Gordon Ramsey

Ramsey was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 19, 1930. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Drama from Hamline University and served in the Army in the Korean War. While still in Minnesota, he joined the Minneapolis Theater Company.^[1]

After moving to New York in 1958, Ramsey made his acting debut in the Off-Broadway theater musical, The Man Who Never Died.^[1] In 1966, Ramsey played the role Lew in Autumn's Here at the Bert Wheeler Theatre, an off-Broadway play production.^[2]

Ramsey played the role of Bozo the Clown on television for two and a half years.^[3] In a 1969 episode of the TV show What's My Line?, Ramsey appeared as Bozo the Clown as a Mystery Guest. Later in the same episode, Ramsey appeared as himself without the clown makeup, requiring the panel to guess his line, which celebrity panelist Phyllis Newman did.^[4]

In 1976, Gordon and his wife Barbara were selected to emcee a benefit cruise for the Snug Harbor Cultural Center^[5] A few years later, he appeared in the 1979 Broadway musical Carmelina, which ran for 11 previews and 17 performances at the St. James Theatre in March and April 1979.^[6] He was also in the earlier pre-Broadway tryout of the show at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He reprised his role as Walter Braddock on the show's original cast recording.^[1]

Some of his other notable performances included hosting a local children's television show as "Bozo the Clown"^[7] and voicing characters in the animated series Star Blazers.^[8] He often performed in the "Lyrics and Lyricists" series in Manhattan.^[1]

He had four children – Elyssa, Gordon ("Gordie"), Joanna, and Donna – with his wife Barbara Ramsey (née Brown).^[1] Gordon, Barbara, and their eldest three children were all, at one point, working members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).^[9] Barbara, originally from Texas, was a dancer who appeared off Broadway, in television, and in films, in addition to frequent commercials.^[3] The family of five appeared in commercials as a group twice – once for Eastern Air Lines, and one for a milk product. The family lived on Grymes Hill close to Stapleton in Staten Island.^[3]

A 1973 feature in the Staten Island Advance described Ramsey as a "strong, handsome Iowa boy of hybrid ethnic origins."^[3]

Ramsey died at his home in Grymes Hill, Staten Island on November 5, 1993, of cancer, at the age of 63.^[1]