A Tribute to Major Mudd
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2011
- To the tune of The Major Mudd Show theme ("Parade of the Clowns"), this little tribute to Ed McDonnell features every photograph I could find of the Major, in both his original and "Skittle Alley" costumes. Thanks for the photos to Chris Vecchia, Bob Polio, Robert Knight, and Ted Lavash via Billy Ingram's great TV Party website. UPDATE: Since posting this tribute, 2 hours of clips from The Major Mudd Show circa 1970 have been posted to the MM Page on Facebook! Take a look:
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I grew up just outside of Boston.....We LOVED Major Mudd....Willie Whistle (Dick Beech a wonderful and kind man who I worked for at TV 38) Rex Trailer and Sargent Billy....I feel very fortunate to have grown up in the 60s and 70s.
Growing up in Brockton MA in the '60s, Major Mudd was a big part of my childhood. My first exposure to the 3 Stooges was through his show (and the cause of a lifelong love for "the boys"). The song he played before he read letters was "Solfeggio", better known as the theme from Ernie Kovacs' "Nairobi Trio" sketches. May there be a special place in Heaven for Ed McDonnell, and also for Rex Trailer, and for all the men who played Bozo on TV over the years.
I got to be on the Major Mudd show. It was the thrill of a lifetime.
Me too
Major Mudd and Rex Trailer's "Boom Town" were my favorite childhood shows. Thanks for the tribute to Major Mudd.
just brought back a memory i had forgotten! I am 54 and grew up in Boston! I loved Major Mudd!
We lost him over 40 years ago!!! RIP Major!
Loved MM as a kid...watched his show every day...RIP Ed
I used to watch Major Mudd all of the time, I grew up in Dorchester and this was one of our favorite shows! I never got to go on the show as a kid but I did meet him in person in Woolworths, Washington St., Boston. He was in the toy department ! I was thrilled and he was such a nice man. ❤
The weekday series, the full title of which was "B'Wana Don in Jungle-La," was a local Detroit kids' television program. But as it aired on Detroit's Storer Broadcasting station WJBK, and Storer was also in the program syndication business with Storer Programs (which distributed the original run of Canada's "The Littlest Hobo" series about a vagabond German shepherd), "B'Wana Don" was picked up for national syndication, airing on WSBK-TV (TV38), which was then Boston's Storer station.
I used to watch him all the time....and Captian Bob
Love it! Major Mudd was the coolest of the children's show hosts in Boston. And let's not forget his alter ego, Feep, host of the horror show Fantasmic Features. Boston was a great place to grow up in the 1960s in no small part due to the great Ed McDonnell.
I only remember this show being on around 7 am between 1961-1964, I would watch a portion of it on the weekday mornings before walking to the school bus corner. He had the sign IBBY on his desk and he would do foolish things in between the 3 Stooges or Mack and Myer for Hire shorts. To even think that it continued into the 1970's baffles me to this day. Perhaps after I turned 12 or so, I never sought out Major Mudd anymore or for that matter even running into it channel surfing by "turning the knob" back then!
I remember the time he called the moon. He used so many nickels that it took more than one show to do so. I loved the show so much. Thank you Major Mud. One loyal supporter
"Bwana Don" Hunt lives part-time and runs an animal preservation and safari tour facility in Kenya, Africa to this day, a career he began when he abandoned broadcasting after his popular TV series ended in 1964.
For many years Hunt's partner in this project was the late actor William Holden, a passion shared with and taken over by Holden's gal pal actress, Stephanie Powers [TV's "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.," "Hart To Hart"] after Holden's death in 1981.
I remember watching his show as a kid in the afternoons. They used to show Three Stooges shorts during his show, and i remember the opening credits showing him hiding behind a chair, and getting hit in the face with a pie. So sad the way he passed. I understand that Rex Trailer was good friends with him, and did a lot for him in the end. He sure did a lot for kids. Long Live Major Mudd!
I haven’t heard that song in 60 years!
