J. Fred Muggs

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J. Fred Muggs (b. March 14, 1952, French Cameroon) is a chimpanzee who was the mascot for NBC's Today Show from 1953 to 1957.

The show debuted in 1952, with amiable host Dave Garroway. The show was in trouble when the addition of J. Fred Muggs boosted ratings and helped win advertisers. Muggs, dressed like a baby in diapers, first appeared on the show on January 28, 1953 and became a regular feature on February 3, 1953.

In the 1950s, the Russian newspaper Izvestia described J. Fred Muggs, as "A symbol of the American way of life", and said "Muggs is necessary in order that the average American should not look into reports on rising taxes, and decreasing pay, but rather laugh at the funny mug of a chimpanzee."

As of January 23, 2004, the fifty-two-year-old Muggs and his "live-in girlfriend" Phoebe B. Beebe (who also made appearance on the Garroway show) are still alive in Citrus Park, Florida in the care of Gerald Preis. In 2004, Joe Hagan of the New York Observer reached Gerald Preis, 60, at his home where Preis said that Muggs "has a little gray, mostly in his beard."

Many sources refer to Garroway as jealous of Muggs. Hagan notes, without attribution, that "Legend has it that ... Mr. Garroway grew jealous and began spiking Muggs’ orange juice with Benzedrine to make him misbehave and deliver his human co-host back to center stage." Many sources suggest that Muggs did not have a good disposition, using language such as "a nasty little monkey" and "throwing legendary tantrums." Many sites refer to Muggs as having bit comedienne Martha Raye on the arm. Preis, however, told Hagan that this story, which Hagan referred to as a 50-year-old tabloid rumor, "was bullshit—just plain bullshit."

External links

Trainer of famed chimp J. Fred Muggs dies at 80 St. Petersburg Times story
Joe Hagan column from 1/26/2004 edition of The New York Observer Legend of spiked orange juice; Muggs and Phoebee still alive; Martha Raye elbow-biting incident denied
Television heaven "a nasty little monkey"
TV Acres "biting comedian/actress Martha Raye on the elbow during an April 1954 program..."
Entertainment Weekly "The sometimes vicious simian once took a nip out of Martha Raye"
TV Party "...eventually J. Fred Muggs started throwing legendary tantrums on the set. Being a reasonably intelligent creature, Muggs noticed that, as long as the red light was lit on the camera, he couldn't be punished for acting up. He took to striking out at Garraway and his guests, then running for cover when the camera light went out. As J. Fred got older, he got even meaner. The anthropoid was finally dropped in 1957 after he went berserk one too many times and viciously bit comedienne Martha Raye on the arm."
Book excerpt, Steven D. Stark, "Glued to the Set: The 60 Television Shows and Events That Made Us Who We Are Today" (ISBN 0788160427), "Muggs appeared in skits, and pretended to read the morning papers. It was said that he was added to the cast in order to appeal to children, but the undeniable effect was to convert Today almost overnight from an iffy proposition into a network institution. "His charm," said Garroway, "is his unpredictability--same as any animal's." To his credit, Muggs did once bite Martha Raye."