Paul Gutheil: Leo Acton

A Paul Gutheil portrait of longtime veteran of the recent Ringling Alleys, Leo Acton.

For more info on Leo, please click the title of this post.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Clown!

Birthday greetings go out today to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College graduate, former Ringling road clown, longtime Ronald and "Clown Arts" educator, the one and only "Mr. Clown"...Earl Chaney.

Happy Birthday sir!

Paul Gutheil: Le Clown Gordoon

Photo by Paul Gutheil



Another great Paul Gutheil photo, this one of Ringling Clown College graduate and longtime star of the Big Apple Circus, Jeff "Le Clown Gordoon" Gordon seen here doing the multi-leg bit.

Jeff is the creator of the classic clown bit with the leaf blower and the toilet paper, the one that's been ripped off almost as many times than the bit with the audience volunteers and the four chairs. It's a contemporary classic, on par with the Washerwoman Gag in how unbelievably quickly it spread throughout the industry and became a "standard". But it isn't really a standard. It's Jeff's act, which he's still doing.

There are many variations on the idea out there but until you've seen Jeff's version, well... "You Ain't Seen Nothin'!"

Paul Gutheil: Dusty Sadler

Saturday's photo by E.J. Kelty got me thinking about circus photographers so this week we are going to feature shots taken by, IMHO, the BEST contemporary circus photographer in America, Mr. Paul Gutheil.

This is an example of one of Mr. Gutheil's candid portraits, a shot of Dusty Sadler taken, post-show, while on the Roberts Bros. Circus.

Joe Jackson Jr.

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygurl


Another great find by circusbtterflygurl, it's Joe Jackson Jr.'s promo photo with hsi contact info on the back. There doesn't seem to be any clue as to the year but the stamp shows that this was used at a theater in Berlin, so it's sometime after 1945. My guess it's from the mid 50s to early 60s.

Kelty Photograph of the 1934 Ringling Alley

Photo courtesy of Rik gern


Felix Adler, Lou Jacobs, Charlie Bell, Chesty Mortimer, Paul Wenzel, Jack LeClair, Gijon Polidor, Prince Paul... some of the first half of the 20th century's best Ringling clowns as photographed by one of the era's greatest circus photographers, E.J. Kelty.

For more info on Mr. Kelty's photographs and an excellent DVD on his life and work please click on the title of this post.

Henry Fonda as Emmett Kelly in CLOWN

Academy Award, Emmy Award, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner Henry Fonda in the General Electric Theater television adaption of Emmett Kelly's autobiography, CLOWN which premiered March 27, 1955.

Look for fellow Academy Award winner Dorothy Malone as Emmett's first wife, Eva and longtime actor, Spike Jones sideman and future Little People of America founder Billy Barty as a member of Clown Alley.

I sure wish I could come up with a lifetime's worth of great material off-the cuff and in under a half an hour!

Ain't T.V. great? : )

Emmett Kelly: Sweeping Up the Spotlight Gag (1967)

Every artist dreams of painting their masterpiece. This is Emmett's.

Not the funniest gag in the circus world, but inarguably the best known and the one that resonated the strongest with 20th century American circus audiences. This gag was bigger than big, huger than huge and elevated Emmett into a whole different level of celebrity, one that tracended mere "circus star" (such as Clyde Beatty, Gunther Gebel-Williams or the Flying Wallendas) and made him a bona-fide household name.

Credit goes out not only to Emmett for creating and performing the gag but also to John Ringling North and his production team for knowing how to showcase it so well.

This clip is from the 1967 film THE CLOWN AND THE KIDS, made at the tail end of Emmett's circus career, so it may not be performed here precisely as audiences might have seen it in the late 40s or early 50s but it does provide us a valuable document of this important gag.

Emmett Kelly: Feather Balancing Gag

Video of Emmett performing his Feather Balancing Gag on an early (unidentified) television show.

Emmett Kelly: DuPont Show of the Week (1962)

A friend recently took me to task for ignoring Emmett Kelly on this blog. It's true. In over 700 posts I don't think Emmett appears here more than 4 or 5 times.

I think it's because Emmett doesn't need me, or anyone, to shine the spolight on him. He's a star. Emmett is still one of the best known circus performers in America and his name and likeness continue to resonate with audiences.

But that's no excuse for excluding him.

So here he is, the legendary Emmett Kelly as star and narrator of a television special entitled CIRCUS (co-written by future Clown College Director Bill Ballantine) which aired as an episode of THE DUPONT SHOW OF THE WEEK in 1962.

