Tolgo a tutti la legittima curiosità sulla mia “nuova” firma “Luca B. Pagni”.

il mio nome è Luca Pagni…

anche a Repubblica lavora un giornalista che si chiama Luca Pagni e lavora sulla cronaca milanese

mi è accaduto che, telefonando a gallerie o ad uffici stampa lombardi, qualcuno mi abbia accolto con la frase

“…ma lei è proprio Luca PAGNI di Repubblica ? E' tanto che non ci sentiamo… si ricorda di me…”

Nel giornalismo e nel mondo della comunicazione in generale, avere un omonimo,

vuol dire avere uno scambio di meriti e demeriti con qualcuno che non conosci, ma che porta il tuo stesso nome…

Il Luca Pagni di Repubblica non si occupa d’arte ne di faccende fotografiche ma… si sa…

il mondo è piccolo e la gente mormora, soprattutto quando non ha miglior occupazione,  o quando è invidiosa o adirata...

Luca Pagni…

Si, mah...

 Il gioielliere non può essere ?

Forse è un giornalista…

si mah…quello di Roma o quello di Milano ?

Per fortuna che quando sono nato, tanti anni fa, mamma e papà non erano così concordi nella scelta del mio nome…

Papà avrebbe voluto chiamarmi Bozo… come il  bambino mai nato... perché morto nel grembo di una madre leucemica,
protagonista  del film "Love story" di Arthur Hiller: uno dei film più romantici e famosi della storia del cinema.
Il film racconta la storia dell'amore sincero tra una giovane coppia che supera barriere sociali, si sposa e infine affronta la più drammatica delle crisi...
una storia che si ripete... rovinando la coppia e pesando sui figli...

Mamma ha minacciato di divorziare se papà mi avesse registrato all’anagrafe con quello strano nome…

E fu così che all’anagrafe mi registrarono “Pagni Luca, Bozo, Cristiano”…

In Italia si sa… conta solo il primo nome, salvo che qualcuno non si sia dimenticato le virgole… !!!

Ultimamente un’amica giornalista ha sottolineato la mia fortuna di avere anche un secondo ed un terzo nome…

“Firmati Luca B. Pagni” mi ha detto…

così nessuno confonderà la tua firma e la tua identità con il “Luca Pagni” di Milano…

oppure firmati solo “Bozo”…

è un nome insolito… susciterebbe curiosità…

“Bozo” ?!? Nome proprio di persona o “nome d’arte” ?

Ci ho fatto un pensierino ma… ormai tutti mi conoscono come “Luca Pagni: rompiscatole ma bravo…”

Ed eccomi giunto alla fine della storia…

Ecco perché mi firmo "Luca B. Pagni" e non più "Luca Pagni"...

Roma, 1° maggio 2003.

Luca B. Pagni

Bozo the Clown

Bozo the Clown started out with lame jokes but then he got better. He then got his own TV show that my mom and her family watched every night . He became very popular by doing that. My mom got the Bozo doll because her brothers thought that he looked like her. Probably because of the red hair. My mom got him in the year 1971. The Bozo doll was mass-produced by machines. He is made by the same plastic as Barbie. His body is made out of cotton his head is made out of plastic and his hair is made out of yarn.

Bozo le clown fait partie des ces petits dessins animés typiques des années 70, composés d'une succession interminable de course-poursuites et de gags à répétition. Mais là, on est plutôt sur la fin du filon.
Il était produit, comme le dessin animé de "Laurel et Hardy", par Larry Harmon.

L'histoire : Bozo est le clown vedette le plus connu du monde. Avec Mr Loyal (le directeur du cirque qui l'emploie) et Butch, un jeune garçon de piste, il vit des tas d'aventures clownesques.

La version animée de Bozo n'est qu'une des nombreuses facettes du personnage, créé à la fin des années 1940 par Alan W. Livingston. Sa carrière a débuté sur un disque pour enfants, "Bozo at the circus" qui fut en même temps le tout premier livre-disque du monde. Devant le succès rencontré, un show télé fut mis au point.
Au bout de quelques années, les droits du personnage et le concept du show furent rachetés par Larry Harmon, qui exploita le filon à travers des émissions pour enfants sur de nombreuses stations locales et une quantité de produits dérivées. Certains de ces shows créés dans les années 50 ou 60 ont d'ailleurs perduré jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Ce qui fait que Bozo est maintenant l'un des personnages les plus populaires de l'imagerie enfantine aux USA (alors qu'il est quasiment inconnu en Europe).

