Larry Harmon, credited not with the creation of the Bozo character but with the popularisation of an existing clown and in the process the creation of a legend, died of congestive heart failure on Thursday, aged 83. It is unconfirmed whether he was in full costume at the time, though we hope he was – just so the man could get one last smile from the world.

It's easy to wax lyrical about the decline of traditional entertainment in modern society, with the 'yoofs' and their obsession with 'music', 'video games' and 'gangland violence', but one thing has remained constantly popular in the culture of children's entertainment: the clown. Without Harmon and his Bozo character there likely wouldn't be such a prevalence of the silly, slappy-footed, red-nosed berks flitting around from house to house, making children squawk. And frankly, without Bozo's popularity, that behaviour would be frowned upon, if not illegal.

Larry did not come up with the Bozo the Clown character of his own accord – he purchased the rights for it and worked from there, introducing what is now taken for granted as how a clown should look, as well as helping the word 'bozo' enter common language – for example, 'Lindsay Lohan's dad acts like a bozo'. See? Without Harmon and his marketing savvy hecklerspray would have had to rely on a different descriptive term for that cash-hungry twit. You have to have respect for that.

Leading the character through 50 years of development, Harmon introduced Bozos all around America to entertain – or terrify – children through the States, as well as TV shows aired around the world. Where other entertainers fell by the wayside, got bitter, sold out or simply gave up, Harmon continued and the popularity of his Bozo character never waned. Waiting lists to hire a Bozo often stretched into the years range, even today. Go on – try and hire a genuine Bozo. We dare you. Bet you can't get one to do a party within the next few months. If you can we'll give you a prize: the respect of your peers.

The world has lost another genuine hero – a man who deserved the money he made, rather than inherited it through a chance meeting of sperm and egg or through having no discernable talent yet a bizarre ability to make idiots in papers and on semi-popular entertainment blogs write about them. Larry Harmon created an icon, lived the American Dream before it died and made a lot of kids laugh in the process. For this, hecklerspray will be carrying out one minute's worth of prat-falling in his honour.

Conversely, there may be people out there that are glad the man is dead, if only because he introduced a million nightmares into the childhoods of many. Not that we'd agree, it's just, y'know, clowns are terrifying.