Captain Kangaroo - The Banana Man!

[@CreepysFan]

I remember this from the late `60's/ early `70's. Fantastic seeing this again. A part of childhood regained, thanks. 5 stars.

[@lumpytwangage]

Many thanks for this MAJOR childhood nostalgia jolt. Too funny.

[@tomjeffersonwasright2288]

I loved the original Banana Man when I saw him on the Ed Sullivan show on an ancient TV in the 1950s. Watching here was like meeting an old friend.

[@raukzenta]

The Banana Man was a vaudeville character created by Adolf Proper (November 27, 1886-December 17, 1950[1]) who worked under the stage name "A. Robins". The Banana Man (BZ) act consisted of Proper, dressed as a clownish character in a baggy tuxedo, producing an amazing and apparently impossible number of props from countless pockets and secret places in his costume. He would then perform various clown routines with the props. These props included (among many other things) a clarinet, a mandolin, a huge magnet, a violin, a music stand, several watermelons, and three hundred bananas. He did not speak in words, but uttered cries of delight, surprise, etc., in a nasal falsetto, and imitated the sounds of the musical instruments he "played." His costume was also capable of quick transformation, converting to a woman's dress and back again in seconds. A profile of Proper in The New Yorker reported that the costume weighed 60 pounds loaded, and it took him 45 minutes to prepare it for each performance.[2] Proper performed as The Banana Man in the Broadway musical Jumbo, in the short film Seeing Red starring Red Skelton, and in the 1947 feature film Mother Wore Tights starring Betty Grable. Sam Levine (May 15, 1881-November 13, 1974) bought Proper's original props and gimmicks from Proper's estate, and performed as The Banana Man on Captain Kangaroo and The Ed Sullivan Show. "Allan Jones" of Cleveland, Tennessee, purchased the entirety of the Banana Man props and gimmicks sometime in the early 2000s. [3]

[@chasbodaniels1744]

If this appearance was taped in 1969, that’s means Mr. Levine was over 90 at the time!!

[@wardlev]

Sam Levine was born in 1915 and died in 1997.

[@marylouhoffman2849]

Thank you for the history of the character. I appreciate it.

[@bite-sizedshorts9635]

My cousin owns all those props and the rights to the character.

[@raukzenta]

@@bite-sizedshorts9635 please put me in touch, interested in memorabilia

[@thetreasurehouse1742]

This is The Banana Man's final appearance on an episode of 'Captain Kangaroo', aired on November 28, 1969. The segment re-aired in 1970.

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 YEA? WUT ABOUT HIS EARLIER SHOWS ?

[@wbataxlawyer]

I have been imitating "The Banana Man" all my life. My daughters, now 24 and 22, have been hearing my ersatz impression of "teeee......daaaaaa......deeeee.........hey!!!!!" all their lives....ad a nauseum.....so it goes

[@FoxyFernGaming]

That is glorious. I am 31. My dad has been imitating him all of MY life, and he is the only reason I knew this guy existed!

[@jennifermixson876]

I am 52 years old, and I grew up with my dad doing his "Banana Man" imitation at the dinner table and my older sisters groaning, "DA-AD!" I thought he was funny, but didn't remember seeing the act. Now that I see it, Dad did a pretty good version!

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 PLEASE STOP SMOKING CRACK

[@StreetcornerAvonlady]

I am about to turn 70 and remember the "The Banana Man" laughing myself silly with my sisters and brother watching this man. What a Crack-Up!!

[@sweetoneloves6811]

My brother started up again making the sound of this clown, once I told him that the banana Man was on utube he went off singing again.... I had to hang up the phone screaming and laffn. LOL

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 WOOD U LAUGH AT DOUG HENNING SO DONT LAUGH AT THE BANANA MAN.

[@paulyricca3881]

@@sweetoneloves6811 🥃👴🏻BRA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@SpeegBJ]

My husband's personal favorite of childhood was The Banana Man. Older than the kids watching Cap. Kangaroo; he'd seen Banana Man on other TV shows and well, shared how much he loved the 'crazy antics and voice sounds' Banana Man made. Oh, good stuff.

