What if I told you Michael Jordan asked for his autograph or that he went on an international tour with Magic Johnson? Your first guess probably wouldn’t be the Phoenix Suns Gorilla and certainly not, Bob Woolf.
Bob was the man inside the suit and behind the persona, pranks, stunts and schtick that lit up the NBA for 34 years. He wore the suit for the last time in 2021... ironically the first time his real name lit up Phoenix Arena at his retirement celebration.
“It was emotional because it was the end of something he had done for more than half my life,” Bob’s wife Malarie shares. “The finals championship was on the line, too.”
“It didn’t end in a championship, but that’s okay, I’m not bitter," Bob adds with a laugh.
I sat down with Bob and his wife Malarie to peel back the layers of his illustrious career as the Gorilla. And like a banana, the genuinely sweet stuff is what you didn’t see from the outside. Suns games were just 25% of his job; the rest was community work and philanthropy- the part Bob loved most.
Our friendship dates back nearly 40 years to our college days. Bob was a gymnast; Mal and I, ASU cheerleaders. I was also a bridesmaid at their fireworks-studded wedding at Gainey Ranch 30 years ago.
With a front row seat behind the curtain, I’ve wanted to tell this story since I became a journalist. Bob wasn’t just a clown (though he did a stint at Clown College)- he was the mastermind, the way Taylor Swift is to today’s music industry.
Everything you saw and heard, from the Evil Kneivel-style motorcycle jump at center court to Billy Idol’s “Money, Money” anthem underscoring the Gorilla’s groundbreaking “flip-dunk” off the trampoline, were all machinations of Bob’s mind. They were also all firsts.
He was the first to bungee jump, ascend or rappel in an arena, or pull a “Tarzan” and swing across the length of Chase Field… more than 240 feet up. He was also notably the first in the NBA to be inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. And when his age and injuries started to catch up with him, he created the first NBA Dunk Team to take some pressure off his own body.
I can also tell you what he wasn’t.
He wasn’t someone who sought celebrity status. He loved the anonymity of the mask. He wasn’t starstruck (except for Al McCoy), and he wasn’t your average scene-stealer. He was the scene… and often built it; constructing his own ramps and props into the wee hours of the night throughout his career.
“I’d go to bed and there would be a pile of wood in the garage. I’d wake up to find the Empire State Building,” says Mal.
The 25-foot Empire State replica was shipped to New York in four pieces for an NBA All-Star Game, where the Gorilla triumphantly climbed to the top mimicking the iconic movie scene. But in true Bob fashion, he took it to the next level dunking a basketball off it, bringing the crowd- including NBA Commissioner David Stern- to their feet. King Kong’s got nothing on Bob.
“It was kind of the talk of the game,” says Bob (proudly).
It was emblematic of the lengths he’d go for just a two-minute timeout, or to create one unforgettable moment. A mindset he carried from the very beginning, starting with his audition for the job back in July 1988.
“Boom! I busted through the back doors and I slid onto center court on my belly,” he shares with a grin. “I got into a handstand, put my hands in some shoes, and I did a moonwalk upside down, then backwards.”
It didn’t stop there.
Bob then jumped up onto the basketball hoop and stood up on the rim, pounding his chest, pointing down at the judges before flipping off onto the mat. To say he stuck the landing is an understatement.
The Suns later admitted it was that final move that clinched the job, though his quiet shyness in the sit-down interview nearly cost him the opportunity.
That timidity was something his parents, Ray and Marg Woolf, worried about when he was growing up in Great Falls, Montana. He preferred to spend hours in the basement working on quirky tricks… like spinning a basketball on one finger.
“I could rollerblade, rollerskate, skateboard, juggle. I did all these random things that didn’t add up to anything,” Bob says.
Then his mom put him in gymnastics because he was literally “climbing the walls” and that changed everything.
“Gymnastics was the vehicle,” Bob says, that carried him to State Championships, ASU and ultimately, the Phoenix Suns.
Bob’s mom was thrilled when he got the job as the Gorilla. His dad, an Air Force Fighter Pilot mechanic, was less enthused.
“He always wanted me in a suit and tie in the corporate world,” says Bob.
Well, truth be told, he did end up in a suit.
“I’m a true Gemini and there are two different parts of me.” Bob explains. “There’s that reserved guy, and then there’s the gorilla that pulled out the wild child inside me.”
Bob was a rare blend of athleticism and comedic genius, and for stunts like the one that stole the show at the 1998 All-Star Game, he calls it nothing more than “engineering and stupidity.” With a custom-built air ram, he catapulted himself from the three-point line to deliver a dunk that brought the house down.
“I wanted to be the first mascot to do it from the three-point line… ever.”
And when his crew set up the equipment beyond the arc, the whole place went eerily quiet. They knew they were about to witness something special.
“Everyone was paying attention on both sides; no one was paying attention to the coaches… not even the coaches,” Mal adds.
Then, Bob says, “I take the ball and thank God… nailed the first one! And the room erupted.”
It was one of countless Gorilla antics that etched history and routinely landed on SportsCenter’s “Play of the Day;” the flagship highlight reel of the ’80s and ’90s, which Bob often considered his report card.
