I loved watching Jim Fowler and Marlin Perkins on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom!
Jim always did the dirty work while Marlin watched from the safety of the boat or Range Rover!
source: The Hollywood Reporter
The zoologist worked alongside Marlin Perkins, was a regular on ‘The Tonight Show’ and ‘Today’ and appeared on ‘Seinfeld.’
Jim Fowler, the naturalist and longtime co-host and host of the TV show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, died Wednesday at his home in Norwalk, Connecticut, his family announced. He was 89.
Fowler, an Emmy winner for his work on the nature program, also made more than 100 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, served as a wildlife correspondent for the Today show and showed up (with a hawk) as a guest on a talk show hosted by Kramer (Michael Richards) out of his apartment on a 1997 episode of Seinfeld.
Fowler and fellow zoologist Marlin Perkins worked on Wild Kingdom starting with the pilot episode that aired on Jan. 9, 1963, through Perkins’ retirement in 1985. Fowler then went it alone for a few years and returned to the show when it was revived in 2002.
Born on April 9, 1930, in Albany, Georgia, Fowler grew up on his family farm. He excelled on his high school baseball and football teams and was offered a contract by the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees. He attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, earning degrees in zoology and geology.
Jim Fowler
“I worked with animals well before I was on Wild Kingdom, and I learned that if you’re gonna fool around with them, you better know what the danger points are.”
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Calamity Jane