[@skipstewart9376]

The Banana Man is also in an earlier Red Skelton show video, its an earlier version, he only uses the musical instriments and hasn't gotten to the Bananas yet. We all remember the Banana Man on Kaptain Kangaroo. I spoke with KK's Producer, she was with KK for his entire run, starting as an intern on day 1. She said the Banana Man came once and did his act. They Videotaped it and played it every New Years day for the remainer of KK's run on TV. So what see saw each year was the same video each time. I loved him, he was old fashion Vaudeville humor. Great for little kids

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 NOT VAUDEVILLE HUMOR THE GREAT BANANA MAN WAS A MAGICIAN THE GREATEST BAR NONE.

[@leela7816]

My older brother and I as little kids watching Captain Kangaroo in the mornings, loooved when Mr. Banana Man came on! We would laugh so much. I love these memories. Such a fun and innocent era for children...I thank God for those awesome memories. ❤

[@johncombs2990]

Oh, man. Does that bring back memories. Good clean fun. Ha, ha, ha.

[@grypnhmr]

Loved the banana man when I was a child---weird and fascinating. I used to imitate him a bit. This is the first time I've seen him in color because by the time we got a color TV I had outgrown Captain Kangaroo.

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 U KIDDIN ME? U STILL WATCH THE BANANA MAN.

[@dougbearup2826]

My 2 brother and I watched this when we were kids. We still talk about him this day. I am 74. Thank you for this!

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 SOOO HOW OLD IS U 900?

[@frankobuchowski8195]

this guy was a genious

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 YES HE WAS

[@mikeabbo2124]

help me and my friends have watched this on loop for 4 straight hours

[@rmyers99]

How high are we talking?

[@nasonlives]

I think that he was part of the reason I was terrified of clowns till I was about eight.

[@cindyschlecht1975]

As a kid he was creepy. I'll be 72 this year and he's still creepy!

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 MAN UP ! WUTS WRONG WID CHA?

[@paulyricca3881]

@@cindyschlecht1975 🥃👴🏻 HOW DARE U ? HE WAS A GREAT MAGICIAN BETTER DAN DAVID COPPERFIELD

[@cindyschlecht1975]

@@paulyricca3881 LOL...delusional.

[@storyteller1225]

I hope he did well in life, he made me laugh in my childhood. So did Captian and Mr Green Jeans.

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 SOOO HOW OLD IS U 900?

[@sweetoneloves6811]

LOL, I remember this episode, my brother made this sound ALL DAY and drove my mother and aunt crazy where they chased him all day. he would not stop making the sound of the banana man. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I just called him over the phone, and he started up again LOL

[@paulyricca3881]

😫😆HAW HAW HAW HAW BRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA GOOD STUFF LA LA LA LA LA

[@drandall1776]

I thought all those watermelons were funny enough, but when he pulled out that music stand, I usually fell off the couch laughing ! ! ! Of course, the little train at the end was over the top, too. . .

[@paulyricca3881]

😫😆 DRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@truelily7]

I always loved THE Banana Man!

[@leescarbrough2621]

Thanks for the Banana Man my banana man years were 1958 through 1964 Good Times thanks for bringing him back

[@stevenkoehler6018]

Awesomeness heaped upon incredible-osity....

[@AMa-fn6cl]

I’m glad I found this. I knew there were disturbing memories I blocked from my childhood.

[@wryanddry2266]

The background music is March of the Toys (from Babes in Toyland, first produced in 1903), by Victor Herbert.

[@davepowersmusic]

That's correct!

[@Luckywrench]

Thank you so much for naming this piece!

