Bob Ross was a painter, art educator, and television personality and served in the United States Army. He created and hosted The Joy of Painting, an educational television program about painting broadcast on PBS in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe from 1983 until 1994.
Source: Instagram
Ross later became well-known due to his posthumous internet presence. This post will go over everything about Bob Ross, including his biography, net worth, and career.
Table of Contents
Some Quick Facts
| Full Name | Robert Norman Ross |
| Nickname | Bob, Bob Ross |
| Date of Birth | October 29, 1942 |
| Birth Place | Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Age | Died at the age of 52 |
| Sun Sign | Scorpio |
| Father’s Name | Jack Ollie Ross |
| Mother’s Name | Ollie Ross |
| Siblings | 1 brother, Jim |
| Height | 1.88 m or 6.16 ft |
| Weight | 75 kg |
| Nationality | American |
| Sexuality | Straight |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Occupation | Painter, teacher, artist, Army |
| Eye Color | Under Review |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Shoe Size | Under Review |
| Died on | July 4, 1995 (aged 52) |
| Cause of death | Lymphoma. |
| Death Place | Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Wife | Vivian Ridge (m. 1965; div. 1977)
Jane Ross (m. 1977; died 1992) Lynda Brown (m. 1995) |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Net Worth | $6 Million |
| Social Media Presence | Not Available |
| Last Updated | July 2022 |
Where was Bob Ross born? Early Life, Parents
Ross was born on October 29, 1942. His place of birth is Daytona Beach, Florida. Painter Ross’s father’s name was Jack Ross, a carpenter, and his mother’s name was Ollie Ross, a waitress. Both his parents were raised in Orlando, Florida.
Ross enjoyed animals as a child and became fond of them. He mostly tended to injured creatures, including armadillos, snakes, alligators, and squirrels. These were also included in many episodes of his television show, The Joy of Painting.
Source: Instagram
Jim was Ross’s half-brother. In the episode, Ross primarily talked about his brother. Similarly, on his broadcast, he addressed Jim’s passing.
Ross dropped out of high school while he was in the ninth grade. He lost part of his left index finger while working as a carpenter with his father, yet this did not hinder his ability to grasp a palette while painting.
How tall was Bob Ross| Age, Height
Bob Ross was born on October 29, 1942, in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. On July 4, 1995, he died at 52 in Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Bob Ross was a nice, calm man with a great physique who even served in the military for the United States.
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First, let’s talk about Bob’s height and weight. Bob, the painter, was 6.16 feet tall (1.88m) and weighed 165 pounds (or 75 kg).
The painter had gorgeous brown permed hair. He was also well-known for his distinctive hairdo. Bob Ross’s beautiful halo of hair was so in sync with his kind demeanor that it almost appeared too wonderful.
Military Career
- Ross, at 18, enrolled in the United States Air Force in 1961. He was first assigned to work as a medical records technician.
- He advanced to master sergeant and was the clinic’s first sergeant at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska. His first encounter with snow and mountains was during his stay in Alaska.
- The beauty of Alaska and his experiences with the flora, snow, and mountains were reoccurring motifs in his paintings in his presentation. During his little daily work breaks, he developed his painting style.
- Ross opted not to raise his voice after serving in military jobs that required him to be strong and harsh. In his show, he stated how tough and mean he had to be for his career “the person who makes you scrub the latrine, the one who makes you make your bed, the guy who shouts at you for being late to work.”
- Ross’s sales revenue eventually eclipsed his military pay. He left the Air Force as a master sergeant in 1981.
Career as a Painter
- Ross became interested in painting during his 20-year Air Force tenure after taking an art class at the Anchorage U.S.O. club. Many of his painting professors, who were more interested in abstract art, frequently conflicted with him. “They’d teach you what makes a tree, but they wouldn’t tell you how to paint it,” Ross remarked.
- Ross worked part-time as a bartender when he found The Magic of Oil Painting, a TV show hosted by German painter Bill Alexander.
- Alexander utilized a 16th-century painting technique known as all prima (Italian for “first try”), sometimes known as “wet-on-wet,” to complete a painting in thirty minutes.
- Ross researched and mastered the technique before painting and commercially selling Alaskan landscapes painted on novelty gold-mining pans.
- He returned to Florida, studied painting with Alexander, and eventually joined his “Alexander Magic Art Supplies Company.” In the Company, he worked as a salesperson and instructor.