Emmett is seen with his trunk, in the Alley of the early 60s Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Clown Alley (alongside Kenny Dodd, Lou Nagy and Eddie Dullam seen performing the Washerwoman Gag) and at his home in Sarasota, FL.

Ft Worth Shrine Circus Clown Alley 1958

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong


Not sure about the little people down front but the clown cop on the left looks like Charlie Lewis, that's Peluza one and a half guys in on the right (in his Jimmy Stewart GSOE inspired makeup) and that may be George LaSalle in the center with Connie Wilson to his immediate left.

The one person that I'd NEVER be able to identify if it weren't for Bill telling me is the person to the immediate right of George LaSalle. That's Dime Wilson is his usual tramp costume but wearing his old whiteface makeup for this one date only.


Please click on the title of this post to be taken to Bill's excellent circus blog, YESTERDAY'S TOWNS.

Milton Berle: Always Leave Them Laughing

The opening scene (according to the film, a nightclub in beautiful downtown Asbury Park, NJ) from Milton Berle's 1949 film ALWAYS LEAVE THEM LAUGHING.

Doodles and Lou

Bob "Doodles" Kelmer, star clown at the Circus World Museum last summer, looks on in loving reverance at the legend that looms large before him.

Rudy Coby: 4 Legs

Rudy Coby "The Coolest Magician on Earth" performing the Multi-Leg Gag I enjoy Jeff "Le Clown Gordoon" Gordon's version very much but I think my favorite is Geoff Hoyle's.

Otto on Cole Bros.

Photos courtesy of "circusbutterflygurl"


Otto in the Cole Bros. Clown Alley, September 21, 1937.

Apparently, back in the late 30s Otto's trunk was spotted in the Alley right next to that of Busta Rhymes. Who-HA!



Otto (supporting the troops in his own fashion) seems smitten with Ensign Betty Bayly, October 2, 1943.

Yo, dog! Circusbutterflygurl points out that Ensign Betty appears amused to the point of throwing down gang signs. DANG!



Once again making "moonsie-moonsie and tootsie-tootsie" by flashing his puppy dog eyes at a female fan in the seats in this photo dated September 27, 1937. Looking on are Hollywood stars Helen Broderick and Victor Moore.

His partner looks, to me, to be Happy Kellams.

The Banana Men

Clips of both A. Robins and Sam Levine, the performers known to audiences as "The Banana Man".

First up is a clip of A. Robins (although this is in dispute as Robins would have been 61 years old when this 1947 film was made 1947 and the performer seen here doesn't look a day older than the A. Robins seen in the 1939 Red Skelton short SEEING RED), originally known to vaudeville audiences as "The Walking Music Store" or "The One Man Music Store".

Robins, a talented NY area toy and prop maker as well as vaudeville and circus clown built all of his own props. Over time he added big bunches of his spring-loaded fruit to the enormous list of musical intruments he could load into his oversized coat, including (seemingly) hundreds and hundreds of bananas, hence the change in billing to "A. Robins: The Banana Man".

Robins passed away in the early 50s. It is uncertain if he trained his successor, Sam Levine, personally or Mr. Levine was trained by their agent, Max Roach.

Either way, Mr. Levine assumed the mantle of "The Banana Man" in the early 50s and kept Mr. Robins' unique brand of visual comedy alive on many, many television programs throughout the 50s, 60s and into the early 70s. He is probably best remembered for his numerous appearances on "Captain Kangaroo" throughout those years.

The clip of Mr. Robins (or Mr. Robins' unknown immediate successor) is taken from the 1947 film MOTHER WORE TIGHTS.

The clip of Mr. Levine is from late in his career and is believed to be from an early 70s (possibly his final) appearance on CAPTAIN KANGAROO.



For more information on The Banana Man act and character, please click the title of this post to be taken to Rhett Bryson's excellent tribute page.

Mark Anthony: Figurines

Photos courtesy of Rik Gern with special permission from the Mark Anthony Collection of Wayne and Marty Scott


Just a few of the hundreds of highly detailed wooden figurines that Mark carved of some of his favorite clowns. Rik spent a weekend at the home of Wayne and Marty Scott photgraphing the figurines and other of Mark's work for a special project that he's working on as a tribute to one of his heroes.

