90 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • AUGUST 2021
REAR VIEW
CAPTAIN KANGAROO
LI'S FAVORITE GRANDFATHER
BY ANNIE WILKINSON
One never knows where life's early
influences may lead. Before we had today’s
internet to answer our questions,
we would harness our imagination if
we wanted to create, educate, or entertain.
No one could have predicted
that a boy who was interested in live
dramas, romances, thrillers, and other
1940s audio entertainment would find
success by clowning around and producing
original plays.
That boy was Lynbrook, Long Island
native Robert James Keeshan, who got
encouragement — from parents who
listened and a teacher who praised
his nice voice and suggested he work
in radio — that propelled him into a
career as a world-famous television
actor, producer, recording artist, and
author. His creations were an eclectic
mix of slapstick, animation, costumed
characters, puppets, music, a sad-faced
and silent clown, and celebrities, all
gathered around America’s favorite
grandfather: Captain Kangaroo.
NO KARATE CHOPS
Keeshan was born in 1927 in Lynbrook;
When he was 6, his family moved to
Forest Hills, Queens. He displayed
early chutzpah at Forest Hills High
School, broadcasting his plays over
the loudspeaker system. As a senior,
in 1944, he worked nights as a page,
seating radio program audiences,
earning $13.50 a week at NBC Studios
in Rockefeller Center.
He graduated early in 1945 and enlisted
in the Marines, but World War II ended
before he could see combat. He earned
a bachelor’s in education at Fordham
University, then returned to NBC. His
desk was next to the office of Buffalo Bob
Smith, a children’s program host whom
Keeshan helped with research. When
television came along, Keeshan made
his acting debut on Smith’s popular
Howdy Doody Show playing Clarabell, a
clown who delighted in squirting Smith
with a seltzer bottle. But Keeshan was
fired after several years, because Smith
suspected that Keeshan and the other
actors wanted to unionize.
Months later, NBC asked him to create
a new show, Time for Fun, built around
the soft-spoken Corny the Clown. Keeshan
next appeared as the grandfatherly
host of Tinker’s Workshop, which
beat out The Today Show in the ratings.
From left, Dancing Bear, Bunny Rabbit, Captain Kangaroo, Grandfather Clock, Mister Moose, and Mister Green
Jeans. (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
But Keeshan was bothered by the
commercials, which he saw as violent
or featuring products he viewed as
inappropriate for children. He told
CBS’ 48 Hours, “On commercial television,
their problems are solved with a
karate chop,” and lobbied successfully
to reduce the violence. CBS asked him
to develop a show.
KINDNESS, NOT GLITZ
Captain Kangaroo debuted in October
1955, the same day as Walt Disney’s
Mickey Mouse Club. Keeshan told
Variety, “I was impressed with the potential
positive relationship between
grandparents and grandchildren, so I
chose an elderly character.” The kindly
host with the bobbed wig and walrus
mustache got his name from the pouchlike
pockets on his jacket.
As reported by The New York Times’
Richard Severo, Keeshan said to director
Peter Birch that the goal was to talk
to the child at home one on one during
the program, with no studio audience.
“The children should never be excluded
… and should never have the feeling
of being part of an audience,” Keeshan
told Birch. “The Captain” engaged children
in a gentle, nonthreatening way:
Show good manners. Respect animals
and playmates. Celebrate “be kind to
mothers and others day.”
Captain Kangaroo “introduced millions
of children to the notion of civility,”
wrote The Baltimore Sun’s David Zurawik.
“The emphasis was on kindness,
not glitz.”
The program conceived by the man
UPI Hollywood Correspondent
Vernon Scott dubbed the “world’s
greatest babysitter” became the longest
running nationally broadcast
children's television program of its
day, aired more than 9,000 performances
in its nearly 30-year run,
and won six Emmys, three Peabodys,
three Gabriel Awards, and numerous
other awards.
LONG ISLAND LIFE
Keeshan commuted to Manhattan after
moving to Melbury Road in Babylon on
Long Island, taking the 4:20 a.m. train
to arrive by 6 a.m. His show featured
celebrity guests and he appeared on
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and
Sonny and Cher’s Christmas Special.
But fame did not rule his life. He served
on the boards of the West Islip School
District and Good Samaritan Hospital
in West Islip, and supported the Suffolk
County Police Athletic League,
Boy Scouts of America, and many other
charitable organizations. Observers
described the children’s advocate as
completely reachable, generous, and
dedicated to the community.
When not starring on Captain Kangaroo
, recording vinyl albums, or serving
the community, Keeshan spent time
with his family of five, indulged in his
photography hobby, studied French,
played golf, sailed and fished on Long
Island Sound, and dug in the garden
surrounding his 24-room colonial
house. When asked by The New York
Times how he had time for all this,
he replied, ''One of the big secrets of
finding time is not to watch television.’’
The Captain died in January 2004 at
age 76, in Windsor, Vt.
“I was impressed with the potential positive
relationship between grandparents and
grandchildren, so I chose an elderly character,”
Robert James Keeshan said.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
