A Bob Ross painting broke a record and helped "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" raise about $1.5 for public broadcasting stations.

Three original paintings by beloved TV artist Bob Ross sold for more than $600,000 at auction to benefit public broadcasting after stations were decimated by the Trump administration’s funding cuts.

The first of 30 Bob Ross paintings — many of them created live on the PBS series that made him a household name — have been auctioned off to support public television. Ross, with his distinctive afro, ...