Even though Phoenix resident Bill Thompson has been retired since 1989, he still answers the phone "This is Wallace."
For 36 years, Thompson was the co-host on the local show "Wallace and Ladmo," the longest running children's television show in history, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary today.
The show ran locally on KPHO Channel 5 from 1954 until 1989, said Thompson, 72, who created, wrote for the show and played main character Wallace. Episodes of the show have run since then on KAZTV.
"To know that we warped three generations of kids in Arizona simply overwhelms me with accomplishment," said Thompson, who accepted an award from Gov. Janet Napolitano Wednesday.
Napolitano decreed April 1, 2004 to be the official anniversary and recognized Thompson and Pat McMahon, who played various characters on the show, for the "amazing deeds and service they did for the community.
"They won nine Emmys and the loyalty of parents and children of the state of Arizona," Napolitano added.
Thompson said he was recruited in 1954 to start a kid's show at Channel 5 and never dreamed it would last so long.
"It seemed to go on forever, but it was always fun to do," he said.
Ladimir Kwiatkowski, who in 1956 started as Wallace's sidekick, Ladmo, died in 1994.
Perhaps the show's most memorable legacy was the "Ladmo bags" filled with candy and goodies for children that were given out every show to a member of the studio audience. Children became members of the audience by sending in pictures to the show.
Thompson presented Napolitano with her first Ladmo bag Wednesday.
"I never got to win one of these when I was on the show, so this is a real honor," she said.
Thompson said he credits the show's double-edged humor that made both children and adults laugh to McMahon's genesis on the show in 1960.
"Every day was Halloween and Christmas rolled into one," McMahon said. "My most memorable moment was when Wallace came to me and asked me to do a bit for his show -- I had been working a news job at Channel 5 so that I could get on his show.
McMahon is still working with the show as a host, introducing classic episodes that are aired on KAZTV at 7 p.m. Saturdays.
Ben Tyler, 47, of Tempe, has written two plays based on "Wallace and Ladmo" since 1999, and he is working on a third about Thompson's life.
"I grew up with that show; it's my earliest memories of TV," said Tyler, who worked on the show as a writer in the 1983-1984 season.
Tyler said he remembered walking into Wallace's office for the first time.
"Every prop and costume from my childhood was crammed into this tiny office, and every time I walked into it, it didn't seem real," he said. "It was one of those awesome jobs you would have done for free."
Reach the reporter at annemarie.moody@asu.edu.