C'est Philippe Dumat qui assurait la voix française de Bozo, et son fameux gloussement.

Vince DeBar "Pinto" Colvig, 1911:
One of the most gifted voice-over and sound-effects artists in motion picture history. Did all sound effects for Jack Benny's radio show in the 1930s. Voice of beloved cartoon character "Goofy" for more than two decades. Provided voices for "Sleepy" and "Grumpy" in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and many of the animal sounds and voices for the movie "Song of the South." Wrote the children's song, "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf." Was first Bozo the Clown for Capitol Records in the 1940s.

The character of Bozo The Clown first appeared on  the scene as the lead character in a series of  children's records offered by Capital in the 1940s.  He was created by Alan Livingston.  Larry Harmon  bought the licensing rights to Bozo and by the 1950s  had begun to sell franchises to local television  stations.  The stations could develop any show they  wanted using Bozo as the central character and they  would have to buy Harmon's limited animation Bozo  cartoons (with Butchy Boy, a character not used in  the Chicago program).   

       In 1960, Bob Bell first donned his Bozo guise and hosted a cartoon series on WGN-TV.  This version was short-lived.  When Channel 9 moved to it's new modern studio facility at 2501 Bradley Place, the decision was made to re-invent the show with a live audience.  In 1961, Bozo's Circus premiered in color at 12 noon.  But Bozo wasn't there.  Bob Bell was watching the show from the control room with Don Sandburg.  A management snafu forced Bell to sit the first show out.

================================================================================

http://www.whatacharacter.com/a-f/b--page6.htm

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) soaky

This is a 9.75" soaky bottle of Bozo the Clown, who has a blue vinyl body with white-painted accents and a red, white, and blue plastic head.  He is shown with a white neck ruffle, white gloves, and white shoes, holding a white unicycle in his right hand.  This item was manufactured by Colgate-Palmolive during the mid-1960s.  It is free of damage and retains its original screw-on cap.  Bozo's head and face are in nearly perfect condition.  There is a fair amount of paint missing from his white-painted vinyl areas, though.  Overall, this leaves this particular soaky in VG to VG+ condition.

COST = $19           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS         

  ITEM NUMBER = 0598161

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) button ball game

This is a 3.5" tall plastic button ball game featuring Bozo the Clown.  The object of the game is to swing the small orange plastic ball into Bozo's stomach, which is hollowed out when the ball is not in place.  One side of the header card is orange and the other, as shown in the picture, is green.  This item is in mint condition and has never been removed from its original packaging.  This is a fully-licensed item.   The copyright information does not indicate who made it or when it was manufactured, although in all likelihood it dates to the 1970s.

COST = $15           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS       

  ITEM NUMBER = 1099005

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) doll

This is a 10.5" stuffed doll of Bozo, who has wild bright red hair, a blue cloth clown's outfit, white cloth gloves, plastic glued-on eyes, and red plush clown shoes.  He comes complete with his original cardboard hang tag and his original manufacturer's label, both of which are in very nice condition.  This doll was made by Ace Novelty Company in 1989.  It is in NM+ condition.

COST = $12           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS          ITEM NUMBER = 1100106

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) super magnet

This is a 9.5" plastic horseshoe magnet--a super magnet, as the cardboard header card calls it--known as the Bozo Super Magnet.  It is in mint condition, still sealed in its original packaging.  The cardboard header card shows Bozo at the zoo, using his super magnet to bend the black bars on a purple hippo's cage.  This item was manufactured in 1976 by Laurie Import Ltd.  

COST = $18           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS           ITEM NUMBER = 0103125

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) bendy

 This is a 6" rubber bendy of Bozo, manufactured by Lakeside during the mid-1960s.  Bozo has a long, thin body and is shown with bright red hair, a blue clown outfit, two white pompons on his stomach area, white gloves, and black shoes.  This item is free of damage and all of the bendy wires are contained securely inside of the rubber.  This item has no paint wear.  Its only flaw is a faint reddish marking on the back of his shirt, perhaps resulting from one of Bozo's previous owners having written his or her name there.  If that is what the marking was from, it has, for the most part, been washed off over the years, with only a trace of it remaining.  Overall, this item is nice, bright, and colorful, and in EX+ condition.

