Dave Hood (born November 1, 1950) is an American actor, filmmaker and former radio personality, best known for his award winning entertaining and educational children's productions. He has been host of many travel oriented programs including PM Magazine and Tourific Destinations on the Discovery Channel. Hood is most recognized as the co-creator, writer and star of Warner Bros.' - Real Wheels video series, a set of 23 children's videos which aimed to be both informative and entertaining.[1] The series won a number of awards including the Parents' Choice Award.
Dave Hood | |
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 Dave Hood on Location in Big Island Hawaii | |
| Born | David Hood November 1, 1950 |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1968–present |
| Website | DaveHoodEntertainment |
Career
editHood started his career as a radio personality at the age of 18 in Yakima, Washington.[2] He worked his way to becoming the number one afternoon drive personality at KGW in Portland Oregon to the big time at KRTH in Los Angeles. He moved into television at the age of 30, starring on the syndicated show PM Magazine during the 1980s before traveling the world for Tourific Destinations on the Discovery Channel in the early 1990s. In 1993, he was best known for starting the live action children's video series Real Wheels, also called There Goes a..., with co-creator Ken Urman of Power to Create, featuring the There Goes a... theme. In every video, he was also the producer, writer, actor, and, director, and in some of the videos, he's accompanied by his sidekick, Becky. The series had sales near 8 million and won many coveted awards including the Dove Foundation Award, The National Parenting Association Award, the Parents' Choice Award, and Kid's First Endorsement Award. The series was syndicated for television under the name Dream Big on more than 100 stations nationally in the late 1990s. In 1996, he started the live action children's video series, The Adventures of Dave and Becky, where he and Becky go on adventures around the world. During the early 2000s, the show was re-packaged and aired on PBS nationwide. Due to the high popularity of the Real Wheels franchise, it also had a live tour that starred Dave. The show consisted of magic tricks and audience participation stunts. Prior to the show, there were real life vehicles that the audience would touch and look at. The tour lasted from 2001-2004 and was produced by Dave Hood Entertainment.
Hood continued to produce children's productions and other family entertainment including: Crazy Adventures with Harry and Susy - Spanish is FUN! with Susy Dorn for 2-8 year olds and The Family Ghost Hunters.
Hood produced a series of Accessible Tourism videos with the USDA and today focuses mainly on cinematography for small productions.
Real Wheels
editHood is most notable for his creation of Real Wheels.[3]
The Real Wheels series is a collection of children's videos (also known as There Goes a..., previously as Live Action Videos for Kids). Three episodes, There Goes a Garbage Truck, There Goes the Mail and There Goes a Rescue Vehicle, were released as a part of the short-lived Dream Big series. Each episode focuses on different transportation vehicles; however, one episode is reserved for Santa Claus, and another for roller coasters. Each is live-action, starring Hood, and is sometimes accompanied by a sidekick, Becky Borg. He is absent from There Goes a Tractor, Farm Truck, and Dump Truck and is replaced by David Sidoni, but comes back in 3 more episodes which are on Tanks, Rescue Heroes, and Buses.
Filmography
editProduction work
edit- There Goes a... (1993–2003) - Writer (4 episodes), producer (4 episodes), director (3 episodes)
- The Adventures of Dave & Becky: In Search of the Haunted Goldmine (1996) - Writer
- The Adventures of Dave & Becky: In Search Pirate Treasure (1997) - Writer
Acting
edit- Real Wheels/There Goes a... (1993–2003) - Firefighter Dave, Pilot Dave, Construction Foreman Dave, Engineer Dave, Deputy Dave, Truck Driver Dave, various
- The Adventures of Dave & Becky: In Search of the Haunted Goldmine (1996) - Dave
- The Adventures of Dave & Becky: In Search Pirate Treasure (1997) - Dave