Robert Norman Ross

 Robert Norman Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995)

Ross was a painter, art instructor and television host. He was the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. Ross was well known for phrases he tended to repeat while painting, such as "let's add some happy little trees" Art critic Mira Schor compared Ross to Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, noting that Ross's soft voice and the slow pace of his speech were similar. During each half-hour segment, Ross would instruct viewers in the quick, wet on wet oil painting technique, painting a scene without sketching it first, but creating the image directly from his imagination, in real time. He explained his limited paint palette, deconstructing the process into simple steps. Ross painted an estimated 30,000 paintings during his lifetime. Despite the unusually high supply of original paintings, Bob Ross original paintings are scarce on the art market, with sale prices of the paintings averaging in the thousands of dollars and frequently topping $10,000.

In 1961, 18-year-old Ross enlisted in the United States Air Force and was put into service as a medical records technician. He rose to the rank of master sergeant and served as the first sergeant of the clinic at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, where he first saw the snow and mountains that later appear as recurring themes in his paintings. During his 20-year Air Force career, Ross developed an interest in painting after attending an art class at the Anchorage U.S.O. club. Ross was fond of country music and in 1987 was invited on stage by Hank Snow at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee. He was married three times, and had a son from his first marriage. A cigarette smoker for most of his adult life, Ross expected to die young and suffered from several health problems over the course of his life. He died at the age of 52 on July 4, 1995 in Orlando, Florida, due to complications from lymphoma. Ross kept his diagnosis a secret from the general public; his lymphoma was not known outside of his circle of family and friends until after his death. He is interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida.