The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Happy the Clown (Howard Jones)
WFIL-TV
circa 1962

Here's a Channel 6 publicity still of Happy the Clown, who was a much loved kids show host in the Philadelphia television market. Happy was portrayed by Broadcast Pioneers member Howard Jones. Before doing the TV kids program, Howard was a well-known and respected air personality on WFIL Radio.

He also played Farmer Jones on both TV and radio and for years was "Santa Claus" on Channel 6. The ratings were so good that the "Happy the Clown" character was created by Broadcast Pioneers founding member Jack Steck (our fourth president, 1965 - 1966) to continue the ratings roll.

After retiring from broadcasting, Jones became a realtor. In July of 1993, Howard Jones passed away from Cancer at the age of 84.

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com