None of these feats happened by accident, and Bob couldn’t have found a better partner than in Mal to green-light his often-outrageous ideas.
“I never worried because I knew how many hours of training and practice he put in” Mal says.
…Like when Bob teamed up with firefighters to master rappelling, or with circus performers and stunt coordinators to bring whatever wild idea he dreamed up to life.
There were also stunts and jokes that didn’t quite land. For example, the time a hot air balloon was supposed to drop him into a baseball stadium.
“It wasn’t a stunt… it was a (funny) fiasco.”
Few realize the Gorilla also performed at minor league games, like the time in Eugene, Oregon, when a hot-air balloon stunt went wrong and Bob dangled from a rope for nearly two miles before landing.
There was also the time the Gorilla poked fun at Oliver Miller’s weight gain- an old teammate and friend- before later issuing a public apology.
“I fell on the sword for that one,” acknowledging his skits generally got pre-approval. Sadly, Miller passed away earlier this year.
To Bob, the Gorilla was always an equal-opportunity prankster, never one to be intimidated… even by Hollywood royalty.
At a 2006 Clippers game, he wandered into a certain actress’s section to bang his drum and rally the defense, just as he always did. Instead of playing along, she unleashed a string of profanities and ordered him to leave. So, the Gorilla did.
“I let her think she won,” Bob chuckles. “But I came back five minutes later with a bigger drum.”
After the game, back out of costume, a well-meaning security guard introduced Bob to the actress: ‘This is Bob Woolf- he’s the Phoenix Suns Gorilla.’ Bob says as she promptly punched him in the face. He never pressed charges, but she was banned from the arena. And in true Gorilla fashion, Bob joked that he wanted to be the one to serve her the papers, though management vetoed that idea.
When asked what he kept from all those years as the Gorilla, Bob doesn’t hesitate: the original jersey. Not only did he design it himself, but it ultimately led to the career he has today.
Now, he’s back in the mascot game with Big Time Jerseys, working alongside the very woman who helped customize that jersey decades ago. Bob calls Patsy Elmer ‘a legend in her own industry;’ a seamstress to Shohei Ohtani, Wayne Gretzky, the Dodgers, and the Arizona Cardinals. Together, they’re launching a new division, with Bob serving as Director of Mascots and Promotions, right here in the Valley.
Beyond his latest endeavor, Bob focuses on his three grown kids: Peyton, set to make her movie debut in 2026; Zach, now working in Events Marketing at Phoenix Arena where he grew up watching his dad; and Mayson, pursuing a Physician Assistant career at Creighton (perhaps inspired by the many doctors Bob kept on speed dial).
They say they were all blown away by their dad’s retirement send-off, having no idea the lasting impact he made on the sport or the people around him. They just knew he had a cool job.
Four years later, Bob still can’t fight off tears when he talks about it.
“I’ve had many cool moments in my life… it gets me emotional. When all those people came to one room for me, it was big.”
Bob had earned the adoration of strangers and friends alike who knew him as the Gorilla, as Bob and as both. And as one of those people, I can say without hesitation, he is the best of both worlds.
Bob wasn’t just ‘The Michael Jordan of Mascots,’ as ESPN called him; he transformed sports entertainment itself. Had it been any other man, the industry would look very different today. Even his smaller innovations, like the t-shirt cannon, remain staples in arenas nationwide.
The boy from a Montana basement stepped into the spotlight at 23 and didn’t leave it until 57. Even his father, once skeptical, came to see it… telling him later in his career: “That suit is better than any corporate suit you could have ever put on.”
Fast break Q&A with Bob Woolf
The first thing that comes to mind when you hear “Charles Barkley”...
When Charles came, it exploded. He put us on the map. He’s a good person, too.
Tom Chambers?
Tom is a legend. He was the first free agent ever! He’s the reason why the arena was built downtown and is called the ‘House that Tom built.’
Kevin Johnson?
He came in, got his work done, and was out the door.
Steve Nash?
Hardest worker ever.
Dan Majerle?
Love him. We bonded because we both came in at the same time and were rookies together.
Jason Kidd?
I enjoyed watching him play and even followed him in college.
Devin Booker?
Aside from being talented, just a friendly guy.
Al McCoy?
Beyond personable.
When you’re in the same sentence and breath as Vince Scully and Harry Carey? Al McCoy… he’s legendary. I don’t get starstruck, but Al McCoy was the biggest name in my world at the time.
Al’s son called us and told us that he had passed and invited us to the funeral; it was so very moving. Steve Nash and Jerry spoke… such an honor to be there.
What about the Suns coaches?
I was friends with Cotton Fitzsimmons. We still see his wife JoAnn sometimes and attend all the events held in his memory. I became friends with Coach Jeff Hornacek… he was at our wedding, in addition to Frank Johnson and his wife.
About Kathleen Bade
Kathleen Bade is a 14-time Emmy award winning journalist, former TV news anchor of 30+ years, and Walter Cronkite School Hall of Fame Inductee at ASU. Follow her next chapter on Instagram @kathleenbade