Sheriff John was an American

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early eveni ...

host who appeared on

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

from July 18, 1952, to July 10, 1970, on two separate series, ''Sheriff John's Lunch Brigade'' and ''Sheriff John's Cartoon Time''. He was played by John Rovick'Sheriff' John Rovick dies at 93; popular L.A. children's TV host
/ref> who served as a radio operator-gunner in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, surviving 50 combat missions in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Fo ...

. After the war he became a radio announcer, moving to television in its early days. He developed the program's concept himself. As Sheriff John he began each program entering his office, singing "Laugh and be happy, and the world will laugh with you." He then said the

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

and read a safety bulletin. He showed cartoons including

Q.T. Hush ''Q.T. Hush'' is a 1960–61 American animated cartoon released in syndication, beginning on September 24, 1960. The show's 100 three-and-a-half-minute episodes, all in color, were directed by veteran animator Rudy Cataldi, and produced by Animat ...

Underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, th ...

Crusader Rabbit ''Crusader Rabbit'' is the first animated series produced specifically for television. Its main characters were Crusader Rabbit and his sidekick Ragland T. Tiger, or "Rags". The stories were four-minute-long satirical cliffhangers. The concep ...

, and

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many crit ...

; he was often visited by farm animals. An artist, Sketchbook Suzie, drew pictures requested by viewers; he would complete squiggles sent by the children and make a squiggle for them to complete. He also gave them lessons on safety and good health habits. The show's highlight was the birthday celebration. Sheriff John read as many as 100 names, then brought out a cake and sang the Birthday Party Polka ("Put Another Candle on my Birthday Cake"). In 1979, Rovick reprised his Sheriff John character on KTTV, briefly hosting a Sunday morning version of the TV series,

TV POWWW ''TV Powww'' (often stylized as ''TV POWWW'') was a franchised television game show format, in which home viewers controlled a video game via telephone in hopes of winning prizes. History The ''TV Powww'' format, produced and distributed by Fl ...

. He won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 1952 and appeared on the Emmy broadcast in 1998, introduced by longtime fan

Michael Richards Michael Anthony Richards (born July 24, 1949) is an American actor, writer, television producer, and comedian best known for playing Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. He began his career as a stand-up comedian, first entering ...

. In 1981 Rovick retired from KTTV after 32 years. On October 6, 2012, he died in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ...

, after a brief illness. He had just turned 93 years old.

References

External links

TV Party's Sheriff John site
* {{Find a Grave, 98401290, John "Sheriff John" Rovick American children's television presenters People from Dayton, Ohio 1919 births 2012 deaths

See also

References

External links