The character of Foghorn Leghorn was directly inspired by the popular character of Senator Claghorn who was a blustering and bombastic Southern politician (played by Kenny Delmar who was a regular character on the Fred Allen radio show) . The rooster adopted many of Claghorn's catch phrases, such as "That's a joke, ah say, that's a joke, son." Delmar had based the character of Claghorn upon a Texas rancher who was fond of using the phrase .

Edward J. Claghorn was born on November 24, 1913.

Most are - Cleghorn is a variant of Claghorn. Check for the history of Claghorns of Martha's Vineyard to learn more.

One can"t definitively prove it, but it appears he was based on the colorful and somewaht controversial (and rotund, 300Lb Plus) senator Hoke Smith who was also from the South, I believe Georgia. Hoke Smith almost caused an airlliner crash by reuriing special load-and weight distribution allowanced by the flight engineer on the experimental Lawson Airliner, no crash happened, thankfully but loads had to be carefully off-set for the senator. It is rujmored the Flight engineer remarked to the Pilot, This thing wasn"t desigined to be a Bulk Carrier or tanker!

Kenny Delmar, originally from Boston, created the fictional Senator Claghorn in 1945. In a 1946 article in Life Magazine, Delmar credits a Texas rancher that he met while hitchhiking to California when he was 17 (1927) as the inspiration for Senator Claghorn. Delmar was 10 years old when Smith left the senate and 21 when Smith died. I can't imagine Smith was so memorable that he inspired the character 25 years after leaving the senate.

Yes he was. in 1885 i think.