Tomorrow, Jan. 8th, is the first anniversary of the death of Art Clokey, the creator of Gumby. “Art was born Arthur Farrington in October 1921 in Detroit. He recalled making mud figures on his grandparents’ Michigan farm when he was a youngster. When Art was eight, his parents divorced, and his father was killed in a car accident soon afterwards.
After moving to California, Art was abandoned by his mother and her new husband. He lived in a halfway house near Hollywood until age 11, when he was adopted. His new father was Joseph W. Clokey, a renowned music teacher and composer at Pomona College. Clokey taught his son to draw, paint and shoot film.
After serving in World War II, Art was studying to be an Episcopal minister when he married Ruth Parkander, the daughter of a minster. Clokey and his wife created Gumby in the early 1950s shortly after Art had finished film school at the University of Southern California. After a successful debut on “The Howdy Doody Show”, Gumby soon starred in its own hit television show, “The Adventures of Gumby,” which introduced clay animation on TV.
In the 1960s, Clokey created and produced the Christian TV series “Davey and Goliath” for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.”
Doesn’t this bring back some memories? I read this in my Little Blue Advent Book this morning and thought I would share with you all. He was very blessed to be adopted and make the most of his life.