James Wall, best known for his role as Mr. Baxter on the iconic children’s TV show Captain Kangaroo has died aged 92. He passed away following a short illness, People magazine reports.
Wall was the first Afro-American to appear on the popular show and played Captain Kangaroo’s friendly neighbour from 1968 to 1978. He joined the team in 1962 and had spent several years lobbying for the part.
Following Captain Kangaroo, Wall spent and extensive amount of time working for CBS an CBS Sports broadcasting as a stage manager. He leaves behind his 58-year-old wife, Dolly.
Captain Kangaroo was aired by CBS on weekday mornings in the US. The series began in 1955 and ran until 1984, making it the longest-running children’s TV programme of its day.
The structure was loosely based around life in the “Treasure House”, where the Captain (whose name came from the big pockets in his coat) would tell stories, meet guests and indulge in silly stunts. The regular characters on the show were both humans and puppets. It was aired live for its first four years and was shown in black-and-white until 1968.