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

This music was, of course, used in the two film versions of "Babes In Toyland," the 1934 version with Laurel and Hardy (later retitled "March of the Wooden Soldiers"), and the 1961 remake by the Walt Disney studio with Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello. Ironically, the Laurel and Hardy film, with a running time of one hour and eighteen minutes, is considered better than the Disney movie, which runs at one hour and forty-five minutes. It's interesting to note that in the former film, the character of Tom Tom (Felix Knight) is in love with Little Bo Peep (Charlotte Henry), but in the latter movie, Tom Tom's (Tommy Sands) sweetheart is Mary Quite Contrary (Annette Funicello). In the first film, Bo Peep seems to be in her teens. In the second one, she's just a little girl. Weird, isn't it? Henry Kleinbach (who later changed his name to Henry Brandon) played the villainous Silas Barnaby in the 1934 picture, while Ray Bolger took over the role in the 1961 flick. Bolger is best remembered as the lovable scarecrow who wanted a brain in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939).

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 WRONG , IT WAS WRITTEN BY STAN LAUREL IN 1740 IN GREUTSHIRE , ENGLAND.

[@paulyricca3881]

@@michaelpalmieri7335 🥃👴🏻 WRONG ON ALL ACCOUNTS HENRY BRANDON PLAYED SCAR IN THE SEARCHERS 1956 AND PLAYED IN BEACH TOWEL BINGO WITH FRANKIE AVALON RAY PLAYED THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES IN 1924 . THE MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS 1934 STARRED OLSEN AND JOHNSON . YOUR WELCOME.

[@IsBeingHello]

The sounds this guy made with all that wailing and screeching to this very day still frightens me to death. I don't understand why he chose to make those sounds. They weren't "silly". They were SCARY! HAHAHAHAHAHA

[@raukzenta]

Tourettes

[@benjaminperez6620]

You miss the entire point of creativity.

[@22lyric]

Must have beem MORE kids that LIKED them.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

I thought his voice was funny, and not scary, when I was a kid. In fact, now that I've listened to him today, I realized he sounded like "Curly" from the Three Stooges.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

​@@22lyric *been

[@erik4949]

Don't know what this is, but it is the funniest thing ever!! :D

[@martincohen8991]

A trip to another world. Glad I took it.

[@tkhering]

I must have seen him when these were broadcast... I'd forgotten most of it, but I do remember his falsetto "Wow!!"

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@joycecollins9433]

I am so I found this video. I'm now 69 yr old (2022) and I seem to be the only one in my family or friends who remembers Banana Man. Now I can show them I wasn't imagining the character. I watched Captain Kangaroo because Mr. Moose was my favorite.

[@paulyricca3881]

🥃👴🏻 SOOO HOW OLD IS U 99?

[@OysterPir8]

Really fantastic to see what was a great vaudeville act preserved.

[@iasimov5960]

I saw the Banana Man on several TV shows when I was a kid and he scared me to death. Kids today don't know funny-fright.

[@H2R504]

I used to run around the house doing his voice when I was young. I could sound just like him.

[@jameycosby7713]

I loved captain

[@wryanddry2266]

i love his singing

[@cooperthealien5500]

This was one of the best acts going!

[@zebra5ive]

My brother's younger than me and thought I had been hallucinating this "banana man" or at the very least my childhood memories were wildly distorted because I was actually terrified of him at the time. Thank goodness for this clip!!! After he saw it he told me that I was spot on in my description all these years and that it also gave him the creeps. KZbin came through again. Another redemption video!! Thank you.

[@Lucius1958]

That's the way memory works: our early childhood experiences often seem dreamlike and unreal when we grow up. As for me, I don't remember being frightened, but rather fascinated, by the Banana Man's antics...

[@LeftyScaevola]

I still see him clearly in my memory (this was Sam Levine, the 2nd performer of the act, the Vaudeville originator, Adolf Proctor, died in 1950). And now I wear cargo pants loaded with everything I think I have more that a 5% chance to use each day.

[@lauriestanley2083]

watching it now compared to when i was a kid is crazy!!! kids now would die with shows like this !!! lol

[@s.mickelson2523]

Does anyone remember The Banana Man from Captain Kangaroo? How many remember Captain Kangaroo? I watched him back in the 50s, he was my favorite regular guest of the Captain. I guess it was easy to entertain a five-year-old back in the day?

