Paul Tripp

Paul Tripp
Tripp in 1961
Born	(1911-02-20)February 20, 1911 New York City
Died	August 29, 2002(2002-08-29) (aged 91) Manhattan
Occupation	Musician Actor Author

Paul Tripp (February 20, 1911 – August 29, 2002) was a children's musician, author, songwriter, and television and film actor. He collaborated with a fellow composer, George Kleinsinger. Tripp was the creator of the 1945 "Tubby the Tuba", a piece of classical music for children that has become his best-known work. He authored several books, including Rabbi Santa Claus and Diary of a Leaf.

Tripp was born in New York City. He held a master's degree in education.^[1]

Early in his career, he was the host of Mr. I. Magination, which was aired by CBS from 1949 to 1952 featuring him as a train engineer who took children through a tunnel to meet with representatives of different occupations. Tripp later hosted Birthday House, a live (later taped) daily morning children's show on WNBC that aired in New York for four years starting in 1963.^[2][3] A book of his, The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, was produced as a movie in Rome in 1966, for which Tripp provided the screenplay and played a lead role.^[4][5]

Paul Tripp and his wife, Ruth Enders Tripp, used many avenues to engage children in educational activities and collaborated on many educational programs for children. Among those programs, they hosted a TV news magazine for teens titled "On The Carousel", which was seen Saturday mornings on the CBS TV Network, from June 5, 1955 to September 26, 1959.

Every week The Tripps would engage their viewers and studio audiences in craftmaking, hobbies, science projects, art, history, and musical and dramatic offerings... including a live presentation of "Tubby The Tuba".

"On The Carousel" won The NYC Emmy for "Best Children's Educational TV Series" in 1957.

Paul Tripp hosted two children's TV shows - "It's Magic!" which was seen Saturday nights on CBS TV during the summer of 1955, and he also would serve as the second host and performer of the WOR TV Channel 9 "Looney Tunes Show" weekday evenings from Monday January 12, 1959 to Friday July 10, 1959.

Paul Tripp's final recording project was released in 1996 on Angel/EMI Records as Tubby the Tuba and Friends. The orchestral tracks "Tubby the Tuba", "The Story of Celeste", "Adventures of a Zoo", and "Peepo the Piccolo" were recorded by the Radio Orchestra of Bratislava under the baton of Stephen Gunzenhauser. A final track, "Tuba the Tuba Meets a Jazz Band", was recorded in New York City with Bob Stewart on tuba, Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Paquito D'Rivera on clarinet, Marco Katz on trombone, Chuck Folds on piano, John Thomas on percussion, and Oliver Jackson on drums. Paul Tripp is the narrator on this recording.^[6][7] Several of the same instrumental tracks appear on a 2006 release called Play it Happy on Koch Records that features Meredith Vieira on "Tubby the Tuba" and "Tubby the Tuba Meets a Jazz Band," and Paul Tripp on "The Story of Celeste".^[8][9]

He also acted in other dramas on television, in the theater, and in movies. Among his television appearances were two 1962 roles on Perry Mason, which starred Raymond Burr. First, he played Howard Langley in "The Case of the Lonely Eloper"; then, he played Steven Banks in "The Case of the Double-Entry Mind." Mr. Tripp also appeared in the Twilight Zone as an extraterrestrial in "The Fugitive," season three, episode twenty-five.

However, Tripp's most enduring television role was an episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show, "Sally Is a Girl". Tripp played the part of Ted Harris, a would-be boyfriend for Sally Rogers.

The Tripps had two children, Suzanne (Jurmain) and David.

References

External links

• Paul Tripp at the Internet Movie Database