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Jon Bauman

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"Bowzer" redirects here. Not to be confused with Bowser.

Jon "Bowzer" Bauman
Bauman in 2018
Born (1947-09-14) September 14, 1947 (age 77)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
EducationThe Juilliard School Columbia University (BA)
Occupation(s)Singer, game show host, political spokesman, actor
Years active1969–present
Spouse
Mary Ryerson
​
(m. 1978)​
Children2
RelativesEric C. Bauman
(nephew)
Signature

Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947) is an American singer, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na, and game show host. Bauman's Sha Na Na character Bowzer was a greaser in a muscle shirt.

Biography and career

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Bauman with Peggy "Sue" Papadonski in 2000

Bauman was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Polish-German Jewish immigrants.[1] His father was a dentist and a singer in the Hollis Hills Jewish Center choir.[1] Bauman started attending The Juilliard School at age 12 with an expertise in piano playing,[2] and he is a 1964 graduate of Martin Van Buren High School. He graduated from Columbia University in 1968.[3] Bauman was a member of the band Sha Na Na from 1970 to 1983. He was featured in the television comedy/variety show Sha Na Na from 1977 to 1981. In his Bowzer persona, Bauman became instantly recognizable for his "greaser" clothes and hair, his muscular pose with his arm, and his catchphrase "Grease for Peace!" In the late 1970s, Bauman appeared as Bowzer (loosely in-character) on many game shows, including Match Game and Password Plus. He also appeared with Sha Na Na in the 1978 movie Grease. After his heyday with Sha Na Na, Bauman was a VJ on the music channel VH-1 during its first two years. He has appeared on many television series, such as Miami Vice, and he has done voiceovers for animated series, such as Animaniacs, and animated feature films, including My Little Pony: The Movie and The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. He also hosted the Hollywood Squares half of the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Bauman also hosted The Pop 'N Rocker Game, a weekly, syndicated rock 'n' roll game show, which launched a few weeks before the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour premiered.

Jon Bauman Productions produced The Golden Age of Rock 'n' Roll, a 10-hour series for the A&E Network.

Bauman toured extensively with his Bowzer and the Stingrays group at fairs, amusement parks, cruise ships, malt shoppes and conventions. They headline "Bowzer's Ultimate Milkshake Party". On October 28, 2024, Bauman announced his intent to retire following a series of winter shows, citing age-related decline in mobility, a populace increasingly unfamiliar with his work, and "because I have no interest in entertaining anyone who is voting for (Donald) Trump" or "the cesspool 1/3 of America now swims in."[4]

Personal life

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Bauman lives in Los Angeles with his wife Mary and their two children, Nora and Eli. His nephew is Eric C. Bauman, former chairman of the California Democratic Party.

Bauman has spoken on behalf of musicians who are upset about contemporary groups who use classic groups' names even though none of the members performed on any of the albums. Before their deaths, Charlie Thomas of the Drifters, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Carl Gardner of the Coasters and original Drifter Bill Pinkney were supporters. Bauman has helped pass legislation that compels any group using the name of a classic group to have at least one of the original members. The measure is known as the Truth in Music Act.

Bauman regularly campaigns for Democrats in special elections, including Mark Critz in 2010, Kathy Hochul in 2011, David Weprin in 2011 and Elizabeth Colbert Busch in 2013. He endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008.[5] He has also worked as a spokesman for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and recorded wake-up calls for employees of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.[6] He is also a co-founder of the group Senior Votes Count, which is a political action committee designed to elect leaders to protect and advance the rights of elderly Americans.[7] In the 2016 presidential election, Bauman endorsed Hillary Clinton, campaigning for her across the country, including in Iowa and Ohio.[8]

He is currently president of Social Security Works PAC, a national organization working to elect candidates who support protecting and expanding Social Security benefits.[9]

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Bauman is referenced in "The Chanukah Song" by Adam Sandler, "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, the NewsRadio episode "Chock", and in "D'oh-in' in the Wind—the sixth episode of the tenth season of The Simpsons.

He can be seen as his Bowzer character on a limousine television (with passengers Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine) in the Hal Ashby film Being There.

References

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  1. ^ a b Natchez, Martin (December 13, 2002). "Bowzer's back". The Detroit Jewish News. p. 84-85.
  2. ^ Password Plus, episode that aired August 22, 1979
  3. ^ "All the Columbia World's a Stage | Columbia College Today".
  4. ^ Bauman, Jon (October 28, 2024). "Younger people don’t know me, but I have entertained a lot of people very successfully for over 55 years. Trump’s FASCIST rally in New York is what now passes for “entertainment” in the cesspool 1/3 of America now swims in. I’ll be doing my last shows in the winter. I’ll be doing my last shows this winter partly because of declining mobility at age 77, partly because it’s just time… And partly because I have no interest in entertaining anyone who is voting for Trump. They can attend Nazi rallies they think are funny, as they did tonite" Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "Jon "Bowzer" Bauman". YouTube. August 25, 2008. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "Crooner Jon 'Bowzer' Bauman hits trail for Colbert Busch". Tv.msnbc.com. May 7, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "Our Mission - Senior Votes Count". Seniorvotescount.com. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  8. ^ Johnson, Ted (February 1, 2016). "Hillary Clinton Closes Iowa Campaign With Contrast to Bernie Sanders". Variety.com. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  9. ^ "Social Security Works PAC backs Randy Bryce for Congress". The Wisconsin Gazette. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
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Preceded by Host of The Hollywood Squares
1983–84 		Succeeded by
John Davidson
1986–89
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