Larry Harmon, the man who gave life to Bozo the Clown for more than five decades, to the enjoyment of generations of children, parents and grandparents, passed away Thursday of congestive heart failure at 83.

Larry Harmon passed away at his home in Los Angeles on July 3, his longtime publicist Jerry Digney told the Associated Press.

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1925, he moved to California and eventually made a career for himself popularizing show business character Bozo the Clown.

The clown was created by Alan W Livingston for a series of children’s recordings in 1946. The first person to play the clown was Pinto Colvig, reports the AP, but it was Larry Harmon that maintained Bozo’s spirit and popularity over the years.

Larry Harmon first portrayed Bozo to promote the records and later bought the copyright trademark to the clown in the 1950s. He would go on to impersonate the flame-haired character for more than fifty years.

He took the job even further, training more than 200 actors to portray the clown for local TV stations across the US.

“The Bozo Show” aired on US television from the 1950s to the early 2000s. The last locally produced version of the show was in Chicago. The Bozo cartoons have aired around the world, making the circus character the most renowned among clowns.

Larry Harmon formed Larry Harmon Pictures Corp. in the mid-1950s, producing cartoons based on the characters Popeye, Dick Tracy, Mr. Magoo and of course Bozo, as well as on comedians Laurel and Hardy.

His company still licenses the names and characters of Bozo and Laurel and Hardy around the world.

Larry Harmon is survived by his wife Susan; son, Jeff; daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth Carabet, Ellen Kosberg and Leslie Breth; and four grandchildren.