[@lizgray1566]

I swear I think he must have been the Inspiration for the 1990s hit toy Furby. He sounds exactly the same especially when he says Wow!

[@anthonydilligaf823]

Can you imagine what his "costume" must've weighed when he started the act? My cousin used to imitate him when I was a kid. It's a favorite memory of childhood.. I hope you know how much you're missed, and that you've found peace, Connie.

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

I heard that his grandkids found the coat packed away in a trunk and were overpowered by the smell. Bananas were still in the pockets and did not age very well.

[@paulyricca3881]

😆 WA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HIS COAT SMELLED IN 1955

[@inkey2]

Can you just imagine the hell of having to load that suit up with all that crap....just the right way and in the proper order

[@VeracityLH]

+inkey2 The Clown Hall of Fame says the suit weighed between 60-75 pounds and took over 2 1/2 hours to set up. All for an act of under 10 minutes! I think the most brilliant part is the set up of the train. Each lid lifted was hung with fabric bags containing the props that he did not pull from his coat. Having them hanging kept him from covering up the later needed props with the items he tossed into the trunks! Brilliant set up.

[@inkey2]

+VeracityLH ------ I also heard that he could never wash the suit without ruining it....so he never did. Thus he stunk to the high heavens wearing that getup over and over again for years. I suppose he must have had an extra suit too

[@KathrynSpaan]

I LOVED the banana man and so did my mom. I was 5 yes old and she would sit and watch banan man with me

[@steerpike1359]

I thought I dreamed this guy 55 years ago !! But he's REAL !!!

[@tfastlane]

That's the clown I had nightmares about, that started my life long aversion to clowns.

[@paulyricca3881]

U MEAN U IS AFRAID OF CLOWNS 👨🏼‍🦰

[@lxhobson]

THANK goodness for the two "Banana Man" videos here on KZbin! Now my friends and family will know I wasn't making it up! He used to scare the cr@p out of me when I was little.

[@zagfan44]

RedIn Denver+ I'm 67 yrs old and he still scares the crap out of me! I'm not in a good place right now!!

[@Lucius1958]

A dim, black-and-white memory from my childhood in the early '60s...

[@marthahill2968]

I'mv74 and this has stayed with me since it aired.

[@benjaminperez6620]

We loved the Banana Man. I am 67.

[@paulyricca3881]

👴🏻🥃IM 99 THE BANANA MAN THE GREATEST STAR EVER . DOUG HENNING STOLE HIS ACT.

[@usernamemykel]

I think that he might have been the inspiration for "Carrot Top", who garnered fame performing first at college campuses, then moving on to TV.

[@moonwake1]

I remember this bit on the show. I also remember another one where the Banana Man came up to the side of the Captain's desk and he had bananas coming out of his sleeves and pockets and pant leg bottoms. I think it was in the black and white days. Has anyone seen a clip of that bit?

[@Zeppolino100]

No, but that is what I remember--and each time he pulled out more bananas, his "Wow" would get longer and louder!

[@sheltonharlow]

This made me laugh so hard it worried my Mom.

[@ethanwashington9332]

He’s funnier than most clowns I’ve seen

[@texasfamilymusicals]

Thanks for this post!

[@pika23]

omg...vaguely remember this guy

[@randyrc53]

Bridging heaven and earth. Quantum Leap for Ichthy's...

[@larryparis925]

That what quite fascinating!

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

*was

[@facebook51ify]

That is the new Captain's Place from 1977 and that's the Treasure House Garden in 1969.

[@johnpjones182]

Sheer genius!

[@raukzenta]

I want to be him when I grow up!....

[@renzo6490]

The act is certainly unique and very creative. But just consider coming up with the concept for an act like this. Consider planning each segment and putting together the costume before each performance // packing the coat,all those ties!!

[@tzzogg]

the stuff of nightmares for all children. I used to think it was odd but funny when i was a kid, now it is just terrifying. this guy looks like a nightmare from any child's closet. "Mommy!. there's a creepy guy in the closet!" A John Wayne Gacy type for sure......wonder if he was ever arrested for creepy crimes against kids. hmmm!

