"Rusty Nails" redirects here. For other uses, see
Rust Nail
.
James H. Allen
(May 15, 1928 ? July 28, 2015) was an American actor who portrayed the
clown
character
Rusty Nails
and was the host of various children's television shows in the
Portland, Oregon
television market from 1957?1972. His program on
KPTV
was the second-longest running children's program in Portland, second only to
Ramblin' Rod Anders
.
[1]
In 2003,
The Simpsons
creator
Matt Groening
credited Rusty Nails as the inspiration for
Simpsons
character
Krusty the Clown
.
[2]
[3]
Show
[
edit
]
He hosted shows on
KOIN
,
KPTV
, and
KATU
as Rusty Nails. In 1998 he wrote an autobiographical book called
Send in the clowns
.
[4]
Among Allen's guest stars was American voice actor
Mel Blanc
, a personal friend of Allen's and fellow Portland native.
[5]
On the show, Blanc would demonstrate his various
voice acted
characters; these included
Looney Tunes
characters such as
Bugs Bunny
,
Daffy Duck
,
Tweety
,
Sylvester
,
Yosemite Sam
,
Foghorn Leghorn
, and the
Tasmanian Devil
.
[5]
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Allen died on July 28, 2015, of
congestive heart failure
at the age of 87, after a month of hospice care in Portland.
[6]
In a 2003 interview,
Matt Groening
credited Rusty Nails as the inspiration behind
Simpsons
character
Krusty the Clown
, a corrupt and cynical TV clown.
[2]
[3]
Groening described Allen as "a very nice guy and a very sweet clown", but he found his stage name "incredibly disturbing as a child because, you know, you're supposed to avoid rusty nails."
[3]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Rusty Nails' Cartoons"
. Archived from
the original
on 2012-12-20
. Retrieved
2008-12-04
.
- ^
a
b
Barnes, Mike (July 29, 2015).
"James Allen, TV Personality Who Inspired Krusty the Clown on 'The Simpsons,' Dies at 87"
.
Hollywoodreporter.com
. Retrieved
April 5,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
Turner, Chris (2010-05-28).
Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
. Random House of Canada.
ISBN
978-0-307-36609-2
.
- ^
Allen, James (1998).
Send in the clowns
. Shiloh Publishing House.
ISBN
1891879014
.
- ^
a
b
Hollis, Tim (2001-10-29).
Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Programs
. Univ. Press of Mississippi.
ISBN
978-1-57806-396-3
.
- ^
"Beloved Portland entertainer 'Rusty Nails' dies at 87"
. KOIN news. July 28, 2015. Archived from
the original
on July 30, 2015
. Retrieved
July 28,
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
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