Robert Norman "Bob" Ross (October 29, 1942 – July 4, 1995) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, art instructor, and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 host. He is best known as the creator and host of The Joy of Painting

The Joy of Painting

The Joy of Painting was an American television show hosted by painter Bob Ross that taught its viewers basic techniques for landscape oil painting. Although Bob Ross could complete a painting in half an hour, the intent of the show was not to teach viewers speed painting. Rather, he intended for...

, a television program that ran for 12 years on PBS stations in the United States.
Ross was born in Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...

, and attended school until the ninth grade. Raised in Orlando, Florida

Orlando, Florida

Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

, Ross enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 18 and was living in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 early in his military career when the Air Force transferred him to Eielson AFB (in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

), where he first saw the snow and mountains that later became recurring themes in his artwork; he developed his quick-painting technique in order to be able to create art for sale in brief daily work breaks.