Mark Anthony: Publicity Photos

Photos courtesy of Rik Gern with special permission from the Mark Anthony Collection of Wayne and Marty Scott









Some unused publicity photos of Mark, late in his career, that most likely haven't seen the light of day since the time that they were taken.

Mark Anthony: ICHoF Induction Bio

Mark's brief video bio from his induction among the first group of International Clown Hall of Fame honorees in 1989.

For more on the ICHoF please click the title of this post but be warned, the site hasn't been updated in quite some time and I don't believe that any of the email links are valid anymore.

Anyone with more info on the current state of the ICHoF PLEASE let me know. If Wisconsin isn't working out for them perhaps they'd like to move it here to the Jersey Shore ; )

Linon on Hollywood Palace

Alongside Pio Nock and Walter Galetti, Belgian born Linon is fondly remembered as one of the all time great wire-walking clowns. He is seen here performing on Hollywood Palace on December 26, 1967. The episode was hosted by Jimmy Durante (whom Linon doubled for in the film JUMBO) and Anissa Jones.

PETER PITOFSKY Venice Beach

Legendary ex-Ringling clown Peter Pitofsky (Comic Strip Live, Tonight Show, Arsinio Hall Show, MADhattan, The Aristocrats) performing on Venice Beach.

Peter can currently be seen (working alongside Pickle Family Circus alum Geoff Hoyle) in Seattle's Teatro Zin Zanni. To find more on the show please click the title of this post.

Ed Alonzo Performs the Knife Thrower

Comedy Magician Ed Alonzo performs the classic Knife Thrower Gag.


Please click the title of this post to visit Mr. Alonzo's website.

Otto at the Boston Garden

Otto Griebling makes his point to two year old Karen Nardironiant during a May 1960 performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Boston Garden.

CLOWN ALLEY A&E's Under the Big Top Part Two

From the A&E special UNDER THE BIG TOP, a look at some of contemporary American circus clowning's leading lights interviewed about their craft.

More with Jason T. Stewart (Whiteface), Barry Lubin (Auguste) and Tom Dougherty (Character) and a great historical clip of Jack LeClair performing his "Blowing Up the Fat Man" gag.

Tom Piccard

From former road clown and Circus World producing clown Tom Piccard...

________________________________________________

I guess always was a clown..at age 12 ...I worked in a small one ring open air circus...After the army I was playing drums and tour with different bands.

At one point I was off the road for awhile I started putting together my first clown character. It made it as a regular on a morning Kiddie TV show called THE OLD REBEL SHOW.

While on that show one morning a clown who was doing the advance for the Blue unit of RBBB was on the show to promote the coming Circus, I think his name was Troy Straight and he invited me to the show and introduced me to Mark Anthony...It would a few years later that I would run into Mark in Orlando doing a magic convention and selling his foam carvings.
He had been fired from the show over a $5.00 pay dispute with Irvin Feld..And was living at Marty and Wayne Scott's home in Howie in the Hills..he invited me to come out for a visit .

The visit turned into a one month stay and a complete training course into foam prop making...Later I toured with Mark on the Gatty Circus ..Aside from that I clowned at Circus Hall of fame..and later worked at Circus World..I left the main stream end of the circus Biz and went independent in 1982.After the untimely death of my Older Brother, BUT Continued to Clown at Race tracks and other large events...and in 1986 took my clown rag's and props to Italy...Touring for 3 months with Cellini the magician and Birdie McClain the Juggler..I continue to clown with out the nose and make-up now as I can be just as funny without it..the BIG RED NOSE IS GONE ,but the clown in me will never die until I do...

_________________________________________________


To visit Mr. Piccard's myspace page please click the title of this post.

CLOWN ALLEY A&E's Under the Big Top Part One

From the A&E special UNDER THE BIG TOP, a look at some of contemporary American circus clowning's leading lights being interviewed about their craft.

We have Jason T. Stewart (Whiteface) as well as 2007 Felix B. Adler Award winners Barry Lubin (Auguste) and Tom Dougherty (Character) with a brief cameo by fellow 2007 winner Greg DeSanto and appearances by Mitch Freddes, Alan Ware and Bryan Fulton.

Sylvester the Jester

Dan "Sylvester the Jester" Battagline, A Real Live Cartoon, with more great clown gags per second than 100 circuses.

For more on Sylvester the Jester please click on the title of this post.

Glen "Kinko" Sunberry on the Grotto Circus 1950s

Kinko Sunberry performing his comedy contortion act at the Grotto Circus in Toledo, OH "back in the day".