[@benjaminperez6620]

I loved the Banana Man. My mother said Captain Kangaroo was so educational. She was right.

[@jawoody9745]

Hilarious!! F**king hilarious!

[@JamesKruseArtist]

Oh man, I haven’t seen the banana man since I was 3. No wonder I have weird ideas lol

[@daveconleyportfolio5192]

WOOOOOOOW!

[@jeffcolorado]

I wish some form of vaudeville would come back. We need live, local shows touring the country again. I wonder if Carrot Top got his inspiration from the Banana Man.

[@randolphpatterson5061]

+Jeff B You may have nailed it.

[@karenschelinski2005]

And Pee Wee Herman.

[@MsBrickmeister]

He makes me think of Elmo.

[@kevinmcgrew7456]

I use to love going ovet to the little girls house next door in the morning we use to eat coffee creamer by the spoon full and watch caption kangaroo waiting for the ping pong balls to drop that just killed us . I sometimes wonder what ever happened to that little girl we had so much fun back then.

[@robertpage2023]

Early "Carrot Top". I remember back when this was current how all my classmates would have a debate as to who really was the "Banana Man". Most thought it was the Captain himself and others though it was Green Jeans. Being that Cpt Kangaroo had an earlier alter ego as "Clarabell" on the Howdy Doody Show. He was the first CB on the show but left due to a salary dispute. I think "Bunny Rabbit" was his agent. Had him working for carrots which Bunny always took most of. Actually CB aka, Cpt Kangaroo left due to Chief Rain-in-the-face was angry at him for schtuping the Indian princess, Spring Summer Winter Fall who was the chief's daughter. It was also later brought out that CB knew of Doody's gay affairs with Dilly Dally as they once had a threesome with the Flubadub. Yes, there were pictures. One reason the Cpt. had such big pockets were to always keep those photos with him hidden away just in case he needed some black mail money. Ah, those were the days of my fun childhood memories. Oh, you ask who took the pictures? Mr. "pervert" Bluster of course.

[@davidlong1786]

As a kid I used to think those were real bananas or were they real way back when he first started? He sure spent a lot of money and effort on those props.

[@curiouscharacter1]

Thanks so much for sharing this! He was my favorite back in the fifties. Guess I was a weird little kid,. As a 4 year old I never did figure out the fruit was foam rubber. His balalaika (sp?) is spot on. Am I the only one that thinks his HAHA sounds exactly like Pee Wee Herman's?

[@melissaresendes8966]

curiouscharacter1 or pee wee hermans sounds just like his?

[@wryanddry2266]

The fruit was steel springs covered with fabric. Yes, Pee Wee stole some of his act.

[@JimPThai]

Ok... here's the way I remember it. That clip was the original vaudvillian banana man performing for the Captain in the 1970's. However, on the Captain Kangaroo show in the 50's, I thought Bob Keeshan did the banana man routine many many times. It wasn't as elaborite as the orginal--mainly bananas and strings of hotdogs as I remember. And the falsetto "wow" was much more elongated to "WOOoooOOOwooooooW". I could be wrong.

[@roy19491]

actually, it was Mr GreenJeans......

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

*original

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

​@@roy19491 No, it wasn't.

[@laurathornton1456]

I wonder just how long it took to pack that suit full of fruit etc. I bet it took almost as long as his act!

[@drandall1776]

So. . .just how long did it take him, or an army of assistants, to load up that coat ???

[@manofmanyinterests]

I don't know, but the cistume, props and train exist!!

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

​@@manofmanyinterests *costume

[@makeminefreedom]

What episode featured the magic drawing board and Puff The Magic Dragon? I have searched everywhere and can find no reference to this episode except for other people's memories. It's almost like it's been erased from history.

[@wryanddry2266]

Google couldn't figure out how to make money off it.

[@pepelepeau]

Jackie the Joke Man with No Jokes but lots of Giggles Woos and La da dees!

