Sunday, August 17, 2008

No More Engineer Bill...

Engineer Bill has died. I think I'm more surprised that the dear man was still alive until August 12. He was 97, according to the Los Angeles Times, which ran both an obituary and a eulogy.

Surprisingly, Engineer Bill doesn't have a Wikipedia entry. Sheriff John does. You can even hear him sing "Put another candle on my birthday cake" on You Tube. Here's a 5-minute clip of Sheriff John then and now. If you're over 45, you'll know his voice the minute you hear it.

You Tube also has a 9-minute Engineer Bill show from 1960, starting with the theme song ("Who's that fellow? WoooWooo--that's Engineer Bill!"), and ending with Red Light, Green Light, Drink Your Milk. Corkey, the little boy in this clip was the son of a station employee, so they got a copy of the kinescope, according to Harold Wright on TV Party. TV Party also has an obituary and lots of comments from baby boomers like me, who grew up watching Engineer Bill's show.

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