Happy Valentines Day!

Earl Shipley

A publicity photo of Earl Shipley. I don't recognize the woman but the photo looks to have been taken towards the end of Earl's long career, when he was doing advance work for Ringling in the 50s.

CLOWN ALLEY Shrine Circus CT 1940s

Left to right Al Florenze, Billy Price, Slivers Johnson, Guby Deko, Jimmy Davidson, Gil Corbin, Rube Simmons, Herb Taylor.

CLOWN ALLEY Ringling 1965

Ed Wynn performs a teeterboard gag with members of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown Alley.

Look for Michael "Coco" Poliakovs, "Prince Paul" Alpert, Duane "Uncle Soapy" Thorpe, Gene Lewis and Albert "Flo" White (in his final Ringling season) as the nurse.

Jack LeClair

I don't have the horseback riders name but the clown is none other than Jack LeClair, creator of several classic gags including Blowing Up the Fat Man, and father of Jackie LeClaire, himself a longtime fixture of the Alley of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and (I recently found out) the toast of Paris when the Ringling show played there in the 1960s.

Mystery Clown

Unidentified clown holding what looks like a figure skate.

Glen "Kinko" Sunberry on the Gil Gray Circus 1950s

Glen "Kinko" Sunberry performing his midget car entrance and the contortion act with a barrel that he performed first in vaudeville and then in circuses beginning in the 20s and going all the way up to the late 60s.

I don't know what became of his "Squat Car" but the barrel was purchased by Bill Ballentine after Kinko retired and brought to Clown College in Venice, FL.

In 1974 Lou Jacobs gave it to Mitch Freddes, who has performed with it ever since using it on the Ringling Gold (Hometown) Unit as recently as just a few years ago.

Joe Jackson Jr.

I apologize for having to chop this into two parts. The act runs almost 12 minutes, which is two minutes longer than YouTube allows, so I had to cut it.




Joe Jackson Sr.



Joe Jackson Sr. (1873 – 1942) was born as Joseph Francis Jiranek in Vienna, Austria. He was Austrian cycling champion, and a member of a world champion bicycle polo team before he became an entertainer. He started with a serious bike riding act, and then developed it into a comedy break. Preferring intimate settings, Jackson worked almost exclusively in Vaudeville and European one-ring circuses. His act took him to England, the European Continent, Russia, Siberia, Turkey, and most of the United States. He encouraged his son to take over the act and it was performed by either father or son for over 100 years. Following a performance at New York's Roxy Theater, he took several curtain calls, and then died in the wings. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1994.

~From Wikipedia

More of Johnny Puleo and the Harmonica Gang

Performing some different material that we've seen them do with Milton Berle; Johnny Puleo and the Harmonica Gang on Hollywood Palace, December 31, 1966.

Toto

Photo courtesy of Marcelo "Pepo" Melison



Marcelo found this photo of famous Viennese clown Toto in a collection of photos from a Spanish scrapbook. Here we see the clown who seems to have developed the idea that Lou Jacobs later perfected with his famous midget car gag.

It's easy to imagine that Lou might have seen this act in vaudeville back in Germany, when he was part of an acrobatic act in those "musik hall" days.

Interesting to note; in Toto's case, the car didn't run on its own, but it was pulled on stage by an assistant on the other side of the wings, via the very practical method of... pulling a rope. Of course, Lou Jacobs polished the original idea by giving the car an engine, and a complete routine to go with it. Toto seemed to have just used his for an entrance.

Many other clowns after Lou used the midget car in much the same way Toto did, as an entrance. Bobo Barnett, Kinko Sunbury, Mark Anthony, Hip Raymond, Frankie Schmitz... a great prop that circus audiences have come to expect but rarely see today.

Rivel Trio/Andreu Family

Photo courtesy of Marcelo "Pepo" Melison



A page from a 1927 German circus program that shows photos of the Rivel Trio and Andreu Family featuring Charlie Rivel's uncanny Chaplin impersonation on the trapeze.

Very interesting to take a look at Charlie Rivel's original auguste makeup (in the lower right corner), quite different from the one we all know, but keeping with the same idea.

But I notice he didn't include any pictures of THAT face in his autobiography!

