Vance DeBar Colvig Sr. (September 11, 1892 – October 3, 1967), known professionally as Pinto Colvig, was an American actor, animator, cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer. He was best known for being the original performer of the Disney characters Goofy and Pluto, as well as Bozo the Clown and Bluto in Popeye. In 1993, he was posthumously made a Disney Legend for his contributions to Walt Disney Films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fun and Fancy Free. His schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging.
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Early life
Vance DeBar Colvig was born on September 11, 1892, in Jacksonville, Oregon. His father was William Mason "Judge" Colvig (1845–1936) and his mother was Adelaide (née Birdseye) Colvig (1856–1912). He was the youngest of their seven children.
William Colvig was a pioneer, an attorney and a distinguished Oregonian; he was never actually a judge. Pinto attended but did not graduate from Medford High School. Pinto was accepted and attended, sporadically from 1910 to 1913, Oregon State University, in Corvallis, where he took art classes and played clarinet in the band. He drew cartoons for the Oregon Agricultural College Barometer newspaper, and the yearbook.
I was born in Jacksonville and named Vance DeBar Colvig. At age 7 (because of too many freckles, and goony antics) I was nicknamed 'Pinto the Village Clown' (which I have used professionally during my circus and other show business activities, besides occasional jobs as a newspaper cartoonist.— "'Pinto' Colvig Writes About Names, History of Clowning", Medford Mail Tribune, July 12, 1961.
Career
In 1913, Colvig worked the Pantages Theatre Circuit, briefly, before leaving for clarinetist in the Al G. Barnes Circus band for part of a season. In 1914 he was a newspaper cartoonist in Reno, Nevada and then in Carson City, then again clarinetist in the Al G. Barnes Circus band for part of the 1915 season.
I didn't know when I was going to school whether I wanted to be a clown, draw cartoons, write, hobo, or be a musician. So I wrapped it all up and made stew out of it. — Pinto Colvig
Colvig performed chalk talks in vaudeville.
In 1916, Colvig worked at the Animated Film Corporation in San Francisco where he made Creation, reported to be the world's first feature-length cartoon. Only five 35 mm frames survive, housed at the Southern Oregon Historical Society. Animated Film Corporation in San Francisco, ended with the entry of the U.S. into World War I (April 1917).
In 1919, Pinto produced "Pinto's Prizma Comedy Review," the first color cartoon. It is now considered a lost film. He also published in the San Francisco Bulletin (May 1919—February 1920) the "Bulletin Boob" column and photographs.
In 1922, Colvig created a newspaper cartoon panel titled "Life on the Radio Wave" for the San Francisco Chronicle. The feature ran three or four times per week on the newspaper's radio page, was syndicated nationally, and lasted six months. In 1922, Colvig and his family moved to Hollywood, working as an animator, title writer and comedian in silent comedies and on sound cartoons, working first for Mack Sennett.
By the late 1920s, Colvig became associated with Walter Lantz, with whom he attempted to establish a cartoon studio, creating a character called "Bolivar, the Talking Ostrich", which would have appeared in sound shorts. When Lantz became producer of Universal's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons in 1929, Colvig was hired as an animator, also working as a storyman and voice artist, briefly voicing Oswald.
In 1930, Colvig signed an eight-year contract with Walt Disney Productions as a writer. He also provided sound effects, including the barks for Pluto the Pup. The following year he began voicing Goofy, originally known as Dippy Dawg. Other notable characters he voiced include Practical Pig, the pig that built the "house of bricks" in the Disney short "Three Little Pigs", and both Grumpy and Sleepy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He directed (along with Erdman Penner and Walt Pfeiffer) the 1937 Mickey Mouse short Mickey's Amateurs. Colvig was associated with Disney for most of his career.
Personal life
Colvig married Margaret Bourke Slavin (1892–1950) in 1916, and settled with her in San Francisco, where four of their five boys were born. Later, their last son was born in Los Angeles. After Margaret died in 1950, Colvig married his second wife Peggy Bernice Allaire in January 1952, they remained married until Colvig's death in 1967.
Colvig was the father of the character and voice actor Vance Colvig, who also later portrayed Bozo the Clown on a live TV program.
A lifelong smoker, Colvig was one of the pioneers in advocating warning labels about cancer risk on cigarette packages in the United States.
Death
Colvig died of lung cancer on October 3, 1967, at Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, at age 75. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. His grave remained unmarked for years until Colvig's descendants, his great-granddaughter and Arthur Dark, designed his marker and placed his headstone respectively in 2020.
Discography
Bozo At The Circus (Capitol, 1946) as Bozo the Clown
Mickey and the Beanstalk (Capitol, 1947) as Goofy
Here Comes...Colonna's Trolley (Capitol, 1947) as Voice Characterizations
Bozo and his Rocket Ship (Capitol, 1948) as Bozo the Clown
Bozo Under The Sea (Capitol, 1948) as Bozo the Clown
Bozo and the Birds (Capitol, 1949) as Bozo the Clown
The Grasshopper And The Ants (Capitol, 1949) as The Grasshopper
Bozo on The Farm (Capitol, 1950) as Bozo the Clown
Bozo Has A Party (Capitol, 1952) as Bozo the Clown
Mickey Mouse's Candy Mine (RCA Victor, 1952) as Goofy
Bozo At The Dog Show (Capitol, 1954) as Bozo the Clown
Bozo's Merry-Go-Round Music (Capitol, 1954) as Bozo the ClownI
Mickey Mouse's Birthday Party (Capitol, 1954) as Goofy, Pluto, Grumpy, Practical Pig, Cleo
Walt Disney's Song Parade from Disneyland (Golden, 1956) as Goofy
Mickey and the Beanstalk (Disneyland, 1963) as Goofy
Goofy's TV Spectacular (Disneyland, 1964) as Goofy