Clive was born in Haslemere, Surrey, England January 17, 1941 and immigrated with his family to Stamford, Connecticut in October of 1950. During the Golden Age of Radio he performed from 1951 to 1955 on New York radio station MBS (Mutual Broadcasting System) as the kid cowboy-- "Bobby Benson of the B-Bar-B Riders" -- and also on New York Television Station WOR. His uncle, Herb Rice, had created the radio series in the mid-1930s as the H-Bar-O Rangers for the Hecker H-O company of Buffalo, NY, and it ran for a couple of years. Herb Rice brought the series back to radio in 1949 when he was a vice president with the Mutual Network, but two years later the boy playing Bobby moved on and Herb had to find a replacement. Rice looked no farther than next door in Stamford, Connecticut, to his nephew, Clive. The ten-year-old boy had just immigrated to the USA from Surrey, England the preceding fall with his parents. Herb had him audition for the role under the name of Clyde Campbell so the decision of Mutual executives would not be influenced unfairly. Clive won the role, and after some quick diction lessons at the Alfred Dixon School to "Americanize" his dialect, he joined the cast in the WOR studios in April 1951. The juvenile western show was extremely popular with its young listeners. The B-Bar-B ranch featured: Bobby Benson, "The Cowboy Kid," "Tex," "Windy Wales," "Harka," and "Irish." Don Knotts (who would later go on to TV and movie fame) was then in his mid-20s and was the voice of the old geezer, Windy Wales. The 30-minute show was broadcast on Monday through Friday at 5:30 pm and also Monday at 8pm, Saturday at 5 pm, and Sunday at 3pm. A second TV series was shot in the mid-1950s with Clive Rice, also at the Channel 9 Studios. The set, adjacent to that of "The Merry Mailman" was a tiny bunkhouse. The cast consisted of only three people: Clive, Tex Fletcher (real name Jerry Bisceglia) a cowboy singer from Harrison, NJ, and a comedian named Paul Brown. The show was sponsored by Wilrich's Grape Drink.
The radio show lasted to mid-1955, totaling over 350 episodes. Besides the radio and TV duties, Clive was kept busy touring the country, and literally went coast to coast promoting the series and related "Cowboy Kid" merchandise. Starting in 1950, there were 20 issues of a Bobby Benson comic book published, the last issue in 1953.
In addition to the comic books, merchandise from both series (including one Big-Little Book) the legacy of this popular program includes a great many episodes of the program that are available for purchase and to listen to for free on various "old time radio" Internet sites.
Clive graduated from Stamford High School in June 1959 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in which he made a career. He retired from the service in January 1981.
In retirement, he enjoyed woodworking, painting, yard work, and reading. In the year 2000 he was instrumental in creating the Naval Exhibit "Ships and Shipmates" that was sponsored by the History Museum in Center in the Square. His passion was Civil War history, and his extensive library was proof. He was a lifetime member (1956-2016) of the Roanoke Civil War Round Table in which he served as president, preservation chairman, and treasurer. Clive, for the Round Table, arranged battlefield tours, annual banquets, seminars, picnics, and made sure things ran correctly.
(Ret) U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Clive E. Rice shipped out on his "last deployment" Wednesday, February 17, 2016 due to cancer. He was preceded in death by his father George Reginald Rice (1981), his mother Mabel Annie (Clarke) Rice (1998), and his wife Betty Ann (Phillips) Rice (2012). He was survived by a sister, a son and a daughter, a stepdaughter, several grandchildren, and a great grandchild,
Funeral services were conducted on Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the Simpson Funeral Home, 5160 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke by Dr. Jack Lowe. Private inurnment was at a later date in Jacksonville Cemetery, Floyd, Virginia.
The radio show lasted to mid-1955, totaling over 350 episodes. Besides the radio and TV duties, Clive was kept busy touring the country, and literally went coast to coast promoting the series and related "Cowboy Kid" merchandise. Starting in 1950, there were 20 issues of a Bobby Benson comic book published, the last issue in 1953.
In addition to the comic books, merchandise from both series (including one Big-Little Book) the legacy of this popular program includes a great many episodes of the program that are available for purchase and to listen to for free on various "old time radio" Internet sites.
Clive graduated from Stamford High School in June 1959 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in which he made a career. He retired from the service in January 1981.
In retirement, he enjoyed woodworking, painting, yard work, and reading. In the year 2000 he was instrumental in creating the Naval Exhibit "Ships and Shipmates" that was sponsored by the History Museum in Center in the Square. His passion was Civil War history, and his extensive library was proof. He was a lifetime member (1956-2016) of the Roanoke Civil War Round Table in which he served as president, preservation chairman, and treasurer. Clive, for the Round Table, arranged battlefield tours, annual banquets, seminars, picnics, and made sure things ran correctly.
(Ret) U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Clive E. Rice shipped out on his "last deployment" Wednesday, February 17, 2016 due to cancer. He was preceded in death by his father George Reginald Rice (1981), his mother Mabel Annie (Clarke) Rice (1998), and his wife Betty Ann (Phillips) Rice (2012). He was survived by a sister, a son and a daughter, a stepdaughter, several grandchildren, and a great grandchild,
Funeral services were conducted on Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the Simpson Funeral Home, 5160 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke by Dr. Jack Lowe. Private inurnment was at a later date in Jacksonville Cemetery, Floyd, Virginia.