CLOWN ALLEY RBB&B 120th Edition Blue Unit

Members of the Clown Alley of the 120th edition Blue Unit of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

This segment is hosted by Greg DeSanto and features appearances by Jon Weiss (Ladder Balance and Vet Gag), Huel Speight (Juggling), Tom and Tammy Parrish (Pass Juggling and Proud Parents) , Chris Allison (Ball Spinning and "108"), David Kiser (Laughing and Aardvark Owner), Marge Talavera (Stuffed Into a Road Box), Kevin Thompson (He Who Gets Slapped) and Scott Linker (Gas Mask).

Coco the Clown

Photo courtesy of Tom Piccard



You have now been properly complimented and goodly wished by the famous star of the Bertram Mills Circus, Coco the Clown.

Coco and Winnie

Photo courtesy of Tom Piccard



Nicolai "Coco" Polaikovs (or Poliakoff) with British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.

The Harmonica Gang on Hollywood Palace

A compliment to my earlier post featuring Johnny Puleo and the Harmonica Rascals performing with Milton Berle on Texaco Star Theater in the late forties, here's Berle with Puleo and the Hamonica Gang on Hollywood Palace in the mid-sixties.

A. Robins from SEEING RED (1939)

I can't take credit for presenting this one, although I wish that I could. I've got two copies of this scene from the 1939 film SEEING RED, each with a flaw. I was hunting down a new copy when I saw that someone had beaten me to the punch and posted it to YouTube the other day.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in one of only two known film appearances, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the extremely inventive Mr. A. Robins, originally known as the "One Man Music Shop" or "The Walking Music Shop" and later simply as "The Banana Man".

This is not Sam Levine, the man who later presented the same act (with the same props) on television from the 40s through the 70s, this is the original Banana Man himself.

Mr. Robins was the featured clown on Ringling's 1943 Madison Square Garden spectacular entitled Spangles.


For more on A. Robins, Sam Levine and the Banana Man act please click the title of this post.



From Mark Evanier's blog NEWS FROM ME...

A man named A. Robins started doing his odd act in the days of vaudeville, occasionally venturing into circuses. It was an act that basically consisted of him taking things out of his pockets and using his voice, sometimes with the aid of a kazoo-like device, to provide the sounds of musical props. In most appearances, he'd drop the items he produced into a large chest which would eventually turn into a train — sometimes with many cars — and he'd ride it off stage at the end.

Originally, the act was called "The Walking Music Shop" but he spent so much of his on-stage time finding stalks of bananas in his pockets that he came to be known as "The Banana Man."

Mr. Robins, who was also a toy and propmaker, performed his unnatural act until around the end of World War II. In the fifties, The Banana Man was a frequent guest on all the live kids' shows of that era (Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo, etc.) and even on variety shows for adults, including Ed Sullivan's. By this time, the act and its unique props were in the hands of a man named Sam Levine, though he was never billed as anything but The Banana Man. Once in a while, he was even billed as "A. Robins, The Banana Man," even though the first A. Robins — whose real name was Adolph Proper — passed away around 1950.

Among folks who study such matters, there is some argument as to whether someone else (or maybe even several someone elses) performed as The Banana Man after the act's originator sold it off and before Levine assumed the role. In any case, Levine was the guy I saw on all those shows and he was mesmerizing. I couldn't take my eyes off this odd man when he was on TV. Neither could most of my friends, and we all tried to mimic his bizarre, high-pitched humming, sometimes merging it with impressions of Curly Howard. He seems to have retired in the mid-sixties but his haunting song lingers on.

The following clip is introduced by a youthful Red Skelton. It's from a 1939 short film called Seeing Red, and it's one of the few times Robins performed on film...and as I said, it's a very short version of what he did on stage. In fact, he doesn't even get around to producing any bananas. Oddly enough, although Sam Levine did the act on hundreds of TV shows, clips of him are equally hard to come by.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the winners of the 1st annual Felix B. Adler Awards for American Circus Clowning:




1) OTTO GRIEBLING AWARD: Tom Dougherty (Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Hometown Edition)


2) PAUL JUNG AWARD: Greg and Karen DeSanto (The Big Apple Circus)


3) LOU JACOBS LIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT AWARD: Barry Lubin



Congratulations to each and every one of our winners as well as our many nominees. You are the beacon that lights the way to American circus clowning in the 21st century.

Thank you.

George Carl at Play

Incredible footage posted to YouTube by a family member of the man they knew as "Uncle George" back in the 60's practicing in their front yard in Mineral Ridge, Ohio.

In this video we see him demonstrating both his manipulation skills as well as the acrobatic abilities he'd learned and honed while circus clowning as a younger man.

