I remember before Bob Ross the show was hosted by this little pot bellied German man. He always wore old man safari shirts and spoke vit a vetty schrtronk oxzint.
He was fun to watch but not really that informative. He would be slapping up a tree, river, cloud, or whater ever and would be narrating "Zo chu do zee cloud like diiiis, und chu do der tree like diiis..." It was amazing how fast he could paint. He could really bring a painting to life by simply adding a few spots of white paint, or swiping the whole thing with a broad brush.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER!!
He was highly entertaining!
Patton Oswalt has an awesome bit on both of them (some NSFW language):
"Ven I paint my mind goes AWAY!"