Bob Ross Death
Bob passed away on July 4, 1995 at the age of 52 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA. Bob's cause of death was lymphoma.
When did Bob Ross die?
July 4, 1995How did Bob Ross die? What was the cause of death?
LymphomaHow old was Bob Ross when died?
52Where did Bob Ross die? What was the location of death?
New Smyrna Beach, Florida, USA
Bob Ross Birthday and Date of Death
Bob Ross was born on October 29, 1942 and died on July 4, 1995. Bob was 52 years old at the time of death.
Birthday: October 29, 1942
Date of Death: July 4, 1995
Age at Death: 52
Bob Ross - Biography
Bob Ross was born on October 29, 1942 in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA as Robert Norman Ross. He was married to Lynda Lucille Freeman and Lynda Brown. He died on July 4, 1995 in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Ross went from being a public television personality in the 1980s and 1990s to being an Internet celebrity in the 21st century, becoming popular with fans on YouTube and many other websites after his death.
Ross used the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still-wet paint rather than waiting a lengthy amount of time to allow each layer of paint to dry. From the beginning, the program kept the selection of tools and colors simple so that viewers would not have to make large investments in expensive equipment. Ross frequently recommended odorless paint thinner (aka odorless mineral spirits) for brush cleaning. Combining the wet painting method with the use of large one- and two-inch brushes, as well as painting knives, allowed Ross to paint trees, clouds, mountains, and water in a matter of seconds. Each painting would start with simple strokes that appeared as nothing more than smudges of color. As he added more and more strokes, the blotches would transform into intricate landscapes.
Ross painted three versions of almost every painting featured on his show. The first was painted prior to taping, and sat on an easel, off-camera, during filming, where Ross used it as a reference to create the second copy—the one viewers actually watched him paint. After filming the episode, Ross painted a third, more detailed version for inclusion in his instructional books.
Ross had one son, Steven Ross, with his first wife, Vivian Ridge. Steven, also a talented painter, occasionally appeared on The Joy of Painting and became a Ross-certified instructor. Steven appeared on camera in the last episode of Season 1, in which he read a series of general "how-to" questions sent in by viewers during the season, and Bob answered them one at a time, technique by technique, until he had completed an entire painting.
Ross and Ridge's marriage ended in divorce in 1977. Ross and his second wife, Jane, had no children together. In 1992, Jane died of cancer. In 1995, two months before his death, Ross married for a third time to Lynda Brown.
Ross is known to have been very secretive about his life and had a great liking for privacy, with only a tight circle of friends. Some of only a few interviews with his close-knit circle of friends and his family can be found in the 2011 PBS documentary Bob Ross: The Happy Painter. His company, Bob Ross Inc., is protective of his intellectual property and his privacy to this day.
Ross was diagnosed with lymphoma in the spring of 1994, which eventually forced him to retire; the final episode of The Joy of Painting aired on May 17, 1994. He died at the age of 52 on July 4, 1995. His remains are interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Gotha, Florida, under a plaque marked: "Bob Ross; Television Artist". Ross kept his diagnosis a secret from the general public, and his lymphoma was not known outside of his circle of family and friends until after his death.
