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To begin this profile it is important to know of an event that happened in my younger years. Every year our school gave

every student a free pass to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto Ontario Canada. This also included a free

pass to see the Jack Kochman Hell Drivers at the stadium went every year with my friend, when I was about 13 years old My

neighbor Archie Cunningham(who lived next door) Said he had met some of the daredevils and had become quite friendly

with them, so much so that he had an invitation to a show and to bring his children. It would be to see a show and to go

backstage and meet some of daredevils. To my surprise Archie’s friend was non other than George Patton. We were only

there for about an hour as George had to fly to Syracuse N.Y. to perform in a night show that very evening. and then fly back

for another show in Toronto the next day. We had a very good visit Sat in the Jump Car, Met Neil Hamilton and King Kovas

(Jasper the Jerk). The treated us all really nice. And we had many things to tell all our friends in the months that followed…..

Now lets jump ahead about four years…

In 1953 my brother john joined a thrillshow called the Joie Chitwood Auto Daredevils when it performed at Pinecrest

Speedway in Toronto. The next May John asked me if I wanted to go to Philadelphia with him. As I was not working I said

Yes. We hitchhiked to Philadelphia…found out that the show was on the road… We hitchhiked to Lynchburg Va., and

joined the show. I got a job as a ramphand. We done lots of still dates, and I learned everything I could and done anything

that was asked of me.

The year was 1954…Joie Chitwood had some kind of disagreement with the owners of the show and he struck out on

his own. He ended up making a deal with GM the Chevrolet division Where he was very successful for many many years.

At that time to the best of my knowledge there were 9 shows touring the nation. They were:

Tournament of Thrills They had three units:

Manager & announcer … Buddy Wagner …Track Boss Bob Labay

Stuntmen …Buzz Bundy… Buddy Brooks, Bob Kelly, Dick Cobb Bobby Brooks

Clowns: John(Crash) Chapman, Happy Knapp, later that year, Tommy ( Creepo) Chapman

Tournament of Thrills … Chicago Ill. … Showname …Transworld Auto Daredevils

Manager: Earl Newberry: …announcer Leo Overland …..Track Boss .. Al Gross

Stuntmen …Bumps Willert …Hal Kent …Jimmy Canton

Clown: …….Wimpy from London England

Tournament of Thrills ….. Los Angeles …Owner Bill MaGaw… Showname…Hollywood Helldrivers

Announcer … Fred Kenny … Track Boss .. Don Chadwick …

Stuntmen: ….. Harry Woolman …Mike Kelly …Don Hill … Clown: … Smiley the Clown.

Jack Kochman Hell Drivers ….Patterson New Jersey

Stuntmen: …George Patton, …Neil Hamilton

Clown: …King " Jasper" the Jerk Kovas

These are all the show personnel I can remember at this time

The other shows I remember in the 50s are:

Irish Horan ….Rotroffs All Girl Thrill Show …Aut Swenson … B. Ward Beam … and The Joie Chitwood. Show.

So as time went by I got the urge to try my hand at stunts. Through this time Bob Labay became a real close friend and my

mentor. Advising me on the different aspects of stuntwork. But he wouldn’t let me do any stunts. In late may we were doing

a show in Sandusky Ohio My brother John found out my mom was visiting friends in Cleveland…So he dropped by and

brought her to see the show…then he went to Bob, and pleaded with him to let me do something in front of my mom. After a

lot of thought he agreed to let me do a stunt…"OHH BOY…MY FIRST STUNT" They chose the Human Battering Ram….

After taking instructions…I got on the hood of the car (a 1937 pick-up truck). Everything went fine…Except there was no

radiator Cap and while going through the burning wall…My nose got pushed into the radiator hole…..O-BOY ---O-BOY…

I done my first stunt…BUT….I broke my Nose…..A minute later I was walking by Bob holding a handkerchief over my

bleeding nose and he smiled and said…… "WELCOME TO SHOW BIZZ".

In the weeks that followed I harassed Bob to do other things…anything…I wanted to be a stuntman….So he let me do:…

The Slide for Life …and finally The roll-over, which was always my favorite . After weeks of bugging Bob, he put me in

Dover Delaware…Now I wanted to be a Hell Driver but he said I was too young and that the boss said I was too young

no amount of whining would change that. So I started helping my brother John in some of his clown acts…it was fun. Then

one day Buddy Wagner & Bob Labay took me aside and asked if I would like to try clowning. I said I wanted to be a Stuntman…

But buddy said "There are Hundreds of unemployed Stuntmen, ,good clowns are always in demand and you could make a

real good living as a clown….and I will give you a substantial raise if you work out"…Reluctantly I said yes.. Oh …it wasn’t a SUBSTANIAL RAISE.

