Thom or Barnaby? You decide.My paternal grandparents lived on the west edge of Bellevue in the house in which my dad and my grandfather grew up. It was about 4 miles east of our house, and the difference was enough to enable them to pick up the Cleveland television stations, while we were pretty much stuck with the Toledo stations. This, of course, was long before the days of cable or satellite TV, and the limiting factors were the height and sensitivity of your outside antenna and the weather.
It was at their house that we would watch channel 5 from Cleveland. On a children's program was a character named Barnaby. He wore a straw hat and had pointy ears and would probably be pretty scary to me as an adult, but as a kid, Barnaby seemed to be an okay dude. It is with great sadness that I report the demise of Barnaby.
Here's a link (as long as it's active) to a story about Barnaby's death.
Barnaby had a special place in the Gerhardstein household because my brother Thom had Barnaby ears. He eventually outgrew them, but we were often confused trying to figure out who was Barnaby and who was Thom. I guess we won't have that debate any longer.
4 comments:
What a great picture of Thom and his ears. Barnaby (Lynn Sheldon) another childhood icon that is now only in our memories. And, you are right...Thom did grow into those ears.
Cleveland Broadcast Legend 'Barnaby' Dies
UPDATED: 6:34 pm EDT April 24, 2006
CLEVELAND -- A Cleveland broadcasting legend passed away Sunday.
Linn Sheldon, the man known best as "Barnaby," died at the age of 86.
Sheldon started at WEWS-TV in 1948, one month after the station signed on the air for the first time.
During that time he played a character known as Uncle Leslie, a clown who entertained children.
Because TV was so new, there were only about 500 sets in the state at the time. Sheldon started his career at the station as a human TV guide, telling viewers what was coming up on Channel 5.
"I started sitting on top of a television set announcing the coming attractions for the day, because they weren't announced in a newspaper for the simple reason that no one knew what we were doing or when we were going to go on," Sheldon said. "I have the first contract that WEWS, Scripps Howard put out for a personality. They didn't like to write things down. I have it with me in fact, my wife has it here, it's for $50 and that's scratched out and it says $75. So you can see big money in those days."
Sheldon created Barnaby, the elf who initially hosted a Popeye cartoon show, in 1956. Appearing daily in a straw hat, wax ears and often a candy-striped jacket, Sheldon greeted children with a hearty, "Hi, neighbor!" until he retired in 1990. He created a cast of characters to inhabit his "Enchanted Forest." Foremost among them was Longjohn the Invisible Parrot, which consisted of a birdcage and Sheldon as ventriloquist.
In 1977, he appeared on the WEWS' 30th anniversary special with Fred Griffith and Earl Keys, also known as Mr. Jingeling.
Gib Shanley said being dressed as "Barnaby the Elf" didn't always help Sheldon.
"His car broke down as he got halfway across the Main Avenue Bridge. And he got out and it was a cold, windy day and he was standing there freezing and nobody would pick him up, because there he was in a straw hat, pointy ears and a funny-looking sports jacket," Shanley said.
Sheldon died Sunday morning at his Lakewood home after a long illness. His wife and three children were at his side.
Copyright 2006 by NewsNet5. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
That is an awesome picture of my dad. Needless to say I have no idea who Barnaby is. Still funny though. Miss you Uncle Sam I love you!!!!
Sam you are rotten!!! Or is it jealousy? (Thom has hair and you don't) Thanks for lastnight. See you tomorrow!
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