THE POLLS ARE STILL OPEN!

Ladies and Gentlemen, the polls are still open and votes are being taken for the 1st annual Felix B. Adler Awards for American Circus Clowning.

If you have not already done so, cast your votes in the following catagories:



1) OTTO GRIEBLING AWARD: solo circus clowning


2) PAUL JUNG AWARD: for ensemble circus clowning (duos, trios, alleys)


3) LOU JACOBS LIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT AWARD: Awarded for a lifetime's work dedicated to the advancement of American circus clowning.




CRITEREA FOR ELIGIBILITY:

Nominees for the Griebling and Jung awards must have appeared in an American CIRCUS, or a CIRCUS that worked within the 50 United States or their territories, in the year 2006.

Nominees for the Jacobs award must have careers in circus clowning and/or teaching that span a minimum of 20 years.




VOTING:

Votes should be sent to:

cashincomedy@mac.com

only one vote per email address account will be accepted.


Votes will be accepted today, right up until kickoff.



Winners will be announced here today during halftime of Super Bowl XLI.

Fred Garbo

A promotional video for one of the most unique theatrical experiences I've ever been witness to, Fred Garbo's Inflatable Theater Co., starring Fred Garbo and Daielma Santos.

Fred is not only an inspired performer but is also a wonderful teacher, having taught at Ringling Clown College, Motionfest and Minifest.

For more on Fred, Daielma and the Inflatable Theater Co. please click on the title of this post

Monday & Lubin: Disneyland Circus Fantasy

Former Clown College Director and NY Goofs co-founder Dick Monday with longtime friend (and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College class of '74 classmate) Barry "Grandma" Lubin, star of the Big Apple Circus.

They are seen here performing together at Disneyland's Circus Fantasy in the mid- 80s.

Circus Herman Renz

Another saw playing clown, this one from Circus Herman Renz.

More of The Nitwits

The Nitwits on Hollywood Palace 9/19/67.

Grandma in Budapest

My very favorite contemporary American circus clown in a gag that showcases his unique approach and style. Barry Lubin, performing as "Grandma", at the 6th annual Circus Festival of Budapest in January, 2006.






Barry Lubin

Barry Lubin, recently inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame, is an inventive, creative clown most familiar to American circus audiences as "Grandma", the eager and adored star of the Big Apple Circus.

A member of the 1974 class of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, he performed for 5 years with the Greatest Show on Earth. He also performed at the prestigious International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo in 1977. Since 1982, Barry has been featured in 15 productions of the Big Apple Circus and has become that show's Director of Clowning conceiving, co-writing and starring in the Big Apple Circus' production Grandma Goes to Hollywood.

Outside the ring he has appeared (sans makeup) 4 times on the Late Show with David Letterman. His directorial credits include comedy segments for music videos on MTV, Snappy Dance Company in Boston and CBS's Circus of the Stars. He was a creative consultant for NBC's Cheers, and served as Executive Producer, Creator, and Writer of two pilots for Nickelodeon Networks along with partner Yvette Kaplan, for which he also starred. He directed Cousin Grumpy's comedy pig act, Carlos Swenson's comedy horse act, and his cat, Romeo, making him America's Foremost Animal Comedy Director.

His proudest achievements, besides doing a headstand onto a whoopee cushion at Carnegie Hall, are his two daughters, Danielle and Emily.

~ Wikipedia Entry on Barry Lubin

Beatty-Cole Alley: Man On the Flying Trapeze (1971)

The classic Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Clown Alley of the late 60s and early 70s (featuring such luminaries as Jimmy James, Kenny Dodd, Lou Nagy, Shorty Hinkle and my pal, Bernie Kallman) in scenes from George Plimpton's 1971 television special THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE.

Look for Jimmy James performing the same cigar box gag that George Carl did on Hollywood Palace, Bernie Kallman's binoculars walkaround (created by Bernie and built by Elsie Jung's Gag Factory) the blowoff to the Levitation Gag, Lou Nagy, Jimmy James and Kenny Dodd applying their makeup and a performance of Paul Jung's Atom Smasher gag with Shorty Hinkle as the blowoff.

Coco and Minnie

Mike "Coco" Poliakovs, one of the great clowns of the American circus, with Minnie Pearl, one of the great clowns of stage and television, as she practices her whistle blowing in preparation for acting as Guest Ringmaster of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the late 60s.

