host for nearly three decades.
[[File:Captain Kangaroo promotional postcard 1961.JPG|left|thumb|From left: Dancing Bear, [[Bunny Rabbit (character)|Bunny Rabbit]], [[Captain Kangaroo]], Grandfather Clock, [[Mr. Moose]], and [[Mr. Green Jeans]]]]
Recurring characters included his sidekick (and fan favorite) [[Mr. Green Jeans]] (played by [[Hugh Brannum|Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum]]), Dennis (played by Cosmo Allegretti), and puppets such as [[Bunny Rabbit (character)|Bunny Rabbit]] and [[Mr. Moose]].

''[[The New York Times]]'' commented: "Captain Kangaroo, a round-faced, pleasant, mustachioed man possessed of an unshakable calm ... was one of the most enduring characters television ever produced."<ref name="query.nytimes.com"/>

Keeshan also had a Saturday morning show called ''Mister Mayor'' during the 1964–65 season. Keeshan, in his role as the central characters in both ''Captain Kangaroo'' and ''Mister Mayor'', heavily promoted the products of the [[Schwinn]] Bicycle Co., a sponsor, directly on-air to his audience.<ref name= pedaling>{{cite journal| last= Petty| first= Ross D.| title= Pedaling Schwinn Bicycles: Lessons from the Leading Post-World War II U.S. Bicycle Brand |journal= Charm| pages= 162–177| place= Babson College, Massachusetts| year= 2007 | url= http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/charm/CHARM%20proceedings/CHARM%20article%20archive%20pdf%20format/Volume%2013%202007/170-179_petty.pdf | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20130514091409/http://faculty.quinnipiac.edu/charm/CHARM%20proceedings/CHARM%20article%20archive%20pdf%20format/Volume%2013%202007/170-179_petty.pdf |archivedate=May 14, 2013 | access-date= December 13, 2022}}</ref> By 1972, he had introduced another character on ''Captain Kangaroo'' to recommend Schwinn products: Mr. Schwinn Dealer,<ref name= pedaling />{{rp|167}} due to the [[Federal Trade Commission]] ruling against children's show hosts directly endorsing their sponsor's products during their programs after 1969.

Keeshan had a longtime close friendship with [[Fred Rogers]] of ''[[Mister Rogers' Neighborhood]]''. Each paid visits to the other's show in 1970, and they appeared together on the PBS special ''Springtime with Mister Rogers'' in 1980. The following year, Rogers appeared briefly in Keeshan's TV special ''Good Evening, Captain'' (following Keeshan's 1981 heart attack); Rogers and [[Dick Clark]] presented Keeshan with flowers at the end of the show.

Keeshan did voice recordings for a number of albums for [[Columbia Records]], Golden Records and [[RCA-Victor]]. Several were of children's songs performed with other characters from ''Captain Kangaroo'', but other albums included ''A Child's Introduction to Jazz'', narration for ''Peter and the Wolf'' conducted by [[Leopold Stokowski]], and ''Captain Kangaroo Introduces You to the Nutcracker Suite''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/1400457-Bob-Keeshan|title=Bob Keeshan|website=Discogs}}</ref>