Detroit's WJBK-TV also a "B'Wana Don," played by Motown pet store owner and animal conservationist Don Hunt, whose live chimp companion on the program was "Bongo Bailey." His program likewise presented informational segments on animals and conservation, with studio guests as well as cartoons.
How I loved the Major...
I met Ed in1978- He was sick..... Just had to tell him I loved him......Major Mudd ! I was growned up by then...18 years old
Did this ever bring back memories!...Both Major Mudd and Rex Trailer...
I saw Major Mudd at Tedeschi's Super Market in Braintree I guess in 1963 , he was in his space suit and helmet. This man was so pupular , i felt so bad to see he passed away at such a young age.
I remember live TV in those days! I was watching Major Mudd climb up into his spaceship.(a flimsy sheet of plywood or heavy cardboard painted to look like his ship). He looked out his window and said goodby to all the kids. He bumped it with his helmet when he looked out. His "ship" tipped over and the major was standing up on a ladder! I was about 8 or 9 and didn't care cuz I loved the major! AND STILL DO!
i was way too young to know much, but i knew i love Major Mudd
When I was 9 we got tickets. I was picked for a game and our team won. After the show a piece of the set around the airlock fell and hit my head. Fortunately it was just light wood and cardboard so no harm done. Ed himself walked me back to the green room to make sure I was OK and my mom knew what happened. My next door neighbor took Polaroid pictures from her TV which I still have. I was sad to learn that his death was from diabetes, as I was at that time (and always will be) a diabetic myself.
Growing up in Stoneham, I watched every day. Thanks for bringing back those memories!
I grew up in Stoneham also! From 1966 through 1973, then moved to Florida.
I saw this show when we visited from California in 1966, I loved the show, the cartoons and the scetches. A job well done, bravo!!!!
Didn't Ed also have a show called Bwana Don where he came out in a pith helmet on a set covered in brush? I loved his Feep character too! He always reminded me a bit of Art Carney!
The last time I saw "The Major Mudd Show", it was, I believe, 1973. He had a folk singer guy on with him named "Doug-a-Doo", or something like that. My family moved to CT after that and I never saw the show again. One day a few years later, I was on the phone with my cousin Bob and he told me that Major Mudd had died. A great children's entertainer who should be recognized nationally, not just locally. IBBY, Major!
There's a photo out there of Major Mudd and Captain America (the guy Channel 7 had playing the Captain, that is). I remember seeing it in the newspaper once as a kid and thinking, "Holy cow, Major Mudd outranks Captain America!" Made the Major's coolness quotient shoot upwards a few points.
Hunt still returns to Detroit summers, and a few of his pet stores may still be in operation, as well a few American safari facilities in partnership with his brother.
Since I posted this little tribute last year, nearly two hours worth of clips from the 1970s Major Mudd Show have surfaced, all of them posted to The Major Mudd Page on Facebook. Take a look and enjoy!
Oh my god... Thank you so much, this is my grandfather. I never got to meet him he died of diabetes before I was even born a long time before. Anyway thank you so very much it is so great to know he is still remembered so dearly.
So excited when I got to be in his audience as a little girl and I watched all the time. In my sixties now, made me smile to see his face and hear that music again. A very special legacy for your family. IBBY
You were in the audience. I could only dream.
i absolutely loved major mudd!!! i also remember the cartoon roger ramjet!! he was an awesome host!! everything went wrong for him.
"With an I and a B and a B and a Y..." Great remembrance!
Not just the Major and Rex, but also Bozo and Capt. Bob and Miss Jean and Lord Bumblebrook and Feep and Willie Whistle and Big Brother - fun for all ages, a homegrown bonanza!
I too LOVED this show and used to sing the theme song. It was a wonderful show, and I am so happy to have been part of that generation.
I still love the theme song. I hear that song and remember the joy it brought me as a child, knowing my favorite show, full of great cartoons and a fantastic Major Mudd was on.
