Remembering Chuck McCann

Many baby boomers raised in the New York City area lost a childhood friend a couple of weeks ago. Television and film personality Chuck McCann passed away on April 8 at the age of 83.

Born in Brooklyn and later a resident of Queens, McCann began his career in his hometown. By his early 20s, he was hosting several of the popular children’s television shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s that appeared on Channel 5 and Channel 11.

McCann later moved to California to appear on television commercials, sitcoms and other programs, in films and to perform the voices of many cartoon characters. From commercials, he is best known as the neighbor on the other side of the bathroom cabinet who explains the benefits of a specific deodorant. He also was the voice of the wacky bird on the Cocoa Puffs cereal commercials.

McCann's popularity on the children's shows extended to the many public appearances he made throughout New York City and the nearby suburbs. He frequently was seen at Freedomland U.S.A., the 1960-1964 history theme park in The Bronx that stood on the current site of Co-op City and its adjacent shopping center. A book about the park’s history will be published later this year by Theme Park Press and McCann will be included within its pages.

As noted in a recent memorial to McCann on the Freedomland Facebook page (Freedomland U.S.A. – The World’s Largest Entertainment Center), the entertainer enjoyed having fun at the park with all the kids and teens.

• He hosted a yo-yo contest.

• He was the sidekick on the Clay Cole at the Moon Bowl show broadcast from the park. On one show, he appeared with Vaughn Meader, who was the comedic star of The First Family record album that received the 1963 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. McCann portrayed several characters on that album.

• He filmed a Halloween show at the park that aired on Channel 11. The Ben Cooper (Brooklyn manufacturer of costumes) Halloween show with Chuck (A Children's Halloween Party At Freedomland!) aired on Saturday, October 17, and again on Saturday, October 24, 1964. The program is believed to have been unrecorded, lost or destroyed. According to a description of the show, Chuck appeared near one of Freedomland’s sternwheeler boats and from that location he entertained a studio audience of children dressed in Halloween costumes. He also served as a judge of a costume contest and Laurel & Hardy films were part of the show. A song from the show was: "Oh what a party—a Halloween party—we’ll laugh loud and hardy here—Don’t kid yourself (don’t kid yourself)—it’s not a dream (it’s not a dream)—IT’S HALLOWEEN!"

An outpouring of sadness and fond memories filled social media as baby boomers learned about Chuck McCann’s death. Collectively, they certainly uttered, “Thanks for all the fun, Chuck!” as they mourned the loss of their childhood friend.