Tommy Hanneford on Hollywood Palace (1967)

Tommy Hanneford was known as "The Riding Fool" and "The Funniest Man on Horseback" and with his sister, mother and father presented what was considered one of the greatest and most entertaining bareback act in circus history.

From his birth, September 27, 1927, until his death, Tommy was the consumate performer and circus producer. He once said; “As many times as I have heard the announcement (“And now the Riding Hannefords featuring Tommy Hanneford”) in my lifetime, I have never gotten over the thrill associated with them. The smells, sights and sounds of the circus, the applause, the thrill of a standing ovation -- circus is my life, not a way of life. Struppi says I truly have sawdust in my veins”

Tommy is recorded as a circus performer as early as April of 1933 with the Downie Brothers Circus. At the time, he was a clown and only 5 years old.

Born into the circus, from the famous Hanneford family who have been associated with the circus for close to three centuries, Tommy was the son of George Hanneford, Sr. and Catherine Breen, and was the nephew of the famous “Poodles” Hanneford. Tommy learned to ride as soon as he could walk and for years was the:”Riding Fool” of the family act, the King of the comedy riding act.

Upon Tommy's retirement from performing the "Riding Fool act was performed by Mark Karoly, trained by Tommy to continue in the Hanneford clowning tradition of expert horsemanship. The son of Evy Karoly, another bareback and dressage rider, Mark had a daring routine, including a horse-to-horse somersault with a full twist, which gives a good indication of the demands made on the great riding clowns of the past. In one hilarious routine that always brings roars of laughter, he is energetically propelled by a companion head-first into the south end of a very tolerant and large horse. Mark himself retired from performing in 2005.

When his performing career was over, Tommy became the producer of “The Royal Hanneford Circus”, one of the outstanding circuses in the United States, at times having as many as five shows going at the same time. For many years he produced the circus for the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee, and for the major shrine and fair dates, including the “Big E,” the gigantic Eastern States Exposition.

He also was a technical advisor for many tv productions, as well as the motion picture “Barnum” starring Burt Lancaster.

He once said: “ For me there is no life without the circus, circus is my life! As long as I have a breath of life, I will do my utmost to bring to you only the best of the circus. for alas, in my heart, I am just like the rest of you, a circus fan to the end.”

Happy National Gorilla Suit Day!

Shane Cashin, age 4, prepares for the National Gorilla Suit Day festivities at his school.




Shane Cashin (still age 4) explains the wonders of National Gorilla Suit Day to Ms. Diana's pre-school class at Seashore School in Long Branch, NJ.

From Wayne Sidley: Ringling Blue 112th

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey 112th edition Blue Unit Clown Alley

For more on Pastor Wayne Sidley and what he's been up to since leaving the circus, please click on the title of this post.

From Wayne Sidley: Ringling Red 1983

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Red Unit Clown Alley 1983

From Wayne Sidley: Ringling Red 1984

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Red Unit Clown Alley 1984

From Wayne Sidley: Circus World

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus World Clown Alley (undated)


For more information of Circus World, click the title of this post.

George Hanneford Jr, Ringling/Barnum 1965

GEORGE HANNEFORD Jr.

George Hanneford Jr., the eldest son of William George Sanger Hanneford, nephew of the famous Poodles, was born in 1923. Until the age of about 14 he spent most of the time in school - spending his summers, along with his brother Tommy, working the circus with his family (including the Tom Mix Circus, Downey Bros., and the Hamid-Morton Circus).

When he was old enough he joined in the riding act until he was drafted in the army at age 18. During this period he worked the army shows doing his riding act on a horse used to pull the manure wagon. After a stint overseas with the 24th Infantry Division in Mindanao he was discharged and returned to work with the family riding act - George eventually taking over his fathers routines as straight man stunt rider to his brother Tommy's comedy routines, with their sister Kay (modeled on the original Poodles/George Hanneford riding act).

In 1950 George met Mary Victoria George and the two married in 1952. Vicki started working as a performer at the age of 10 with the Hamid-Morton Circus as an aerialist. Though not from a circus family she soon fell in love with it when her dancing school was hired to work with a Shrine Circus show for a season in her home town of Atlanta, Georgia. The producer of the aerial ballet and showgirl routines, Peaches O'Neill, took a shine to the young Vicki and eventually invited her on the tour with the show after getting permission from her parents. She then joined the Berosini high wire act, left to try modeling, but returned to join the "Simru Sky Review-Dancing in the Sky" act of 12 girls, then joined the famous Wallenda's high wire act.