My first test was at Pitman NJ …I was very nervous

I remember getting on makeup the first time.. John had to do it for me as I didn’t have a clue as to how to do it. I was scared to

death of going out and having to speak in front of all those people….My first joke was…"The Beaura" Gag. But John was right

there encouraging me…So I done the joke and walked off the track…. I new that this was what I wanted to do….

So over the next few years I studied hard and lots of entertainers shared thing and gave me lots of advice …I will always be

grateful for all the help they gave me.

Then one year( I can’t remember which one)We were to do a show at Harrington Delaware…We had a couple of days off and

went to the next date and there was a Kochman show there. So I went up to one of the cars with someone in it…taped on the window…Guess Who rolled down the window….. George Patton….I was shocked….He didn’t know who I was naturally…

But I told him the story of coming back stage when I was 13….We had a real good visit…he was still a real nice guy .

The downside in the above paragraph is……2 or 3 years later, and I cannot remember he year or the date… We had

finished a show ,,,and was driving to our next date we were in a convoy….3 trucks and several cars, going through a tiny little

town, and who is coming from the other direction…..The Jack Kochman Show…we were like two ships that pass in the night

but we all started blinking our lights and pulled over for a visit (We were competitors…but still friends)…We shook hands they

all looked terrible…and it turns our just a few short hours before… George Patton had been killed doing the Ramp to Ramp Jump…

They were al devastated…..They had the Jump Car on a trailer covered with a tarp .We couldn’t even bear to go look at it …..

We were all saddened by thew loss.

In 1956 some friends of mine were contacted by some representatives of Juan Peron ( President of Argentina) He wanted to

bring a Thrill show to Argentina.. When asked if I would like to go I jumped at the chance. I got my shots, and flew to Portland

Maine Bob LaBay’s Hometown to wait for the tickets to arrive. Bob was the one that got me to go. But he also said I could do

some stuntwork if I wanted to.. Well we waited for the tickets but they never came…seems Juan Peron was exiled or something…

In 1957 a importer was interested to bring us to Buenos Aires…We didn’t want to get our hopes up and reluctantly agreed

once again. The importer sent some people to New York City,, to buy some used cars for us to wreck. They also bought and

had sent down 6 brand new Ford Fairlane Convertibles and 1 1956 Ford Victoria. We each had a new car …no one drove

them but us..The thing that makes this funny is that ..the importer was a millionaire and his car was a 1949 Monarch/Mercury.

the whole country is 10 years behind in the auto importing…So we find out later……We were there for about three months…

doing our shows demolishing cars like normal….Then we find out the real reason the importer…needed us…His idea was to

import 150 used cars…all newer than what they have down there…But…instead of letting us demolish 4 cars a show…..they

started to pull back on the cars for crash work… And he wanted to keep all the cars he could and sell them down there at an enormous profit…I think we got to trash about 40 – 50 cars they got to the point that instead of bringing us the good cars to roll & dive bomb…they would bring some of they that had been used in other shows…we would use them for catch-cars …leaving

them to keep the remaining 100 or so cars that they could sell for $ 10-20.000 ea. plus he would take our brand new convertibles

for himself .It was a good deal for all…I got to do more crash work…done 6 Dive bombers….we made good money… all expenses paid….and the promoter got rich.

On the way home we were in a plane crash and had to spend 6 days in Guayaquil Ecuador at the airlines expense It was nothing serious the front wheel collapsed …Life was good. During the off season…Buddy Wagner and I discussed a new deal for me…I wanted more money…he said No…I guess my head had gotten a little large….I thought I was a International Star…So I retired…

In July of 1958 The Wagner Show played a still date at the CNE in Toronto ( The one place I had always wanted to perform…

and never ever got to) I went to the show and visited with some people I new…Bill Ward…Buzz Bundy …Fred Gates (Rebel)…

After the show was over Bill Ward and I sat in his car and chatted. He said that he had been in Philadelphia and had a chat

with Jack Beck .He had said that Buddy Wagner was leaving the Tournament of Thrills and offered Bill a show for the eastern

unit…Bill asked me if I would be interested in coming out of retirement. I told him I might be but I would want more money..