I think Johnny Weismuller's post-"Tarzan" persona, "Jungle Jim," may have influenced the "B'Wana (Fill In The Blank)" trend of local kids' TV hosts taking their kiddie viewers on a daily safari.
Pittsburgh's KDKA-TV had a "B'Wana Don,"played by Don Riggs, who hosted the local "Safari" program that presented reruns of "Tarzan" films and gave informational segments on animal preservation and other aspects of wildlife from a jungle set.
Sure was!
The BEST !!! I'm 63 and Boston Born and Bred and Out of ALL the Kid's TV Shows We Had Here in Boston 'Major Mudd' Smoked ALL of Them !!! How Many of You Knew That the Saturday Morning TV Host for the Tarzan Movies, 'Lord Bumblebrook' WAS Major Mudd !
+Ramusiewicz Good memory! Ed McDonnell was not only Lord Bumblebrook, but also Feep, host of "Fantasmic Features"
Lol, never knew he was Feep. Never forget,
IBBY
Feep Saturday nights!
+Ramusiewicz His pet snake was Bula.
Thank you! One of my favorite shows when I was a kid.
I was looking through some very old papers and came across an autographed photo of Major Mud. I was on his show in 1968 when I was 10yrs old. That's what brought me here. What a great show and he was a great guy.
Oh boy! Rex Trailer, Major Mudd, Captain Kangaroo and Bozo were THE best children's entertainment!
Miss 'em. They don't make 'em like this any more.
Loved this guy, saw him in person at the hometown theatre too! "Did you bring The Termites?" everybody yelled----so he took off his helmet and said they were in his hair.
Seeing that photo of the Major with Rex Trailer and his sidekick Pablo really brings back the memories. We just lost Rex a little over a week ago (at age 84), so to see that photo again now evokes lots of great thoughts. I saw the Major at Coats Field dept. store in Brockton MA around 1965, and saw Rex a number of times at various appearances. We were fortunate to have grown up in New England where we could see them daily, when they were in their heyday.
Just Talking about myself and My sister being on Major Mud Show in the Seventies...Trumpets and all..fun! Wish there was footage!
You're so very welcome! Your grandfather is remembered fondly by many many people. Be sure to check the Major Mudd Facebook page, where a dedicated former colleague of Ed McDonnell has posted nearly 2 hours of Mudd videos, the only footage in existance of Major Mudd!
He did, in fact, do the voice and wore the costume of Feep.
My clock/radio alarm has been getting a lot of static this week, so I turned it to whatever random station that came in the most clearly. Imagine my astonishment this morning when I awoke to hear the Major Mudd theme music, with an announcer saying "Time to blast off for fun and adventure aboard the rocketship the Nervous One on The Loren and Wally Show!!!"
Somebody at WODS remembers Ed McDonnell.
"I'll be BLASTING you!"
I remember winning my first bike on skiddle alley. Great show , I had so much fun and I really loved major mudd. He was nice to me. RIP Ed McDonnell
Everyone has such good memories of him. He was a terrific person and is greatly missed.
Captain Bob was another favorite, particularly the years when he drew the adventures of hand puppets Jasper and Gramps and was often involved with them in their hand-drawn world via the magic of Chroma-key.
Remember Hercima KeeWee. Capt Bob did a great story.
I still have a Feep thing going on. I freeze when I see a black dot on a white surface?
He introduced me to the Stooges.
Wow Thank you so much, my brothers and I were on his show and we were asked to sit around the table and talk about hockey with the major, well my little red headed and freckled brother said to the major " that hockey is bad because you call fall down and get the puck in you mouth " well the old Major and his staff just fell on the floor laughing lol. What great memories of the days of innocence. Thank you for posting
Majormud is the balls
The theme song is "Parade of the Clowns" by David Rose, written originally for a Bob Hope movie, a trailer for which can be found here on TH-cam.
He had a beautiful daughter who was my age. I would love to find her. They bought my horse before we moved out of the Boston area.
Ed's son (who is also named Ed McDonnell) is on Facebook and members of the family frequently post to his page and to the Major Mudd Facebook page.