- Annette Kowalski, who had joined one of his classes in Clearwater, Florida, persuaded Ross that he could be successful on his own. She, Ross, and his wife combined their funds to start his firm, which initially struggled.
- The show The Joy of Painting’s origins are unknown. It was shot in the PBS station WIPB’s studio in Muncie, Indiana. Although repeats are still available in many locations and nations, the show aired from January 11, 1983, through May 17, 1994,
- Ross utilized his television show to market a range of art materials and class records, with assistance from Annette and Walt Kowalski. Consequently, Bob Ross Inc. grew to a $15 million company.
- Later, Bob Ross Inc. expanded to include classes given by other artists who had been educated in his methodology.
Latest Works
- Ross often recorded wildlife in his yard, particularly squirrels, and frequently took in wounded or abandoned squirrels and other animals. Small animals frequently appeared in his Joy of Painting paintings.
- During his lifetime, Ross is reported to have created 30,000 paintings. Despite an exceptionally high quantity of original images, Bob Ross’s original paintings are in short supply on the art market, with sale prices averaging hundreds of dollars and sometimes exceeding $10,000.
- The big auction houses never sold any of Ross’s paintings, and Bob Ross Inc. still owns many of the ones he did for The Joy of Painting, as Ross was opposed to his art being sold as a financial tool.
Controversy
Ross dedicated the first episode of The Joy of Painting’s second season to Bill Alexander, saying, “Years ago, Bill taught me this amazing wet-on-wet method, and I feel as though he gave me a valuable gift, and I’d want to share that gift with you.”
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Ross’s relationship with Alexander got increasingly tense as his fame rose. In 1991, Alexander told The New York Times, “He deceived me.” “I invented ‘wet on wet,’ I trained him, and… he thinks he can do it better.”
Bob Ross Quotes
Believe me when we say that the voice of our favorite Painter, Bob Ross, is a natural insomnia cure. The way he presents his philosophical ideas with his soothing voice creates a sensation of ecstatic calm.
Furthermore, scientists have lately found “the Bob Ross effect” and stated that Ross was an unsuspecting pioneer of the brain-tingling feeling known as “ASMR” (or Auto Sensory Meridian Response”). ASMR induces blissful relaxation.
Here are some best quotes from Bob Ross from the Show The Joy of Painting and Ross from the book Happy Little Accidents: The Wit & Wisdom of Bob Ross:
- “This is your world. You’re the creator. Find freedom on this canvas Believe that you can do it,‘Cuz you can do it. You can do it.”
- “Let’s build a happy little cloud. Let’s build some happy little trees.”
- “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
- “I guess I’m a little weird. I like to talk to trees and animals. That’s okay, though; I have more fun than most people.”
- “The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.”
- “There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.”
- “let’s get a little crazy here.”
- “There’s nothing in the world that breeds success like success.”’
Who is Bob Ross Wife? | Bob Ross Personal Life
Throughout his life, Ross was married three times. Vivian Ridge was his first wife. He had one kid with his ex-wife Ridge, Robert Stephen “Steve” Ross. On occasion, Steve, a brilliant painter, appeared on The Joy of Painting and later became a Ross-certified instructor.
Steve made an appearance in the final episode of Season 1. Ross had one additional child from a previous relationship when he was a teenager.
Source: Instagram
The marriage of Ross and Ridge ended in divorce in 1977. Ross’s infidelity supposedly caused their divorce. Ross’s second wife’s name was Jane.
There were no children born to him and Jane Ross. Jane died of cancer in 1992. Ross married Lynda Brown for the third time two months before his death in 1995.
Ross was quite private about his life and enjoyed his solitude. The 2011 PBS documentary Bob Ross: The Happy Painter includes a few interviews with his close-knit group of friends and family.
Other communications were erased as part of a court settlement between Bob Ross Inc. and Ross’s family. Bob Ross Inc. guards its intellectual property.
Bob Ross Son Steve Ross
Many views include Steve Ross from the television show The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. Throughout ‘The Joy of Painting,’ Bob Ross referenced Steve, mentioning how his son makes a lot of money selling his paintings.
Steve Ross’s full name is Robert Stephen Ross on August 1, 1966, in the United States. Painter Steve is the son of Bob Ross, the host of The Joy of Painting (1983), and Vivian Ridge.
