As far as kids are concerned, Bozo the Clown speaks a universal language of love and laughter.
Now, for the first time in the 50-year history of America’s most famous clown, the payaso will be communicating in Spanish with the children who come to see him today at 3 p.m. at the new Target store in Kendall.
This Bozo’s friendly hello won’t be:
“Howdy, this is your ole pal Bozo!” Instead, it’s: “!Hola, yo soy tu amigo Bozo, el payaso!”
“We thought Miami would be a perfect arena to introduce our first Spanish-speaking Bozo in the U.S. market,” said Larry Harmon, the original television Bozo and owner of the Bozo empire.
Harmon, who is 71 and lives in Los Angeles, said it became evident that a bilingual Bozo was needed in such areas as California, Florida and New York. In the past, there have been Spanish-speaking Bozos in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
A few months ago, Harmon hired a Hispanic actor to play Bozo. It took the candidate two months of training and character molding to become a happy-go-lucky clown with the horizontally growing, bright-red hair. Makeup alone can take from two to four hours.
The name and age of the Spanish Bozo is top-secret. That’s Harmon’s rule to preserve the Bozo mystique. “We are all Bozos,” he said of the crop of 205 funnymen who have played the role.
The most famous ex-Bozo is Today show weatherman Willard Scott, who epitomized the main quality of a Bozo. “Bozo is not just a clown entertainer; he is a true people person, like Willard,” Harmon said.
Harmon didn’t set out to be a clown. “I was actually in medical school ready to become a gynecologist, but instead I became a Bozologist,” he cackles.
Harmon, who loves the character he made famous on the early days of television, says he bristles when he hears the name Bozo used to describe someone who is a joke or a dummmy.
Most notably, it happened two weeks ago when presidential candidate Bob Dole called President Clinton “a Bozo.”
“Before Dole finished his sentence, CNN was on the line asking me how I felt,” he said. “Well, I don’t like it.”
While the Spanish-speaking Bozo is just entering the American market, Bozo has been around since 1946, when the show started on radio.
Bozo premiered on television with Harmon in Chicago in the mid-1950s and is the medium’s longest running show. Today, Bozo’s Super Sunday Show is seen on cable TV.
As keeper of the Bozo history, Harmon says he has traced the origin of the Bozo name to about 800 years ago. There supposedly was a witty, friendly monk named Bozzo in northern Italy.
Harmon says he knows why the clown has lasted so long.
“When I’m dressed up like Bozo, adults come up to me and say: ‘I remember watching you on television when I was 5 or 6,'” Harmon said. “That’s the key. Bozo helps retain people’s youth.”
