What IS a Ladmo?
My friends, it isn't A Ladmo, it's THE Ladmo, unfortunately, because the world sure could use a whole lot more of them.
How to describe Ladmo has perplexed many dozens of people, including those who knew him best. Even his wife Patsy has a hard time explaining him. The closest anyone can come is to say that he was a "funny man". But there was so much more. This was no ordinary kiddie-show star!
So, I've thought about this for awhile, and this is as close as I can come: Take Soupy Sales, Gilligan, Stan Laurel, Lou Costello, Bozo, Howdy Doody, Clarabelle, Mr. Greenjeans, Goofy, Goober Pyle, and all your other favorite childhood television stars, and combine with equal parts Santa, your Uncle Jimmy, your best friend Carl, and the family pet. See yourself in the reflection.
Ladmo was my friend! Ladmo was everybody's friend. Ladmo was Ladmo, and no matter that Ladmo was just a television character, Ladmo was real! Ladmo was there! Ladmo was us. He was our own Uncle Milty, but not quite, because he was Ladmo. We knew instinctively, for a character to be that real that there had to be a lot of the man in the character, and there was. And there was also a lot of character in the man!
We loved Ladmo. We pledged our hearts and souls to him, we would have laid down our lives for him. Because of him we held carnivals and went begging door-to-door for Jerry's kids. He was the one person who was always there for us, day after day. Ladmo was our friend.
In the late 60's Ladmo had his own show, the Ladmo show, which was on at Noon. I remember one time when Gerald REALLY ;) got Ladmo in trouble, and Ladmo was kicked off both shows for a week. Wallace hosted the Ladmo show that week, and during the week Ladmo would sneak onto the set during filming to make sure everything was alright (Ho ho, ha ha!). Of course, Wallace would urge Ladmo to leave before he got in more trouble, but Ladmo had to make sure everything was okay. These were my preschool days.
From a personal viewpoint, Ladmo was approachable. He would never turn away from you, and if he had something to give then it was yours. I believe that Ladmo found himself in his character, and he gave so much to the community that we owe him a lot. When the show went off the air, Ladmo tried to keep doing the community work. But in the end, it came down to the show. Without the show Ladmo didn't make sense. Ladimir Kwiatkowsky died March 2, 1994. I'll forever miss my dear friend Ladmo.