My own car and a few other perks that I thought I would never get….A few weeks later Bill called and said that he and Jack had made a deal and all of my demands were met….And Jack had 3 weeks of dates that Buddy Wagner could not do and he wanted

to put the show together , and finish the season to honor the contracts. So I packed my bags and went to Philadelphia to start a

new show. Everything went real good. Jack Beck had to announce our first couple of shows….He told me two things after the

show..1. He liked the way I worked… 2. And that he was a legitimate employer, and that everyone had to be legal. He said he

would get me a working visa and all taxes would have to be paid. In other shows we were hired on as Independent Contractors

and you had to do your own taxes etc. But for all the years I worked for Jack…He always got my visa…done me income tax return…..He was quite a guy and a good friend… Jack and Bill decided to change my clown name ( I was always called Pee-Wee) , they said there were too many Pee –Wee’s ….So that’s how I got the name "CREEPO". He also said that he would like to get some fresh clown acts together and if I ever thought of anything ..just call and we could talk about it .So I did…

In 1959 we started our first season…and was very successful. I got the Broom Act at Kanters in Phila…at a cost of around

$ 500.00And over the next few years we purchased other props… two clown cars… one was a Bucking Model T clown car that

we bought from a Rodeo Clown who had retired…The car was $ 2500.00…plus $ 1500.00 for the trailer to haul it. When we were

in Japan in 1963 Toyota also gave us a small Toyapette that we brought back to the USA. Then Bill had another car built in Florida which was two fronts of car bodies were cut in half and both fronts were welded together with two sterringwheels.(nobody new if

we were coming or going)So all in all Jack was a good owner …he wasn’t afraid to spend money on something that would improve the show…But sometimes it was hard to sell him on some things….I was real upset with him in 1959 when I dropped in to see him and

he said he had some mail for me…Included was a letter from the U.S. Social Security…Enclosed was a Social Security card for me

He then told me that starting next week I would have to pay Social Security every week …I just couldn’t see any sense to that.

I am going to jump ahead to 1998…I was 62 and totally retired … We were spending our winters in Florida…I was looking

through my wallet and found my SS card…I had heard that age 62 was when you could apply for benefits…So I sat down and figured out that in all the years I had paid into SS I probably put in a total of…& 250.00. I decided to give them a call and see what

my status was…They were very nice and asked me to come to Clearwater for an interview…They filled out all the information…

and sent it in ( Figured they would end up giving me back the money I had put in $ 250.00 ,and refuse my claim) A few weeks

later I got letter saying my claim was still under review and it was refused at this time. Oh well I tried. I was still peeved with Jack

A year and a half later I went to check my mail and there was a letter from SS…I opened it and it said.." Under further review

your claim has been approved " enclosed please find a check in the amount of $ 1138.00…retroactive to 1998 and that I would be receiving a monthly SS check every month. Well you know Jack Beck was a real smart man after all..

Over the years , I was very lucky to have worked with and known many of the Owners. and finest stuntmen and clowns in

the Thrill Show World. Here are the names of just a few of the many.

Bob La Bay, Bill Ward. Buzz Bundy, Don Chadwick, Dick Cobb, Al Gross, Bumps Willert, Jimmy Canton, Hal Kent,

Pete Groce, Denny Dearbone, Fred (Reble) Gates , Harry Woolman Chet Hunnicutt …George Patton, Neil Hamilton And many more over the years.

Johnny (Crash) Chapman), The Roberts Family Gaylord Maynard, Happy Knapp,Smiley Burnett , Ford Wand, Jerry Caldwell,

and many more.

Jack Beck ,Bill MaGaw, Buddy Wagner, Joie Chitwood, Leo Overland, Jack Kochman, King Kovaz, Chester Rotroff,

B.Ward Beam, Irish Horan, Also many more

As I didn’t actually work for any of the Canadian Thrill shows, I had on many occasions met with quite a few of them.

Big Names in Entertainment..

As we were all in Show Biz…Traveled throughout the US and many other country’s around the world, It goes without

saying that we all met many that were very famous entertainers and some that were not.

Here are some of the people that I have met and have talked to over my career of some 20 years