Clive was born in Haslemere, Surrey, England January 17, 1941 and immigrated with his family to Stamford, Connecticut in October of 1950. During the Golden Age of Radio he performed from 1951 to 1955 on New York radio station MBS (Mutual Broadcasting System) as the kid cowboy-- "Bobby Benson of the B-Bar-B Riders" -- and also on New York Television Station WOR. His uncle, Herb Rice, had created the radio series in the mid-1930s as the H-Bar-O Rangers for the Hecker H-O company of Buffalo, NY, and it ran for a couple of years. Herb Rice brought the series back to radio in 1949 when he was a vice president with the Mutual Network, but two years later the boy playing Bobby moved on and Herb had to find a replacement. Rice looked no farther than next door in Stamford, Connecticut, to his nephew, Clive. The ten-year-old boy had just immigrated to the USA from Surrey, England the preceding fall with his parents. Herb had him audition for the role under the name of Clyde Campbell so the decision of Mutual executives would not be influenced unfairly. Clive won the role, and after some quick diction lessons at the Alfred Dixon School to "Americanize" his dialect, he joined the cast in the WOR studios in April 1951. The juvenile western show was extremely popular with its young listeners. The B-Bar-B ranch featured: Bobby Benson, "The Cowboy Kid," "Tex," "Windy Wales," "Harka," and "Irish." Don Knotts (who would later go on to TV and movie fame) was then in his mid-20s and was the voice of the old geezer, Windy Wales. The 30-minute show was broadcast on Monday through Friday at 5:30 pm and also Monday at 8pm, Saturday at 5 pm, and Sunday at 3pm. A second TV series was shot in the mid-1950s with Clive Rice, also at the Channel 9 Studios. The set, adjacent to that of "The Merry Mailman" was a tiny bunkhouse. The cast consisted of only three people: Clive, Tex Fletcher (real name Jerry Bisceglia) a cowboy singer from Harrison, NJ, and a comedian named Paul Brown. The show was sponsored by Wilrich's Grape Drink.
The radio show lasted to mid-1955, totaling over 350 episodes. Besides the radio and TV duties, Clive was kept busy touring the country, and literally went coast to coast promoting the series and related "Cowboy Kid" merchandise. Starting in 1950, there were 20 issues of a Bobby Benson comic book published, the last issue in 1953.
In addition to the comic books, merchandise from both series (including one Big-Little Book) the legacy of this popular program includes a great many episodes of the program that are available for purchase and to listen to for free on various "old time radio" Internet sites.
Clive graduated from Stamford High School in June 1959 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in which he made a career. He retired from the service in January 1981.
In retirement, he enjoyed woodworking, painting, yard work, and reading. In the year 2000 he was instrumental in creating the Naval Exhibit "Ships and Shipmates" that was sponsored by the History Museum in Center in the Square. His passion was Civil War history, and his extensive library was proof. He was a lifetime member (1956-2016) of the Roanoke Civil War Round Table in which he served as president, preservation chairman, and treasurer. Clive, for the Round Table, arranged battlefield tours, annual banquets, seminars, picnics, and made sure things ran correctly.
(Ret) U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Clive E. Rice shipped out on his "last deployment" Wednesday, February 17, 2016 due to cancer. He was preceded in death by his father George Reginald Rice (1981), his mother Mabel Annie (Clarke) Rice (1998), and his wife Betty Ann (Phillips) Rice (2012). He was survived by a sister, a son and a daughter, a stepdaughter, several grandchildren, and a great grandchild,
Funeral services were conducted on Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the Simpson Funeral Home, 5160 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke by Dr. Jack Lowe. Private inurnment was at a later date in Jacksonville Cemetery, Floyd, Virginia.
The radio show lasted to mid-1955, totaling over 350 episodes. Besides the radio and TV duties, Clive was kept busy touring the country, and literally went coast to coast promoting the series and related "Cowboy Kid" merchandise. Starting in 1950, there were 20 issues of a Bobby Benson comic book published, the last issue in 1953.
In addition to the comic books, merchandise from both series (including one Big-Little Book) the legacy of this popular program includes a great many episodes of the program that are available for purchase and to listen to for free on various "old time radio" Internet sites.
Clive graduated from Stamford High School in June 1959 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in which he made a career. He retired from the service in January 1981.
In retirement, he enjoyed woodworking, painting, yard work, and reading. In the year 2000 he was instrumental in creating the Naval Exhibit "Ships and Shipmates" that was sponsored by the History Museum in Center in the Square. His passion was Civil War history, and his extensive library was proof. He was a lifetime member (1956-2016) of the Roanoke Civil War Round Table in which he served as president, preservation chairman, and treasurer. Clive, for the Round Table, arranged battlefield tours, annual banquets, seminars, picnics, and made sure things ran correctly.
(Ret) U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Clive E. Rice shipped out on his "last deployment" Wednesday, February 17, 2016 due to cancer. He was preceded in death by his father George Reginald Rice (1981), his mother Mabel Annie (Clarke) Rice (1998), and his wife Betty Ann (Phillips) Rice (2012). He was survived by a sister, a son and a daughter, a stepdaughter, several grandchildren, and a great grandchild,
Funeral services were conducted on Saturday, February 20, 2016 at the Simpson Funeral Home, 5160 Peters Creek Road, Roanoke by Dr. Jack Lowe. Private inurnment was at a later date in Jacksonville Cemetery, Floyd, Virginia.
