Buffalo Bob Smith

Robert Emil Schmidt (November 27, 1917 – July 30, 1998), nicknamed Buffalo Bob, was an American television personality and television host; he was well known as the host of the children's show Howdy Doody.

Born in Buffalo, New York, as Robert Emil Schmidt, he attended Masten Park High School.

Schmidt got his start in radio in Buffalo at WGR (AM) though he switched from WGR to WBEN's late morning radio slot in 1943, as part of a move which also brought Clint Buehlman's early morning show over from WGR to WBEN at the same time.

(The WBEN morning slot had opened when its host, future NBC-TV personality Jack Paar, was drafted into the military.)

WBEN was seeking to break WGR's #1 position in local popularity; shaking the position of network-fed Don McNeill's Breakfast Club and its grip on ratings for the 9 am time slot was an important part of the plan.

WBEN first poached (from WGR) Clint Buehlman's popular early morning show, which ended at 9am, followed by 15 minutes of local news.

Then, Buffalo Bob appeared at 9:15 am.

Within a period of time, Smith had won the #1 spot in late mornings for WBEN, and McNeill dropped to second in the Buffalo market.

For a time between 1947 and 1953, he appeared mornings on WNBC while hosting and producing the daily Howdy Doody show.

Smith first performed the character on his WNBC radio show.

When the show transitioned to TV (1947-1960), puppet builder Frank Paris created a marionette to match the voice.

In 1948, a dispute over merchandising rights led Frank Paris to leave the show and take the original puppet with him.

Velma Dawson created this new style of Howdy Doody puppet that debuted on June 8, 1948 after a break for “plastic surgery.” Throughout the series run on NBC, Bob Smith voiced the puppet, usually through recordings made before the show, while Margo and Rufus Rose were primarily responsible for building, maintaining, and performing the marionettes.

Smith was also known as a singer and musician, appearing on many top shows of the time both before and after becoming nationally known for the Howdy Doody show.

Smith's popularity in Buffalo won the attention of NBC, which brought him to New York after the war to host early mornings on flagship station WNBC, a post he held through the early 1950s before concentrating on television.

In 1954, Smith suffered a heart attack and as a result, performed the show from a studio built in the basement of his home in New Rochelle, New York.

He returned to the NBC studio in 1955.

The final NBC Howdy Doody episode aired in 1960.

His other screen efforts include films, Track of Thunder (1968) and Problem Child 2 (1991), as Father Flanagan.

In 1970 and 1971, Smith embarked on a live tour of college campuses.

The shows, organized by producer Burt DuBrow, mixed nostalgia with more contemporary humor, such as Buffalo Bob finding a package of Zig Zags (rolling paper) allegedly belonging to Clarabell.

One show, on April 4, 1971, was recorded and released as an LP, on the Project 3 Total Sound Stereo label.

It was titled Buffalo Bob Smith Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore East.

Smith had a summer residence in Grand Lake Stream, Maine.

He was well-liked by locals and occasionally hosted local events.

He owned radio stations WQDY in Calais, Maine, WMKR (now WSYY) in Millinocket, Maine and WHOU in Houlton, Maine.

Later, in 1976, Smith reunited with longtime show producer E. Roger Muir and several of the original cast to produce a new daily syndicated Howdy Doody show.

David Marc describes a show:

He also made guest appearances on Happy Days and What's My Line, as well as the television specials, NBC's 60th Anniversary Celebration (1986), and It's Howdy Doody Time (1987).

After his retirement, Smith retired to Henderson County, North Carolina, becoming a member of the Pinecrest Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP) in Flat Rock.

He made a live infomercial appearance to promote Howdy Doody Entertainment Memorabilia on July 3, 1998, on QVC, which became his last public appearance.

Smith died due to cancer four weeks later on July 30, 1998, in a hospital in Hendersonville, North Carolina, three days before puppeteer Shari Lewis, whose show coincidentally had taken over the time slot which Howdy Doody had previously occupied.