Bob Keeshan, better known as television’s mustachioed Captain Kangaroo, died in Vermont Friday of a long illness, The Associated Press reports. He was 76.
Keeshan‘s children TV program Captain Kangaroo aired on CBS from 1955 through 1985 before moving to public television for another six years. During its 30-year-run the show won six Emmy Awards, three Gabriels and three Peabody Awards.
Keeshan, a children’s advocate, believed kids learn more in the first six years of life than at any other time. Captain Kangaroo was aimed at helping children understand their rapidly changing world through cartoons, stories, songs and sketches.
On the show, Captain Kangaroo, who wore a uniform coat with kangaroo pouch-like pockets, would wander through his Treasure House, talking with his friend Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum) and Banana Man (A. Robbins), and visit with puppet animals, including Bunny Rabbit and Mr. Moose.
But Keeshan‘s first TV appearance was in 1948, when he played Clarabell the Clown–a role he created and portrayed for five years-on the Howdy Doody Show. He later played Corny the clown, the host of a noontime cartoon program in New York City.
Keeshan was born in Lynbrook, N.Y., but moved to Vermont in 1990. He remained active as a children’s activist, lecturing and lobbying on behalf of children’s issues and the importance of good parenting.
In 1987, he collaborated with former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander to co-founed Corporate Family Solutions, an organization that provided day-care programs to businesses around the country.
Keeshan is survived by three children. His wife Jeanne died in 1990.