COST = $16           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS          ITEM NUMBER = 0901074

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon) bendable doll

  When positioned as shown in the picture, this bendable Bozo the Clown doll is slightly larger than 9" in height.  It has a soft vinyl head and a cotton cloth-covered body dressed in a clown suit.  Bozo wears a red ruffle around his neck, white felt around his hands, two white pompons on his torso, and a clown's outfit that is half light blue with white polka dots and half white with red polka dots.  He has one red felt shoe and one green felt shoe.  This item was manufactured by Knickerbocker during the 1960s.  It is free of damage and all of the bendy wires are securely inside of the doll.  Bozo's hair has some paint loss, primarily in back.  He retains his original manufacturer's label, which is in great shape and sewn securely into the left side of his outfit.  Overall, this item is in EX+ condition.

COST = $26           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS           ITEM NUMBER = 0700046

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon) rubber squeak toy

This is an amazing find!  It is a vintage-era rubber squeak toy of Bozo the Clown, in mint condition, still contained in his original box.  Bozo is 8.25" tall and comes in a box measuring 10.5" tall, 5" wide, and 3.25" deep.  He is wearing a light yellow clown costume with red trim, and has red striped socks, brown clown shoes, and bright red hair.  When squeezed, Bozo gives off a gentle squeaking sound.   He is undamaged and shows virtually no paint wear.  The box is 100% complete and is perhaps the most rare feature of this particular item.  It has very attractive graphics on it, as you can see in the picture, and makes for a nice display piece along with the Bozo squeak toy inside of it.  The box has seen better days, though, and merits a condition grading of G- overall.  It has only 1/4 of its original cellophane window, and has several tears in it.  Again, though, it is COMPLETE despite the damage, and if you stop and think about it, it's pretty incredible that the box for an item such as this even survived over the years.  Bozo was manufactured by the Oak Rubber Company, and was probably sold during the later 1940s or 1950s.

COST = $115           BOXED WEIGHT: 3 POUNDS          ITEM NUMBER = 0399009

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) small head/bust bank

This is the smaller version of the Bozo the Clown head/bust bank.  This item was manufactured in 1987 and is missing its original stopper.  Bozo measures 5" tall by 5" wide.  He is made of hard vinyl and is in NM- condition, with minor wear on the high points of Bozo's hair.

COST = $16           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS           ITEM NUMBER = 0598149

BOZO THE CLOWN (Larry Harmon Pictures) star bank

 This is a difficult-to-find plastic bank of Bozo the Clown, originally manufactured by Star Merchandise Company sometime during the 1960s or 1970s.  It is actually a two-piece item, with Bozo being hooked onto the white star base.  The coin slot is in the top of the star and the original stopper is present. 

This item stands 5.5" tall and is in nearly perfect condition.  It comes complete with its original box which is in EX+ to NM- condition, too.

COST = $32           BOXED WEIGHT: <2 POUNDS           ITEM NUMBER = 0198028

=============================================================

MOIRA DEL CIRCO

Moira del circo guarda la pista vuota
Si appoggia alla rete dei trapezisti
C'è il suo cavallo che gira nel cerchio
Un colpo di frusta gli tiene il tempo
Mentre Bozo il clown ride in faccia al domani
Si butta per terra e batte le mani
Canta stonato una vecchia canzone
Per questa vita da baraccone...
Niente dura in eterno
Tutto ritorna come l'inverno
Niente è vinto, niente è perso
L'amore vince su tutto il resto
E Moira del circo saluta e ride.
Dario bestemmia e si tocca il cuore
Mentre grandina sul tendone
E nelle gabbie le bestie stan buone
Stanotte dorme anche il leone
E Nina piange mentre balla sul filo
In equilibrio sul suo destino
E volte dolce, a volte violento
Come l'aria di un valzer lento...
Niente dura in eterno
Tutto ritorna come l'inverno
Niente è vinto, niente è perso
L'amore vince su tutto il resto
E Moira del circo saluta e ride.
Omar il nano ha un mezzo sorriso
Un amore triste scritto nel viso
Un cuore grande come quel cielo
Che sfiora la tenda come un velo
C'è poca gente stasera al circo
Ma si divertono sempre i bambini
Tornano in pista gli animali
E tutti gli artisti per l'ultimo giro...
Niente dura in eterno
Tutto ritorna come l'inverno
Niente è mai vinto, niente è mai perso
L'amore vince su tutto il resto
E Moira del circo ringrazia e ride.

HOME