Wednesday Video Spotlight: RIP Bill Howard, Oklahoma City TV personality who played Pokey the Puppet
Posted January 9, 2013 by Brandy McDonnell
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Edward P. Birchall as Ho Ho the Clown and Bill Howard as Pokey the Puppet. (KOCO photo)
Well-known former local television personality Bill Howard died Wednesday morning in Oklahoma City. He was 77.
Although his television career spanned 37 years, Howard was best known for playing Pokey the Puppet, the sock-puppet sidekick of Ho Ho the Clown on KOCO-5’s long-running children’s program.
After a tour of duty as a photographer in the U.S. Army, Howard started at KOCO in 1960 as a camera operator and soon joined the “Lunch With Ho Ho Show,” according to The Oklahoman Archives. The “Ho Ho Show” aired from 1960 to 1988, making it one of the longest-running children’s TV programs in America.
Edward P. Birchall, who played Ho Ho the Clown, died in 1988 at the age of 64.
To read more of my feature on Howard’s passing, click here.
In this Wednesday Video Spotlight, learn more about Howard’s life and legacy.
-BAM
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