Edward P. Birchall was born July 16, 1923 at Colchester, Connecticut.  He served in the U S Army Air Corps during WWII.

A lover of the circus, he performed as a free-lance clown before being hired as an entertainer by KOCO-TV in Okla City.  There, he starred in a local children’s television show named after him, which typically feathered an array of firefighters, police officers, zoo animals, visiting circus clowns and other guests, as well as Pokey the Puppet, played by Bill Howard, the station’s long-time stage manager wearing a sock-puppet on his arm.

Ho-Ho was all over the TV schedule, for much of the 1960s, he was on six days a week.  Various titles were used:  “HoHo’s Showboat”, “Lunch With HoHo”, “Good Morning HoHo,” and “HoHo’s Showplace”.  The show survived for 29 years.

Mr Birchall was the beloved star of the longest locally produced television show in Okla City from 1959 – 1988.  He wrote and produced his shows.

He was a frequent visitor to Children’s Wards at local hospitals, providing a kind of medicine the doctors could not.  He also appeared at restaurants, charity events, parades and children’s parties, from which he derived most of his income.

Mr Birchall was a diminutive and slightly round man of cheerful spirit.  Friends remember him as behaving much the same in real life as on his show.

He lived in Bethany, OK for most of his life and suffered declining health leading to his death in the hospital at age 64 from a heart attack, while undergoing treatment for cancer.  He died July 3, 1988 and is buried at the El Reno Cemetery.

He is still remembered by many of his fans, who grew up during those years.
Attributing research and compilation by: Carolyn Marquardt Barker (1939 – 2018)