Who was Captain Robert Cottle?

Robert Cottle became a B-17 Flying Fortress flight instructor for the Air Force at Lackland AFB. The next chapters are the ones you probably know him from. His ability to train and educate young men translated well to a younger audience. In the 1950s, Cottle began his career in TV as a host for children's TV shows, usually appearing as "Captain Bob." One of his first shows, The Nature World of Captain Bob began in Hartford, Connecticut, and allowed Robert too showcase his talents as artist. For thirty minutes on Saturday mornings, he taught several generations how to sketch wildlife subjects. This was set in a sea shanty; hence the nautical Captain Bob was launched. The show moved to the larger television market of Boston, Massachusetts, where it ran for an additional 14 years Robert took over as host for the NBC TV show, hosting both for several years. This was more of a variety show, with sketches between cartoons. Absent from broadcast TV for a short time, Cottle reappeared in a reboot of The Nature World of Captain Bob. In the next chapter circa the late 1960s, Cottle and a friend, Robert Bourque, created and perfected the Prophetron Zoltan Fortune Teller machine. Cottle lent his voice to this project, while hosting a series of local TV shows in Boston and  Hartford.The Zoltan machine was later showcased in the feature film Big.Cottle was married twice, to Bette Volpe, and Beth Willis Johnson. He had a son Robert S. who rose to the rank of Major, and trained with NASA He passed in 1999 and is well remembered to this day.