By Steffen Klenk
For the last 35 years, South Jersey resident Suzanne Muldowney has been a fixture at parades and events up and down the East Coast. Her elaborate costumes and dance moves are captivating to the eye. She is noted for her frequent appearance as the cartoon superhero basset hound Underdog. This year marks the 60th anniversary since the cartoon’s debut appearance on TV, and Muldowney is doing all that she can to preserve the character’s memory.
Muldowney was born in Camden in 1952 and became attracted to stage acting and dance at an early age. According to her website, she says her fascination with Underdog began several years before the show came to be. At the age of 6, she began watching the vintage Superman series starring George Reeves. What she has enjoyed the most is the aerial element. “I would always await his next ‘flight’”, she states in a blog entry.
But it wasn’t until October 3, 1964, when Underdog made its first television appearance. At the time, it was one of the first Saturday morning cartoons and ran a total of 62 episodes.
In an exclusive interview with Shore Local, Muldowney says it took her 15 and ½ months to create this year’s Underdog costume for the Doo Dah Parade, a red costume with the letter U on the front, made from elaborate materials and rhinestones. “It is one of the most ambitious costumes I’ve ever made because of the extent of decorations and the raw materials, also the fact that I did every stitch by hand.”
Muldowney described her costume-making process, saying she figures out her objective, in terms of performance, before stitching. “Underdog was the first character I could portray effectively through dance,” she says. “I use dancing for his acts of goodwill, rescues, or fighting crime. When it comes to flying, I have to use steps without being hooked up to an apparatus.”
To this day, interoperative dancing and choreography is a major part of Muldowney’s performance during her various parade appearances. “Anytime I turn a corner, I make an artistic series of movements to give the impression that I’m banking.”
According to Muldowney, she has appeared in every Doo Dah Parade since 1989, a year that also marked a significant milestone for the Underdog character. “It was Underdog’s 25th anniversary, so I had to make sure to have a lot of silver on my costume.”
Occasionally, you may find Muldowney appearing at other local events performing as different characters. On Friday, May 24th, she will lead the Business Persons Plunge in Ocean City, on the beach next to Music Pier, as ‘Shelly the South Jersey Shore Mermaid’. She is also slated to appear in nearby Haddonfield for the city’s annual Fourth of July Parade.
You can find a full collection of archival pictures, blog posts, and all things Suzanne by visiting her website at www.suzannemuldowney.com.
Steffen Klenk is a photographer and multimedia journalist who enjoys capturing the eclectic moments of shore life. You may contact Steffen at shorelocalsteffen@gmail.com.
