Ramblin' Rod Anders
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Ramblin' Rod Anders (born Rodney Carl Andersen)[citation needed] (November 26, 1933 – May 11, 2002) was the host of The Ramblin' Rod Show, a morning cartoon show, from 1964 until his retirement on August 8, 1997. The Portland, Oregon KPTV host was well known locally for his button covered sweater.
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[edit] Biography
Rod grew up in Multnomah County, Oregon. He began his career in radio broadcasting in the 1950s, singing and playing music on Saturday mornings for Tillamook radio station KTIL. Rod stayed with KTIL until he was drafted into the armed forces, where he served as a radio repairman. When his tenure was up, he returned to radio filling voice positions at KFLW (Klamath Falls), KXL (Portland), and KPOJ (Portland).
While working for KPOJ, Rod heard of an opening for a children's show called "Popeye's Pier 12" on KPTV. He replaced Bob Adkins (better knows as "Addie Bobkins") in "Popeye's Pier 12," and in the late 1960s "Popeye's Pier 12" was renamed the "Ramblin' Rod Show."
Not until the 1970s did Rod begin to wear a cardigan covered in buttons, all of which where given to him by adoring fans. Over the years, Rod collected these buttons, and stored them in a hanger. At the time of his death, Rod had collected 25,000+ buttons from his little guests.
Each year, Rod helped with the Jerry Lewis Telethon, Muscular Dystrophy Association, to name a few. In his retirement, Rod enjoyed flying and spending time with his family.
There have been many rumors throughout the years surrounding Rod, most likely due to his spotless record of commitment and lack to divulge his private life to the public media. In 1982, Andee Beck of The Oregonian wrote an unflattering article on Rod scolding him on his unwillingness to divulge his personal life to the public world. Probably the most ridiculous[citation needed] rumor to surface over the years was that Rod disliked children. Even after his tenure at KPTV ended, the rumor still swirled, and to this day, it still surfaces.
It is sometimes asserted that Simpsons' creator Matt Groening based his Krusty the Klown character partly on Ramblin' Rod. Groening, however, has stated in Simpsons DVD commentaries that Krusty is actually based on another Portland television legend, Rusty Nails, who was originally known as "Rusty the Clown".
[edit] Show
The show highlighted Looney Tunes and Popeye cartoons and also hosted a "smile contest," featuring the grade school audience as contestants. Rod began each show by arriving on the set on a tug-boat prop. The series, originally entitled "Popeye's Pier 12", had several marine-themed characters but they were phased out over time.
The set of "The Ramblin' Rod Show" remained simple throughout its tenure. Rod introduced each guest, spoke with them, celebrated birthdays, played old cartoons, and had smile contests. In the early years, Rod played guitar and had a skunk puppet named Petunia, which he later phased out in later years.
Smile contest winners and children celebrating their birthdays were entitled to free Pop Shoppe soda.
