Bozo the Clown is the name of a clown whose widespread syndication in early television made him the best-known clown character in the United States. Partly as a result, the word "bozo" has become synonymous with a generic clown or a foolish person: The word is said to have originated earlier among carnival entertainers.
Bozo was created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingston, who wrote and produced a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set, the first of its kind, titled Bozo at the Circus for Capitol Records. Pinto Colvig portrayed the character in that and subsequent Bozo read-along records.
They were extremely popular and by 1949, Capitol and Livingston began setting up royalty arrangements with manufacturers and television stations for use of the Bozo character. KTTV-TV in Los Angeles began broadcasting the first show featuring Colvig as Bozo with his blue-and-red costume, oversized red hair and classic "whiteface" clown makeup, on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
Bozo became even more famous after Larry Harmon purchased the licensing rights to the character in 1956, and franchised it to local television stations in 1959 as a daily half-hour show with a live Bozo the Clown — a different man in each city in front of a studio audience of children — as well as five-minute cartoons.
Helped along by the widespread local publicity, Bozo-themed toys and novelties were sold widely. By the mid-1960s, Bozo was reportedly grossing over $150 million in merchandise worldwide.