Marlin Perkins (1905-1986) and an unidentified chimpanzee, around 1950. Perkins parlayed his love of wild animals (initially reptiles) into a career as a zoo director (in Saint Louis, Buffalo and Chicago) and a television personality. His first efforts were local in Chicago on WBKB in the early post-war years. He's best known as the host of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom", an NBC network feature from 1962 to 1971 (and syndicated thereafter). But he first reached a national audience on "Zoo Parade"---a weekly remote broadcast from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.
| Zoo Parade aired from Chicago on the NBC television network from May, 1950 until September, 1957. The show was unsponsored until October, 1950, regularly sponsored from October, 1950 until May of 1955. Sponsorship was intermittent thereafter until December, 1956. Zoo Parade had no sponsorship for the last nine months of its network run. |
Posts
2 comments:
The chimp's name is Heine II. Heine I lived to be over 50, near to the record longevity. Heine and a young orang-utan, Ling-Wong, were often featured on Zoo Parade. The show was broadcast from a studio in the basement of the Reptile House behind the Zoo Gems (small, colorful herps) exhibit.
As a kid my parents would take me to Lincoln Park Zoo on a Sunday afternoon. Mr. Perkins car would be parked near the Reptile House and we'd wait to see him come out after the show. A few years later I actually met RMP and was so excited I didn't sleep that night. As I look back now, Mr. Perkins TV career is often better known than his contributions as a zoo professional. AZA does have the Marlin Perkins Award that is presented to exceptional zoo professionals.
Jim,
I have so much Zoo Parade "stuff" that I collected as a child. And you are right, with Zoo Parade and Wild Kingdom, many people forgot he was a zoo directer, and thought of him more as a tv personality.
Wade
Post a Comment