Robert Lewis was born in Flint, Michigan back in 1922. After high school, he worked at odd jobs before enlisting in the United States Marine Cops. With the start of WWII, he joined the United States Navy, he passed the induction examination by memorizing the eye charts because he had limited eye vision in his right eye. He served in the Pacific Theater until being discharged in 1946.
After the war, he broke into broadcasting in Flint as an announcer at WMRP, he left for South Bend, Indiana working for WHOT. It wasn’t until 1960, that he played a character where he will forever by placed in the history books. He played that role for nine years, once serving as the Grand Marshal for Chicago’s Christmas Parade in 1968. The number of people who turned out for that event was estimated at 500,000 a record for the time.
What you may not know about Robert Lewis Bell is that the role he played was that of bozo the Clown. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1996. He spent the last years in Lake San Marcos, California. He died in 1997 at 75.
Until tomorrow give someone the free gift of a smile
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