Rusty Nails

Who is Rusty Nails?

James H. Allen portrayed the clown character Rusty Nails and was the host of various children's television shows in the Portland, Oregon, U.S. television market from 1957–1972. His program on KPTV was the second-longest running children's program in Portland, second only to Ramblin' Rod Anders.

He hosted shows on KOIN, KPTV, and KATU as Rusty Nails, and at last report, still makes local appearances.

Matt Groening, who grew up in Portland watching the shows, loosely based the Krusty the Clown character from The Simpsons on the real-life clown, though Groening says that Krusty's cantankerous nature is nothing like Rusty Nails.