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Ron Campbell can fashion a Rudolph out of balloons. But he never would. “If it ain’t in ‘The Night Before Christmas’,” Campbell says, “it ain’t happening. Nothing would be outside the scope of the legend. I look exactly like Santa, even the curly beard,” which takes an hour and 10 minutes with a hot iron every day to curl. His tailor-made Santa boots cost $712.00, and, beginning in November, Campbell polishes them every single day. Why? Because children get so excited they walk all over them.
Campbell was an 18-year-old college freshman when he answered an ad to give children rides in a horse-drawn sleigh on Christmas. “By the way,” his supervisor said, “We want you to wear this,” and handed him Santa suit. Despite not knowing Dasher from Dancer, or how to ho-ho-ho, Campbell calls the moment his epiphany. He went to law school, became a lawyer, and taught business law at North Carolina State Unniversity. But his true calling, for 51 years, has been being Santa Claus.
Ft. Bragg Operation Homefront, WRAL’s Coats for Kids, the Raleigh Christmas Parade for 18 years, the Duke and UNC children’s hospitals, and the Hispanic radio station Que Pasa’s holiday gathering are only a few of his stops. This year, he’ll be adding China to his map, and bringing along two elves who’ll speak both Mandarin and Chinese. “Children all over the world have a right to be loved,” Campbell says.
His voice is breathy, and, well, merry. “I work every year to try and be better, sound better, look better. I look for props – an old fashioned telephone, say, or a little globe to explain how I fly around the world. I bring a clock, to show I can stop time.”
Ron has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild for 42 years, and sees himself as a storytelling Santa. He coughs and splutters, a sound effect to having run into a flock of geese while guiding his sleigh through the frosty Christmas night. “My believing audience has aged out at the end of the seco
Campbell was an 18-year-old college freshman when he answered an ad to give children rides in a horse-drawn sleigh on Christmas. “By the way,” his supervisor said, “We want you to wear this,” and handed him Santa suit. Despite not knowing Dasher from Dancer, or how to ho-ho-ho, Campbell calls the moment his epiphany. He went to law school, became a lawyer, and taught business law at North Carolina State Unniversity. But his true calling, for 51 years, has been being Santa Claus.
Ft. Bragg Operation Homefront, WRAL’s Coats for Kids, the Raleigh Christmas Parade for 18 years, the Duke and UNC children’s hospitals, and the Hispanic radio station Que Pasa’s holiday gathering are only a few of his stops. This year, he’ll be adding China to his map, and bringing along two elves who’ll speak both Mandarin and Chinese. “Children all over the world have a right to be loved,” Campbell says.
His voice is breathy, and, well, merry. “I work every year to try and be better, sound better, look better. I look for props – an old fashioned telephone, say, or a little globe to explain how I fly around the world. I bring a clock, to show I can stop time.”
Ron has been a member of the Screen Actors Guild for 42 years, and sees himself as a storytelling Santa. He coughs and splutters, a sound effect to having run into a flock of geese while guiding his sleigh through the frosty Christmas night. “My believing audience has aged out at the end of the seco
