Alan Wendell Livingston was born in McDonald, Pennsylvania on October
15, 1917. He was the youngest of three children, whose mother
encouraged reading books and playing musical instruments. He began his
career in the entertainment business leading his own college orchestra
as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from
the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce with a B.S. in Economics, he
moved to New York where he worked in advertising for three years. At
the start of World War II, he enlisted in the army as a private and
served as a second lieutenant in the infantry. After his discharge, he
borrowed some money, hitched a ride on an army plane and headed for Los
Angeles, California where he obtained his first position with Capitol
Records, Inc. in Hollywood as a writer/producer.
His initial assignment was to create a children's record library for
the four-year old company, for which he created the legendary "Bozo the
Clown" character. He wrote and produced a popular series of
storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book sets
beginning with the October 1946 release of "Bozo at the Circus." His
record-reader concept, which enabled children to read and follow a
story in pictures while listening to it, was the first of its kind. The
Bozo image was a composite design of Livingston's, derived from a
variety of clown pictures and given to an artist to turn into
comic-book-like illustrations. Livingston then hired Pinto Colvig to
portray Bozo on the recordings. Colvig, a former circus clown, was also
the original voice of Walt Disney's Pluto, Goofy, Grumpy, Sleepy and
many other characters. Billy May produced the music. The series turned
out to be a smash hit for Capitol, selling over eight million albums in
the late 1940s and early 1950s. Successful record sales led to a
variety of Bozo-related merchandise and the first television series,
"Bozo's Circus", starring Pinto Colvig on KTTV-Channel 11 (CBS) in Los
Angeles in 1949. The character also became a mascot for the record
company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown."
Livingston wrote and produced many other children's recordings
including product for Walt Disney, Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker;
Bugs Bunny and all of the Warner Bros. characters. In the case of the
latter, he wrote the 1951 pop hit "I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat" for Mel Blanc's Tweety Pie.
Within a few years, Livingston moved on to the adult music arena and
became Vice President in charge of all creative operations of the
company. He signed Frank Sinatra when
Sinatra was at a low point in his career. Livingston wanted Sinatra to
work with arranger Nelson Riddle, however Sinatra was reluctant to do
so out of his loyalty to Axel Stordahl with whom he had worked for most
of his career. The first Sinatra/Stordahl recordings for Capitol failed
to produce the magic Livingston and producer Voyle Gilmore were looking
for, and Sinatra agreed to try a session with Riddle on April 30, 1953.
The impact was immediate, producing the classic "I've Got the World on
a String." However, it was "Young-at-Heart" that became the defining
moment in Sinatra's comeback, peaking at #2 during its 22-week run on
the charts in the spring of 1954.
Livingston has been credited as the creative force responsible for
Capitol Records' growth from net sales of $6 million per year to sales
in excess of $100 million per year.
After 10 years with Capitol, Livingston and the company sold the "Bozo
the Clown" licensing rights (excluding the recordings) to Larry Harmon,
one of several people hired to portray the character at promotional
appearances, as Livingston left the company to accept a position as
President of California National Productions, Inc., the wholly owned
film production subsidiary of the National Broadcasting Company.
Shortly thereafter, Livingston was also named Vice President of NBC, in
charge of Television Network Programming, dealing principally with all
films made for the network. In this capacity, he hired David Dortort to
write and produce the pilot for the series Bonanza (1959), for which
Livingston's older brother, songwriter Jay Livingston, wrote the
memorable theme. During this time, Alan also served on the Boards of
Bob Hope Enterprises, Inc. and
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's motion
picture production company, Figaro, Inc.
Five years later, Capitol Records induced him to return as President
and, eventually, Chairman of the Board. He was also named to the Board
of Electric and Musical Industries (EMI), a British corporation that
was the largest stockholder in Capitol. Subsequently, he merged Capitol
Records into Audio Devices, Inc., a magnetic tape manufacturer listed
on the American Stock Exchange, and changed the name of the surviving
company to Capitol Industries, Inc., of which Livingston was named
President. It was during this period that he turned Capitol Records
into a more rock-oriented company with such artists as The Beach Boys,
Steve Miller, The Band, and others. His most noteworthy accomplishment
at that time was signing The Beatles for Capitol in 1963 and bringing
them to the United States in 1964.
Livingston later sold out his stock in Capitol Industries to form his
own company, Mediarts, Inc., for the production of motion pictures,
records and music publishing. He eventually sold his interest in that
company to United Artists as a result, particularly, of its success in
the record business including Don McLean, who reached the #1 position
in the country with his "American Pie" single and album in 1972. Two
feature motion pictures were completed during the company's operation:
Schussfahrt (1969) starring
Robert Redford and Gene Hackman, and
Die Satansbrut (1971)
starring David Hemmings; both released by Paramount Pictures.
In August 1976, Livingston joined Twentieth Century Fox Film
Corporation as Senior Vice President and President, Entertainment
Group. He left in 1980 to accept the presidency of Atalanta Investment
Company, Inc., and resigned in 1987 to produce a one-hour film for
television and to form Pacific Rim Productions, Inc.
Livingston also wrote a novel titled "Ronnie Finkelhof, Superstar"
about a shy Harvard pre-law student who becomes an overnight success as
a rock musician. It was published by Ballantine Books in the spring of
1988.
On August 1, 1998, Livingston received his first honor for his creation
of "Bozo the Clown" as the International Clown Hall of Fame in
Wisconsin presented him their Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award.
Alan Livingston passed away on March 13, 2009 at the age of 91 in
Beverly Hills, California.
