Smith's Absence
In September 1954, Bob Smith suffered a heart attack and was ordered to recover at home. NBC managed to keep the show going with guest hosts, including Gabby Hayes and New York disc jockey Ted Brown as Bison Bill, explaining that Smith was vacationing at Pioneer Village. While kids generally were satisfied with the explanation, show sponsors insisted that they wanted Smith himself to hawk their products. In response, NBC set up a special studio at Smith's home so that he could appear live "from Pioneer Village" to do commercials. During Smith's absence from the show, Howdy was voiced by Allen Swift. Swift continued to voice the character for a short time even after Smith's return to the show in September 1955.
Read more about this topic: Howdy Doody
Famous quotes containing the words smith and/or absence:
“I call her old. She has one family
Whose claim is good to being settled here
Before the era of colonization,
And before that of exploration even.
John Smith remarked them as he coasted by....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“Vulgarity cannot exist in the absence of loftier values. Once it has affected the latter, however, it wants to absorb them. Unless you want to be as weak and small as human beings, you had better stay away from them.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)