via www.latimes.com
ART CLOKEY, the man who made Gumby, was far from the first to breathe life into inanimate objects frame by frame, but without a doubt, Clokey created the first clay TV star and one whose staying power and range of influence have exceeded that of such contemporaries as Howdy Doody, Huckleberry Hound or Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent.
After an initial run in the 1950s, Gumby enjoyed comebacks in the 1960s
as a bendable children's toy, in the 1980s after comedian Eddie Murphy
parodied the kindly Gumby as a crass, cigar-in-the-mouth character in a
skit for "Saturday Night Live" and again in the '90s with the release
of "Gumby the Movie."
Today, Gumby is a cultural icon recognized around the world. It has more than 134,000 fans on Facebook.
As successive generations discovered the curious green character, Gumby’s success
came to define Clokey's life, with its theme song reflecting Clokey's
simple message of love: "If you've got a heart, then Gumby's a part of
you."
Art Clokey, the creator of the whimsical clay figure Gumby, died in his sleep Friday at his home in Los Osos, Calif. Clokey also created the moralizing and often satirized claymation duo "Davey and Goliath."
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