Circus Boy (1956–1958)

12-year-old Corky has been adopted by a traveling circus owned by Big Tim Champion. He is water boy to baby elephant Bimbo and otherwise participates in the behind-the-scenes life of the circus.

Stars:

Micky Dolenz, Noah Beery Jr., Robert Lowery

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Micky Dolenz	...	Corky (49 episodes, 1956-1957)
Noah Beery Jr.	...	Joey, the Clown (49 episodes, 1956-1957)
Robert Lowery	...	Big Tim Champion (49 episodes, 1956-1957)
Bimbo the Elephant	...	Bimbo (48 episodes, 1956-1957)
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Pete, the Canvasman (35 episodes, 1956-1957)

Storyline

12-year-old Corky has been adopted by a traveling circus owned by Big Time Champion. He is water boy to baby elephant Bimbo and otherwise participates in the behind-the-scenes life of the circus.

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Plot Keywords:

circus | orphan

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Western

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 September 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Corky und der Zirkus

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Norbert Productions, Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (49 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Star Micky Dolenz's hair was dyed blond for his role; he grew the dye out after the series ended. Years later when a reporter asked him why his hair looked different, Dolenz joked "I guess you could say I'm a Hollywood phony from way back."

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Connections

Featured in Hey, Hey We're the Monkees (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Circus Boy"
by Hal Hopper and Victor McLeod

User Reviews

A Little Boy Living With The Circus

The Circus Boy series bore no small resemblance to Rin Tin Tin and that's not surprising since they both came from Columbia Studio's television unit. In Rin Tin Tin small boy Rusty and a German Shepherd puppy who grew up to be Rinty was found after a wagon train massacre and the soldiers at Fort Apache made him an official mascot.

And that's what happened with Mickey Dolenz here who was then known as Mickey Braddock. He was an orphan who lived and traveled with the circus owned by Big Tim Champion as played by Robert Lowery during the gaslight era. They did the western circuit so a lot of western type plot situations could be used.

It was not a bad series and what a life for Mickey. He lived with Noah Beery, Jr. who was a clown. His other good friend and fourth and last series regular was Guinn Williams who was the head roustabout for the show.

It wasn't a Barnum&Bailey type show, but it was a small circus and life really seemed good. And unlike Rin Tin Tin you didn't have the Indians to contend with.

Too bad it only lasted two seasons, but it was only when The Monkees debuted in the Middle Sixties that I learned that our Circus Boy was not a real blond.

It must have been just as devastating for nineties fans to learn that Mark-Paul Gosselaar was not a California blond either.