''Captain Kangaroo'' Lived A Double Life For Years, And No One Knew—Until Now

At the show's debut, the man beneath that unmistakable mustache was just 28. A wig helped him look older, as the role required. For its first 16 years, the coat remembered by everyone as red was actually blue. That soothing theme millions of Americans can still hear in their minds was bought from a British music catalog. No one composed it for the show. And the man who would become children's television's most patient presence first worked as a silent clown whose sole task was squirting the host with a seltzer bottle. Even that is not what most people have entirely forgotten.