American entertainer Lawrence Weiss, better known by the stage names Larry Harmon and Bozo the Clown, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at his home in Los Angeles. He was 83.

Larry Harmon portrayed the beloved character Bozo the Clown in many appearances, including at the Rose Parade in Pasadena in 1996. He licensed the character to others, especially to television stations around the country.

Bozo the Clown and the character interpreted by Harmon became so close that people associated the image of the popular clown with his image. “You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA,” Harmon told the Associated Press in a 1996 interview. As years passed away, Bozo’s image became a symbol for clownish behaviour.

Talking about the popular clown, Harmon said he is “a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us.”

His wife of 29 years, Susan Harmon, said the character fitted her husband because in real life he was “the most optimistic man I ever met.”

Laughing was a way of living for the man who liked so much to see the bright side of the world. Harmon is survived by his wife, son Jeff Harmon and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet, Ellen Kosberg and Leslie Breth.