Ron Penfound
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Ronald A. Penfound was a local television personality in the Cleveland, Ohio market, specifically on WEWS-TV channel 5 where from 1955 to 1971 he hosted an afternoon program for children. As host, he was known as Captain Penny and was attired in railroad engineer clothing.
Ron Penfound was born on January 28, 1927 in Elyria, Ohio, to Archie and Marjorie (Saywell) Penfound.
He attended Kenyon College, planning to become an Episcopal priest, but then transferred to study broadcasting at the University of Denver.
Penfound worked as a radio announcer in Lamar, Colorado, while attending school (1950). He was an announcer for KVOD in Denver before returning to Elyria as news and sports director at WEOL radio. He also worked at Cleveland radio station WERE as an announcer and salesman.
On April 26, 1953, Penfound was hired as a sports announcer and floorman for WEWS-TV. He began hosting the Captain Penny program on March 2, 1955. The final program was broadcast on September 4, 1971.
The Captain Penny show featured old cartoons, Little Rascals and Three Stooges, along with live appearances by Captain Penny and a variety of guests. The show was produced by Earl Keyes who also appeared during the Holiday Season as the character of Mr. Jingeling.
A feature of the daily program was on a certain day of the week, Captain would present animals from the Cuyahoga County animal shelter available for adoption. The segment was known as Captain Penny’s Pooch Parade.
In 1957, a second program was added in a late afternoon time slot Captain Penny's Fun House. The show featured Captain Penny (Ron Penfound), Wilbur Wiffenpoof (Earl Keyes) and other guests such as Bobo (an inflated clown). Captain Penny also hosted a 2 hour show Captain Penny's Fun Farm on Saturday mornings.
Captain Penny would close his daily program with the words of advice to his little viewers: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool Mom. She's pretty nice and she's pretty smart."
After the Captain Penny show ended in 1971, Penfound served as weekend weatherman and staff announcer at WEWS. He was also a sports announcer for the Cleveland Indians from 1969 to 1972.
Penfound continued work in broadcasting, but moved to New Hampshire in 1972, then to Florida in 1973.
Penfound married Gail Gilmore in 1951 and had one child, Amy. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1959. He then married Phyllis Yoder Hunter in 1960. They had two children, Tracy and Matthew. Phyllis died in 1964. In 1967, Penfound married Jo Ann Dudas and had two children, Julie and Samantha.
Although Captain Penny never appeared on camera with a cigarette, Ron Penfound was a cigarette smoker. He died of lung cancer in Naples, Florida on September 16, 1974.
