The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other Stupendous Yarns

By Larry "Bozo" Harmon and Thomas Scott McKenzie

The Man Behind the Nose is the autobiography of the man who was Bozo. For 50 years Larry Harmon was the face—and the nose—of Bozo the Clown, the most well-known, beloved clown of them all, the precursor for every successful modern-day harlequin to come, from Ronald McDonald to Krusty. A warm, surprising, and endlessly entertaining life story filled to the brim with “Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other Stupendous Tales,” The Man Behind the Nose is a rollicking ride through the world of a true American icon in greasepaint.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Aug 17, 2010
• ISBN: 9780061967757

Larry "Bozo" Harmon

Larry Harmon produced some 50,000 hours of local and international live children's television shows. He is best-known for his fifty-year-plus run as the driving force behind Bozo the World's Most Famous Clown. After purchasing the rights to the character, Harmon spread Bozo to almost 200 television stations all over the globe, including Greece, Thailand, and Brazil. Harmon also owned the Laurel & Hardy characters, produced the 1974 biopic It's Good to be Alive directed by Michael Landon, and made many other contributions to the entertainment world and popular culture. In 1996, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awarded him a special outstanding achievement award for a long career that touched the hearts, mind, and funny bones of millions of people. Larry Harmon passed away on July 3, 2008.

Reviews for The Man Behind the Nose

[peggyk49 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I saw The Man Behind the Nose: Assassins, Astronauts, Cannibals, and Other… by Larry "Bozo" Harmon, Thomas Scott McKenzie on the shelf at the local Mr. K's Used Books, I knew immediately I wanted to read about Larry Harmon and Bozo. I have a long running fear of and fascination of clowns. I don't want to be anywhere near one in person. As a kid I watched Bozo and Clarabell and loved them. Even though I am clown phobic, I have a collection of clown paintings and prints that stare at me daily, and I love looking back at them. So I wanted to know more about this Larry Harmon/Bozo person.I found that I greatly admire Larry Harmon, and his alter ego, Bozo, who both simply wanted to share love and laughter with the world, because everyone in the world can relate to those two things. Larry, as Bozo went places all over the world to spread that love and laughter. He had some fantastic experiences while doing that, all in an effort to get everyone, especially children, to see that we all are the same, we all love and we all laugh. I never thought I would finish reading a book about Bozo with a tear in my eye, but I did just that when reading the Afterword by Thomas Scott McKenzie and he told about hearing of Larry Harmon's death. This book was well worth the read.