Scientist of the Day - Marlin Perkins
Marlin Perkins with a snake (mutualofomaha.com/wild-kingdom)
Marlin Perkins, an American zoologist, was born Mar. 28, 1905, in Carthage, Missouri. Perkins began his career as a zoo laborer in St. Louis and moved on to become a curator at the Buffalo Zoo, and then was appointed director of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. While in Chicago, he started a TV program about animals called Zoo Parade, which was modestly successful. When Perkins moved to St. Louis to take the zoo directorship there, he was persuaded by Mutual of Omaha, the sponsor of Zoo Parade, to launch a new program. It debuted in 1963, under the name Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. It was an amazing success, running new programs from 1963 to 1971, then going into syndication with occasional new programs. Perkins retired in 1985, but the series kept going; it has now had 4 incarnations, the latest in 2023, and is still in production.
Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler in wetsuits (mutualofomaha.com/wild-kingdom)
The appeal of the show no doubt came from Perkins’ pleasant and folksy manner, and also from its adventurous aspect, as Perkins and his redoubtable assistant, Jim Fowler, would head off to Africa or Central America to capture alive some leopard or alligator for the zoo, and the subjects were invariably quite unwilling to move to St. Louis. There are many clips from the original series on YouTube; in fact, Wild Kingdom has its own YouTube channel, where you may see episodes from the Marlin Perkins years as well as current ones. The most famous episode is undoubtedly the one where Perkins and Fowler wrestle a 20-foot long anaconda in and under the water; you may view it here.
Flyer advertising Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, with Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler (drunktv.net)
Perkins and Fowler also made scores of appearances on Johnny Carson's Tonight show, each time bringing a beast or fowl to sit on Johnny's desk and give him fits. Perkins did as much as anyone in the 1960s to bring wild nature into America’s living rooms, and to stress the importance of conserving natural habitats for future generations. The roots of the popular PBS nature program Wild Kratts can be traced directly to Marlin Perkins and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.
Marlin Perkins with a baby capybara (deadline.com)
To its credit, Mutual of Omaha maintains a very complete Wild Kingdom website, and they are happy to give credit and attention to Marlin Perkins, Jim Fowler, and the program’s origins. That is nice, in an age when many corporations have no historical sense whatsoever.
Statue of Marlin Perkins in Carthage, Missouri, Library of Congress (www.loc.gov)
Perkins made his last program in 1985 and died of cancer one year later, June 14, 1986. He apparently maintained ties to his birthplace, for he is buried in Carthage, and there is even a statue in his memory in a Carthage city park (last image).
William B. Ashworth, Jr., Consultant for the History of Science, Linda Hall Library and Associate Professor emeritus, Department of History, University of Missouri-Kansas City. Comments or corrections are welcome; please direct to ashworthw@umkc.edu.