Give me an i and b and b and a y means, I'll be blasting you! God Bless you Major Mudd!
I'll never forget the mornings getting ready for school and the Boston Bruins would be on his show; Phil Esposito and his brother Tony of the Chicago Blackhawds were on one day. The Major asked Tony Esposito where he was the weakest as a goalie. Phil jumped in and answered "between his legs!" They all just roared laughing, as did I as a 16 year old. The Bruins really loved Major Mudd, "I.B.B.Y." (I'll be blasing you!)
Tony O, the first true butterfly style goalie.
Great story.
Anyone remember the show Crackerbarrell?
Here’s to The Nervous One. IBBY. 🚀
Cleaning out my late mother's house, I found the autographed photos my brother and I got when we were on the show in 1964 or so. It took a year from the time we wrote for tickets until our appearance. Can't remember a thing about it, except that, to even my eight year old eyes, there was a bit of cheesiness about the whole thing. Also, my brother asked the good Major why his teeth were so yellow.
I actually got to push the lift off button one episode. Got a box of Oreos for it.
I was on the show in the early 70's. I interrupted him by getting up and asking when do we get the free games... When we watched at home, they left it in. Cracked my dad up.
Ha! That's great.
That's a great bit and sounds SO like the Major! Thanks for adding this detailed memory.
i was a follower and lunatic
i loved Major MUDD
Sorry: Loren and Wally are on WROR.
Sauroid: Yes, he was a terrific personality, not only as Major Mudd but also as Feep and the little remembered Lord Bumblebrook. From all I've heard from those who knew him personally, he was just the sweetest guy you'd ever want to meet. I envy you actually seeing him in person!
MajorMuddCalling: pies, Ricky and the Termites, The Nervous 1 -- yes, yes, yes! The way I recall it, the song by Ernie Kovacs' Nairobi Trio introduced "Letter Answering Time", but I could be wrong.
Cool
5 Stars!
--Van
With an I and a B and a B and a Y...
A great story - thanks for sharing. Could you post those Polaroids to the Major Mudd Facebook page? Would love to see 'em.
They really were good entertainment. More than that they were like family...at least to me.
I was on the major mud show when I was young around 1972. I was the kid who introduced him on the show I remember it well wonder if this footage is archived some ware anybody know??
Frank Gorman This has got to be the most frequently asked question about Major Mudd. Unfortunately, when WNAC-TV went out of business, any tapes that existed at the station were lost or destroyed. The only footage in existence of Major Mudd (roughly two hours) was saved by a Ch. 7 staffer and can be seen on the Major Mudd Facebook page. Go into the Photos and look for photos that have a timecode; they're actually videos (or search here on TH-cam.) facebook.com/groups/majormudd/
tedmartini: That's great! Always happy to give credit where its due. Have you been on the Major Mudd Facebook page? A former Ch. 7 employee has recently posted a treasure trove of video clips of Ed McDonnell's 1970s show!!!
Ed's jungle character was Lord Bumblebrook. You may be thinking of Dave Maynard's similar jungle movie host character, Bwana Dave. All those jungle guys kinda smoosh together in the memory, don't they?
But what is that theme song? By who?
i remember this as a kid naiver seeing one black kid on the show good old major mudd
I just watched a video on the FB page devoted to Major Mudd and there were black kids in the show: facebook.com/tracy.kiddie/videos/g.44159339298/4053016119851/?type=2&theater&ifg=1
Is Major Mudd any relation to Major Drum?
piranalu: Lucky you! You met him the year he died, sad to say.
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623pieman Interesting,Ah,if your Dad's name happens to be Sean,I knew him in grade school a million years ago(Scituate)..Yes,MM was his dad...lol
Steve
Major Mudd,BoomTown,Candlepins for cash,Big Brother Bob Emery and Captain Kangaroo! Life was good at the old corral.
Do you remember Willie Whistle on WSBK, channel 38?
i think this was to boring but catchy music.