[@josephmarcotte1244]

Sick pup

[@martincohen8991]

What the world needs now is bananas, sweet bananas.

[@pwk22]

If this guy isn't Carrot Top's father, I'll eat my hat.

[@henrybodine2194]

no wonder those of us in our childhood got programmed it

[@wcw3086]

My mom loved him!

[@robarnum7180]

his costume when fully loaded with props weighed about 80 pounds! just thought I'd let you know.

[@tangobravo5752]

Woah

[@jmsmith7716]

to remind u this show is 67 years old

[@josephmarcotte1244]

He was la la la la Ka!

[@bmh4d0k3n]

That was really disturbing.

[@JasonPike-t6s]

Cbs

[@JasonPike-t6s]

Bob Keishan died a long time ago

[@puntagordy]

Did you hear the thanks a lot guys remark at the 27 sec mark.

[@michaelpalmieri7335]

I heard it too, along with that background music. What's up with that?

[@guvbob6725]

As a kid at the time, and now 60 years later, I'm still wondering why the Banana Man was included in the program. I never understood why saying "Woooowwww!!" fifty times was funny.

[@Antshrike1]

Because it was incredible for kid to watch and I still love it.

[@daveb7811]

Carrot Top's great grandpa!

[@rickwine9821]

Sure do, James! Haven't seen this bit for years. You have to wonder how many times in his life he performed it.

[@cindyschlecht1975]

As a kid he was creepy. I'll be 72 this year and he's still creepy!

[@GeorgeThomopoulos-p7r]

Eeeeeeeeeee. Ohhhhhhhhh.

[@jenniferdonlin6627]

I wonder if the Banana Man was always played by the same person. Anybody know?

[@davepowersmusic]

Here's the scoop - the gentleman who was the Banana Man on Captain Kangaroo was Sam Levine (they played the same video more than once on the show). Levine got all the props and costumes from Adolf Proper who used the name A. Robins - the original Banana Man who performed the vaudeville act in the 1930's and 1940's. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banana_Man

[@barbarastephenson5353]

Wooow

[@inkey2]

from other sources I have read that this is not the original banana man from the 1930s......although he does a dead on imitation

[@HebertHoober]

My parents were in show business from 1938 until the mid fifty's and worked with the original Banana Man when they still had Vaudeville in Movie theaters a number of times, Bob Keeshan's Banana Man act is quite a bit different than the original Vaudeville act. I remember the train and many more bananas. Another Act we used to work with was A man who ate cigarettes lit matches the matchbook his corsage and other things I am sure there is probably a you tube video somewhere of his act. Bob Keeshan' by the way was Clarabell the Clown on Howdy Doody for many years.

[@xylfox]

The cigarettes-eating man was Chaz Chase :-)

[@oldbob1951]

I wonder when The Banana Man (Sam Levine) stopped performing. This might have been one of his last performances (late '60's). I've heard that his coat could not be cleaned (it looks like it dates back to the original Banana Man - A. Robins) and under the tv lights smelled pretty bad.

[@VeracityLH]

+oldbob1951 Levine died in 1974 at the age of 93, so at his last performance on CK he was nearly 90. I can imagine that wearing that 60 pounds of costume under hot lights would have been enough to hang up his baggy coat. Granted, if you watch Adolph Robins perform half his routine (sans bananas) in Red Skelton's 1939 film short "Seeing Red," it looks like Sam Levine performing on CK 30 years later is not only wearing the exact same coat but carrying the exact same props! I don't mean they both have a collapsible violin, I mean it looks like he exact same one. Who knows?

[@oldbob1951]

+VeracityLH I've heard that A. Robins basically sold the act to Levine, so it's possible those are the original A. Robins props.

[@normanhathaway2275]

levine bought everything from robins estate

[@3dpprofessor]

oldbob1951 Man. Hit KZbin to figure out who this "Banana Man" that Grandma was talking about was all about, and I end up getting an education. So who did it better?

[@davidknezz3618]

It's pretty obvious where Pee Wee Herman got his ideas.

[@freddula3159]

Howie Mandel