Not elder law: Clarabell the Clown dead at age 84

Lew Anderson, who captivated young baby boomers as the Howdy Doody Show’s final Clarabell the Clown, has died at the age of 84.

The musician and actor died Sunday in Hawthorne of complications of prostate cancer, said his son, Christopher Anderson.

Longmute as Clarabell, Anderson broke the clown’s silence in the show’sfinal episode in 1960. With trembling lips and a visible tear in hiseye, he spoke the show’s final words: “Goodbye, kids.”