RIP Blinky the Clown

[Rob]

I just got news that Russell Scott who was "Blinky the Clown" for 40 years, has passed away today at the age of 91. "Blinky's Fun Club (http://blinkysfunclub.com/)" began in 1958 and originated from the studios of KKTV Channel 11 in Colorado Springs. In 1966, the show moved to KWGN Channel 2 in Denver and remained there until it was cancelled 1998.

I have fond memories watching the show as a kid and Blinky singing, "Happy Birf Day to you. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sxPtHhOsgg)"

Here's more info on Blinky (aka Russell Scott) via Wikipedia...

Mr. Scott holds several records: The Longest Career of a Children's Television Show Host - in the United States. The Second Longest Broadcast Career of a Children's Television Show Host - in the world. The Longest Career of a Television Clown in the world.

In 2004 he was inducted in the Silver Circle of the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2005 Scott was inducted into the Broadcast Professionals of Colorado's Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.

In 2006 he was the subject of a documentary, titled Blinky, produced and directed by Brian Malone.

Scott owned Blinky's Antiques and Collectibles on South Broadway in Denver, Colorado. After 22 years, the shop closed in 2008.

From a post about Blinky: "Blinky resided in Security, Colorado for a while when he was working for a housing contractor who was building the safe and crime free community appropriately known as Security. Blinky had a small scale but complete setup of a circus erected for children of all ages to come and see and enjoy as he performed some of his signature clown routines. As the housing tract filled up, Blinky had his circus moved to one of the homes in the subdivision, where he continued to invite the public in to view his miniature circus. The house on Sherri Drive was and is the only one these homes to have an extra front door, which provided a way for visitors to enter the garage turned circus world without traipsing through Mrs. Scott's living room. There was also a door built into the living room wall to allow Blinky to enter his circus world without having to go outside and through that extra front door. It's a real problem for me these days, because it's hard to set up my living room furniture around that spare door. That's right, I live in Blinky's old circus house. He used to come by and chat in the late seventies when his mother lived across the street."

[Rob]

From the Denver Post:

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21411432/blinky-clown-denver-tv-icon-more-than-40

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2012/0827/20120827__BlinkyClown~p1.jpg


"The Emmy award-winning television clown who wished Colorado children a "Happy Birf Day" every day for more than 40 years died with Russell "Blinky The Clown" Scott, who passed away Aug. 27 at age 91.

Scott created a Colorado legend and legacy (http://www.denverpost.com/style/ci_18579962?source=pop) as Blinky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSuXW-74ZqI&feature=fvwp), a red-nosed, plaid-jacketed, pouty-mouthed goof whose gentle humor made a would-be thief temporarily reform his ways (http://www.emmyawards.tv/silver_circle/russell_scott.php) and whose safety tips prompted generations of children to look both ways before crossing the street.

From 1958 to 1998, countless children began their days as Blinky greeted them with his "Good morning/Glad to see you! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br05fo0ny0M)" song. Scott's career as a clown grew from sketches he performed for children who came to see the elaborate miniature circus he maintained at his home in Security.

The Scott's house on Security's Sherri Drive was the only home in the development that had an extra front door (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Scott). It opened into the garage that Scott had converted into a permanent circus.

Local television producers, looking for stars for a new medium, invited him to host a children's show, but Scott didn't agree until Colorado Springs' KKTV offered to let him write and produce the show.

He went on to produce and host nearly 10,000 shows over four decades, moving from Colorado Springs to Denver's KWGN-TV in 1966. From the moment he walked into the TV studio, he was Blinky, not Scott, handing out the Blinky's Fun Club Safety Tips cards that became one of his trademarks.

"He gave me one of his safety tips cards when I first went into his antiques shop," said Andrew Norton, who still emails an MP3 of Blinky's birthday song each year to a friend.

As a child, Norton was a Blinky fan and as an adult became a customer of Blinky's South Broadway antiques and secondhand store. With promoter Dana Cain, Norton brought Blinky from his nursing home in Morrison to a Blinky's Fun Club Reunion at the 2011 Denver County Fair.

By then, the first members of Blinky's Fun Club had children, and sometimes grandchildren, of their own. Some parents, fortunate enough to be among the handful of children featured on stage during the daily birthday song, were even luckier to escort their own children to those special stage seats. (At that point, the elder Blinky veterans found new meaning in his safety tip to "Mind Mom and Dad.")

"Blinky's Fun Club" went off the air in 1998, silencing Blinky's staccato voice. He continued to run his South Broadway shop at hours that suited his schedule, and occasionally opened for a special customer.

Among his favorite stories was one about a man who talked him into staying open until midnight "for a very special person."

"That evening, I made some coffee and waited until about 12 o'clock," he recounted in a 2011 Denver Post interview (http://www.denverpost.com/style/ci_18579962?source=pop).

"Pretty soon, this car pulled up. Not a fancy car. But Liberace stepped out," Scott said. "He came into my store and bought a few things for his own antiques store in California."

Scott operated his store until 2008, when he sold it (http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_10970425) and auctioned off its merchandise.

Another one of his favorite stories from that period was about a note he discovered when he came to work one summer morning.

"I opened it up," Scott recounted in the same Denver Post interview, "and it said, 'Dear Blinky, I was in your store a few days ago. I was coming in with the intentions of robbing you at gunpoint. But when I heard you were the real Blinky, I said to myself, 'I can't rob this person. I sat on Blinky's lap when I was 5 years old.' " "