The International Clown Hall of Fame just broke the heart of a 79 year-old clown by removing the plaque honoring him as the creator of "Bozo." Larry Harmon was declared a usurper of the rightful honoree, the late Pinto Colvig, who research has determined was the original human embodiment of "The World's Most Famous Clown." Bozo started out as Colvig's voice only, on a series of Capitol Records created for children. Later, he was the first television Bozo on KTTV-TV in Los Angeles. Colvig had a distinguished and varied performing career (he was also the original voice of Goofy), and is clearly a deserving Bozo. What about Harmon? The Clown Hall of Fame seems to feel it was duped by him, although Harmon's Bozo credentials are also impressive. He bought the character from Capitol in the mid 1950s, and turned it into a franchise. It is his Bozo you remember, with two foot-long jets of red-orange hair flaring out from either side of a bald head. Harmon played Bozo, but he also trained Bozos across the country, including Colvig's son. Harmon also developed the Bozo cartoon show.

Harmon seems to believe that he was the "creator" of Bozo, apparently using the term the way Hollywood producers would "create" a star. Without Harmon, Bozo wouldn't be famous or even remembered. "Bozo" wouldn't be part of the language. Pinto Colvig wouldn't be in the Clown Hall of Fame. The Bozo we know, like many fictional characters, is a group creation.

In fact, there was a third person responsible for Bozo: writer/producer Alan Livingston, who actually dreamed up the clown and his original voice and appearance. Livingston is also in the Clown Hall of Fame as a recipient of its "Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award. Now, only Harmon is on the outside looking in.

This is a matter of doing the right thing. Punishing Harmon because he may have over-stated his role is vindictive, not ethical. Colvig wasn't hurt by getting his due a little late: he's been dead since 1969. If the Clown Hall of Fame is interested in honoring the creators of Bozo, then it should include Livingston, Colvig, and Warren. Together they made Bozo "The World's Most Famous Clown" (and the world's most annoying, but that's just my opinion.) Whenever multiple artists are involved in an artistic creation there are likely to be disputes over who the "real" creator is. Even John Lennon and Paul McCartney had some arguments about who was the primary author of some of their famous songs, like "Yesterday." This is human beings being human, not human beings being bad.

\An old man who made a lot of children happy and whose promotional skills allowed Livingston's clown to become a cultural icon now feels forgotten and persecuted. "The credit that was given to me for the work I have done -- they arbitrarily take it down, like I didn't do anything for the last 52 years!" Warren has said. They should put his plaque back up, next to his Bozo companions. The Clown Hall of Fame doesn't address Harmon's misrepresentation of his role by misrepresenting it in a different way. The ethical course is to recognize and honor all the creators of Bozo.

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