Bob Arbogast

Bob Arbogast (b. April 1, 1927) is an American radio broadcaster, voice actor, and television host.

Descended from the Munger and Gookins line, the original settlers of Guilford CT in 1639 from Ireland,and the Arbogasts of France and Switzerland, Bob was born in Bellingham, Washington,Fact|date=April 2007 the only child of Lewis,a champion tennis player, stockbroker, a world war one veteran under an assumed name, and world war two coast guard volunteer and Christine Arbogast a champion tennis player, Bob attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles where he was on the league champion team and was graduated in 1944. Upon graduation he enlisted in the navy during which time his unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for a multi-ship raid into Tokyo Bay.He was demoted from Signalman 3rd class to Seamnan 1st when his CO told him to hop to it and Bob proceeded to jump up and down on the deck of the USS Brush. At the train station in Atwater Village(Glendale), upon his return from the south pacific theater, he saw the coffins of many of his classmates from Marshall High who gave their last full measure of devotion and did not live to see a world without war. When the war ended, he attended Los Angeles City College and then the University of Arizona, on the GI bill. A radio program director from WHB in Kansas City heard Arbogast's nighttime show on the university's radio station and hired him immediately.

Bob went on to Chicago's WMAQ where he worked with Pete Robinson from 1951-53 (using as a theme song a charming version of "Sicilian Tarantella" played on an ocarina) before moving to Los Angeles for a spell and returning to Illinois where he worked at WEAW in Evanston. Then it was off to New York where he wrote for two shows, one featuring Tom Poston and another Peter Marshall. Next it was on to San Francisco's KSFO and KFRC and, finally, many stations in Los Angeles including KMPC from 1962-67, KLAC in 1967, KFI in 1968, and KGBS in 1969.

At KMPC, he wrote for Dick Whittinghill and Gary Owens, and he wrote with and was the partner of Jack Margolis at KLAC and KGBS. Their radio talk show at KLAC had the highest rating of any radio program in LA history up until that time (and perhaps still), with a 14.5 percent share of the audience. Due to a concentrated letter-writing campaign, they were fired for their objection to the Vietnam war and their pro-choice stance. It has been postulated that Arbogast and Margolis were the last to be blacklisted as a result of the McCarthy dealings of the '50's. The pair also hosted a television show on KTTV for awhile.

Arbogast created the Question Man in Kansas City in 1951 and used it on the Poston Show in NY where it eventually ended up on the Steve Allen Show, much to the surprise of both Bob and Steve - as Allen acknowledged in his book, "The Question Man." The concept lives on in Johnny Carson's Carnac the Great and Jeopardy.

In 1958, Arbogast teamed with Stanley Ralph Ross to write and perform the hit 45 rpm single "Chaos, parts 1 and 2," which when it came out (on Liberty Records), sold 10,000 copies in three days, and then was banned from radio play on the fourth day - when stations realized that it satirized "Top 40" radio. Dr Demento has kept "Chaos" alive. In addition, they co-wrote the album of parody songs titled "My Son, the Copycat" (a parody of Allan Sherman's albums and the book, "Speak When You Hear the Beep".Some of the material in the record was stolen by George Carlin such as the "wonderful whino" bit and "partial score, 3". Arbogast has numerous screen credits for cartoons and commercials, and has appeared on television shows and in movies. He did frequent uncredited voiceovers for "Sesame Street" segments. He was the voice for the original "What would you do for a Klondike Bar?" advertising campaign and of the animated Granny Goose for the Granny Goose potato chip campaign (What is Granny's secret? I won't say...") Among hundreds, Arbogast is perhaps most famous for his voicings of General G.I. Brassbottom, Noodles Romanoff, and Ma Ramjet in the Roger Ramjet cartoon, Jack Wheeler in the Hot Wheels cartoon, and Snogs on the Hanna-Barbera animated series Monchhichis. He also voiced several characters in the classic Hanna-Barbera series The Jetsons. Not to be forgotten were Arbo's stylings of Barry Bear and Drummy Drummer, popular seventies pull-string toys - "I'm Barry Bear, like to meet my paw?" "I'm Drummy Drummer. I went to school at the school of hard knocks." - and his renditions of hamburgers in early McDonald's commercials. His son John while in elementary school at Franklin Avenue in Los Angeles was scolded when asked by his teacher Mrs. Horowitz what his father does for a living. John replied "he is a bear". Refusing to recant, a meeting with the teacher, principal and Bob resulted in free hot dogs on "Hot Dog Friday" for John for a year.

One of his most popular bits was his portrayal of little old lady Emily Norton for KMPC.

Among his many TV and radio commercial partners were Pat Harrington, Harry Morgan, Doris Roberts, Joanie Gerber, Edie McClurg, Bob Elliot, Albert Brooks, Shelly Berman, Tim Conway, Lorenzo Music, and Gene Moss.

Arbogast won an Emmy as a writer for Stars of Jazz in 1958 and a Clio in the '70's, for the Highland Appliance Co. out of Detroit. He wrote for Sesame Street, the Smothers Brothers, and the Pat Paulsen Show. He also has the dubious distinction of writing for the shortest lived television show ever..."Turn On," which was cancelled after one night. He co-starred (had two lines and 6 minutes on camera) with Timothy Hutton and Sean Penn in the motion picture, "The Falcon and the Snowman."He drove the bus in "Linda Lovelace for President."

Bob, is a jazz aficionado, Chicago Cub and UCLA Bruin fan, and animal lover. He and his wife, Jan, live in Mariposa, California where they enjoy country living, tending to their garden, caring for their pets, and the pleasures brought by the internet and satellite radio and television. With his previous wife, Joanna, he raised three sons and a daughter, Peter Arbogast, who is the radio voice of USC Trojan football, John, a USC honors grad, decorated coast guard officer, retired Los Angeles city park ranger, history teacher and city champion pole vault coach and, head track and field coach at John Marshall High School, and Jerry, a UCLA grad, and a physical education teacher, also a coach of a city champion tennis player and team, and the head girls' tennis coach at John Marshall High School. His daughter, Paula, retired in June 2006 from her position as a teacher's union representative. With his first wife, Tobi, he had a son, Robert Jr. (Ted), an accomplished musical director and band leader, and the technology coordinator for Terlingua High School in Texas. Bob has six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

External links

* [http://www.themadmusicarchive.com/playlist.aspx?Show=MMS-29 Listen to Chaos (KAOS Radio)]
* [http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~radiodoc/arbogast.html 1953 Arbogast Show]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJ1OSNqZGfs&mode=related&search= Roger Ramjet Episodes on YouTube]