On this day in 1921, Art Clokey was born in Detroit. While his name may not be widely recognized, his creation, Gumby, is iconic. Clokey spent his childhood playing with mud, which his family called "gumbo," and after losing his father in a car crash at eight, he drew inspiration from a photo of his dad's unique hairstyle for Gumby's shape. Gumby first appeared in the mid-1950s on the Howdy Doody show before starring in his own successful series that remained beloved for decades.
TRANSCRIPT
Today in 1921 Art Clokey was born in Detroit. Not an instantly recognizable name, but you may know his green and animated creation: Gumby. In his youth, Art was known to spend hours playing with mud at his grandparents’ farmhouse in Millington, Michigan, north of Flint. The family called that mud: Gumbo. But when just 8 years old, his father died in a car crash. One of the few photos that remained of his father featured the young man with a stylized poof, for lack of a better word on one side of his head. It was the lop-sided style which inspired the iconic shape for the head of Clokey’s Claymation superstar. Gumby first appeared in the mid-50s on the Howdy Doody show for kids and then had its own successful series by the end of the decade which would remain syndicated for years to come.