The Painter is 6 feet 5 inches tall, or 1.96 meters. Steve featured in 13 episodes of ‘The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.’ The most famously in the final episode of the first season, ‘Final Reflections,’ when he assists his father by addressing viewers’ queries, Painter Ross responds.
Steve’s mother had died while he was a child. He also lost his father in 1995. Ross was diagnosed with lymphoma that year, a rare and severe form of cancer with just a few months to survive.
Bob Ross Had An Affair With His Business Partner
This painter was a handsome man and indeed attracted a lot of women with his creativity and exclusive aura. According to his documentary, the painter had an alleged affair with Annette Kowalski.
The duo met after the lady attended one of Bob’s workshops. Annette was going through the death of her son and found solace in learning to paint.
In a video, the lady said, “I don’t know what you’ve got, but I think we ought to bottle it and sell it.”
After, they started working together on several projects. Things got out of hand when the duo decided to move in together. Annette has been featured in several episodes of The Joy of Painting.
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Soon after this, their relationship rumored swirled all over the world. However, in Bob’s documentary, his son revealed that they were having an affair while sipping a coffee from his mug.
Bob’s son also recalled the time when he heard an ongoing argument between his father and Jane when she got to know about the affair. He also added that the duo ah worked out their differences.
Despite all this, the duo never stopped working with each other. In contrast to this, Kowalskis denied the rumors and any link with the painter.
In addition to this, more than dozens of people who worked or knew ross very well declined to be interviewed for the documentary. They were afraid to go through legal retaliation.
Where Is Steve Ross Now?
Steve Ross is not a part of any television show, although he has lately returned to public painting. Steve has collaborated with his father’s old friend Dana Jeser to host a session on the wet-on-wet method pioneered by Bob Ross.
They, too, taught interested pupils how to produce magnificent landscape paintings using the alla-prima oil-painting technique, much like Bob.
Steve and Dana have held courses in Maryville, Tennessee, Winchester, Indiana, and Sterling, Colorado.
Is Bob Ross dead?- Cause of Death
Bob Ross died on July 4, 1995, in Orlando, Florida, at 52. The cause of death of Bob Ross was Lymphoma.
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For most of his adult life, Bob Ross was a chain smoker. Ross anticipated dying early and had several health issues during his life.
His ashes are buried at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida, behind a plaque that reads “Bob Ross; Television Artist.”
Ross hid his illness from the broader public; his cancer was not discovered outside his immediate family and friends until after he died.
What is Bob Ross’s Net Worth?
According to available information, Bob Ross’s net worth is $6 million. His income and net worth are derived from his different works.
Being in the military initially helped his net worth to increase. Later in life, his paintings, instructional TV presentations, and Bob Ross Inc. all contributed to the growth of his riches.
Social Media Presence
Bob, the painter, is nowhere to be found on social media platforms. He died in 1995, long before social media was introduced. He didn’t have a Facebook or a Twitter account.
To keep Bob Ross’s memory alive, fans worldwide post his photographs with the hashtag #BobRoss.
Interesting Facts
- During the COVID-19 epidemic, the BBC re-ran programs in the United Kingdom while most people were cooped up at home.
- Following Ross’s death, the Kowalskis took over control of the firm.
- Ross used a wet-on-wet oil painting technique over a thin base layer of wet paint. The painting could progress without first drying. The method used a limited selection of tools and colors that didn’t require a large investment of inexpensive equipment. Ross frequently recommended odorless paint thinner (odorless mineral spirits) for brush cleaning.
- Ross was well-known for saying things like “let’s add some happy little trees” when painting.
- His landscape paintings, which generally include mountains, lakes, snow, and log cabin settings, were inspired by his time in Alaska, where he spent most of his Air Force service.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What happened to Bob Ross?
Bob Ross died on July 4, 1995, in Orlando, Florida, at 52. The cause of death of Bob Ross was Lymphoma.
- Why is Bob Ross so famous?
Bob Ross, with his stunning and calm voice, everyone loved him. He became America’s most famous painter for his wet-on-wet paintings. . He was also renowned for his small chit chats such as “We don’t make mistakes; we have happy accidents,”
- Who is Bob Ross’s Son?
Steve Ross is the son of Bob Ross. Steve is also a famous painter and appeared in TV shows with his father.
