In 1982, The Oregonian's Andee Beck wrote this rather unflattering article about Ramblin' Rod.  It's tone reinforces the fact that The Ramblin' Rod Show was, indeed, meant for children, who could love Rod Anders without knowing every detail about his personal life. It is presented here as a source of information about the show, but should not be considered a definitive look at the personality of its host.

Rod Anders puts a premium on privacy

by Andee Beck

Rod Anders has been rambling around the Oregon radio and television scene for two-thirds of his 49 years. But what does the public know about the man? Not much. And that's by his design.

He happily grants an interview, and will answer questions about children's programming. But when it comes to talking about himself, the man who has starred for 18 years as KPTV's "Ramblin' Rod" is politely evasive. He does not want to talk about his personal life, he insists.

"If I were going to go into politics, it would be a different thing," Anders shrugs. "A person could ask, 'What is this person's life about? What are this person's qualifications?"

Just because he's been in the limelight for 32 years, Anders says that's no reason the public needs to know much about him. "It's like a plumber," he reasons. "You don't ask about his personal life, what kind of person he is in real life, do you? It doesn't have anything to do with how well he does his job.

"I'm sharing myself with the kids, but I'm not opening up my home life to everyone," Anders emphasizes. "There are facts I wouldn't like people to know because I don't think it serves me ... I tell a lot more about who I am by doing television."

The native Oregonian, who turns 50 on Nov. 26, came to television from radio. His first job, at 17, was as a ballad singer for a small Tillamook radio station. From 1958 to 1962, Anders worked at KFLW in Klamath Falls, KUIK in Hillsboro and KXL in Portland. From 1962 to 1964, he anchored a morning show on The Oregon Journal's radio station, KPOJ.

Anders next moved over to KPTV, where he hosted the children's weekday cartoon show, "Popeye's Pier 12." Since 1964, Anders has been star of the continuously popular kids'show, "Ramblin' Rod." He can also be seen Saturday mornings on the public affairs program "12 in the Morning," and he can be heard as the voice behind KPTV, announcing upcoming programs and lead-ins to commercial breaks ("Theeee Movie").

That's not all. Anders regularly turns up in local commercials, and telethons for muscular dystrophy and the Easter Seals.

This man is not exactly hiding in the woodwork. Nevertheless, he maintains, "I am different from the average show biz creature. I don't need the attention. It's fine, I enjoy it very much; the adoration of young children is rewarding. But I don't feel like I need it."

He doesn't think it ironic that he's chosen a profession that keeps him in the public eye, yet he steadfastly shuns publicly sharing who he is. "I'll tell you: I'm going to be 50 soon, and I've guarded my life pretty well up to now. I play myself on television -- pretty much. I'm not an actor. As much as a person can call himself a personality, I'm a personality.

"The mistakes I've made, I've made like anybody else." Then he makes it clear that he does not want to talk about - or have printed - biographical information regarding marriage and children.

What would he change about himself?

"Now, that's a really personal question. I'd try to be more loving, kinder -- that's a personal question. Don't you think everyone would say that if they were being honest with themselves?" As though he's given away too much about himself, Anders hastily adds, "Now, you put that down in print and people will say, 'He must not be a nice person.' That's not true. Or people will say, 'He's not a loving person.' That's not true, either."

So what kind of person is he?

I'd say someone who knew me well would say, 'He's definitely not outgoing, not an extrovert, definitely a conservative.' "

And what would Anders say of himself?

"I'd say I'm concerned about things taking place in the world. Also, I'm fairly active. Life is short at best. If we can fill it with things we enjoy, it'll be a richer life and we'll be better qualified to do things later on."

Anders says he fills up his life flying his plane, scuba diving, fishing, traveling, and managing his rental homes. That's when he's not taping "Ramblin' Rod" at 5 p.m. every weekday for broadcast the next day, and cutting voice-overs for the station.

Is hosting a children's show enough to keep him professionally satisfied? ,

"Life is challenging. A children's show is definitely challenging. If that's all I did, if my life depended on the children's show, that wouldn't be enough. But I enjoy every bit of everything I do."

He says, "I don't have any vision of grandeur in terms of show business. I'm satisfied with everything I've done, that I've done it reasonably well. I don't have an ego that has me wanting to do more. If anything," Anders chuckles, "I'd try to get out of more work."

Anders has little to do with his "Ramblin' Rod" show. Other station staffers choose the cartoons, set up the promotions with sponsors that give away to the preschool and school-age studio audience everything from video game discount coupons to Halloween pumpkins. Anders simply comes onto the set and tapes multiple segments of uninspired interaction with the children (who have waited three months for tickets).

Anders also has little to do with the children who come onto the program. Station personnel gather the youths in the KPTV lobby, at 735 S.W. 20th Place, and then lead them single-file upstairs into the studio. The children are seated on tiny-tot bleachers; their parents are escorted to chairs maybe 50 feet away, behind the video cameras.

Anders dons his Ramblin' Rod button-bedecked cardigan sweater, saunters onto the set, stands before the urchins and says with a faint smile, "How do you do, ladies and gentlemen? I see some of you brought me some pins." He collects a few of them - he will receive others during the taping. "One of the things we do here every day is check smiles," he announces, sucking in a breath and donning a cartoon grin. His audience has no idea that he is been doing this same routine, or something similar, for 18 years. Thirty-nine tots smile back.

The taping commences without fanfare. With the aid of "Auntie" Lois Karas, the floor director, Anders tapes several segments that will be edited to sandwich cartoons for the next day's broadcast. The children are shown only one cartoon during taping.

When their host says, "Lets watch another cartoon. Here we go!," the kids instinctively know from watching the program at home that it's their cue to raise their arms high into the air, wiggle their pudgy fingers and yell, "Yaaaaay!"

The rest of the time, they fidget under the hot lights and direct their attention to Anders, or the cameras, or the parents. He doesn't captivate them, nor do they seem to captivate him. During taping breaks, Anders walks off the set and shows no interest in talking with the children. When the hour-long production is over, Anders offers no enthusiastic farewells. Still, when they find him standing in the hall, the kids crowd around their hero. He appears like a mammoth, mountainous island, unmoved by the lapping sea.

The children don't seem to sense Anders' aloofness. They look to him as a friend, he believes. They seem to feel safe with him, perhaps because he's not overly interested in getting to know them and at the same time he's by no means unfriendly or threatening. Whatever the reason, "Ramblin' Rod" continues to dominate the 7:30-8:30 a.m. ratings, and generation after generation considers it a status symbol to have an autographed picture of the cartoon host hanging on their wall.

To Anders, that's as close as he wants to get with his public.