After they were married they decided to start their own act together. George had hurt his knee during a trampoline act and needed to find something new. He started practicing balancing a high pole, called a perch, and Vicki, already a trapeze artist, was able to climb up and do her trapeze act atop the pole rig. Then they added George's sister Kay to the act and "The Georgians" were born.

After they split from the main family, and went out on their own, they formed their own riding act and were booked on the Ringling show, from '61 to '65, doing both perch and riding acts with Vicki also doing a single trapeze in the aerial ballet. They continued their two main acts, with other performers joining in at different times, until they decided to take out their own show - after the birth of their two children, Cathy and George III - in the 70's.

With their own show in the making they had to buy their own elephants which they got from Bangkok, Thailand. While George took out the show, Vicki was left to raise both them and her two children plus try to run the business end of the circus. It was a difficult time but Vicki is not a person to give up easily. The Hanneford Family Circus toured successfully around much of the U.S.A. until they signed a contract to do a couple of weeks in December 1979 at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop. The show was so successful that the contract was extended through the winter season, then renewed again for the summer. That two week contract expanded to 16 years and, for a time, was seen live on the internet.

Victoria is also able to boast one other accomplishment in her long varied career. She is the premier expert on raising elephants. During the long period when the Hanneford elephants were growing up, Vicki was trained by the then expert, Mrs. Goebels. Vicki was taught all the intricate details of elephant idiosyncrasies and how to avoid and overcome problems that arise when raising a baby elephant - things that nobody else in the United States is aware of, or, at least, not aware of. Since Mrs. Goebels died, and Vicki was the only person she confided her knowledge to, Victoria Hanneford can safely say, "If you want to raise a baby elephant, ask me."

During their careers they have been actively involved in shaping the modern circus, from tent show to indoor circus productions, and, along with their family, are an integral part of the history, and the future, of the circus in America.


~From the Hanneford Family Circus website

NGSD is Tomorrow!

You don't have to be named Norbu, Natal or be one of the Gutis to join in the fun. Just grab your gorilla suit out of the closet and head out the door...

Boxing Gag: Hamid-Morton 50s

Photos courtesy of Bill Strong


Here's Dime Wilson and Shorty Sylvester doing the boxing Gag on Hamid-Morton in the mid '50's. SaSo is the ref, with Bumpsy Anthony, Ed Raymond,(?), & Connie Wilson looking on.





Mike Klucker, aka Toe-Toe. Later, as Hamid ringmaster, he went by Earl Michaels.


Visit Bill Strong's circus blog YESTERDAY'S TOWNS by clicking the title to this post.

Poodles Hanneford: The Circus Kid (1928)

"The only trained acrobat I ever saw who could take a fall and make it look funny was Poodles Hanneford, the great circus clown." ~ Buster Keaton


Mrs. Hanneford ("Nana") and her three children, George, Elizabeth, and Edwin ("Poodles"), arrived from Ireland via the Blackpool Tower Circus in England in 1915. George soon established his own separate riding act with his children, and Poodles became the great riding clown who set the whole tone for the popularity of modern equestrian comedy. He remained an active performer for fifty years, right up to two years before his death in 1967. His comic ways of somersaulting off a horse and his challenging "awkward" mounts without a "cushion" were both demanding and outlandishly funny. He also worked with his sister, Elizabeth, his daughter, Gracie, and his wife, Grace White.

Meanwhile, his brother George and his nephews, George, Jr. and Tommy, were performing similar comedy in their act, but they also mixed in difficult straight horse-to-horse somersaulting. Following their father's death, George, Jr. went off to develop his own Cossack act; he would eventually start the Hanneford Family Circus, working with such future stars as Timi Loyal and James Zoppe.

His brother Tommy's current Royal Hanneford Circus was built from their father's original act, and Tommy called himself "the Riding Fool," modelling his character on his Uncle Poodles' influential style. In recent years the show included the marvelous Mark Karoly, trained by Tommy to coninue in the Hanneford clowning tradition of expert horsemanship. The son of Evy Karoly, another bareback and dressage rider, Mark has a daring routine, including a horse-to-horse somersault with a full twist, which gives a good indication of the demands made on the great riding clowns of the past. In one hilarious routine that always brings roars of laughter, he is energetically propelled by a companion head-first into the south end of a very tolerant and large horse. And what he can do with a coat and hat while standing on horseback at full gallop is impressive indeed.

~LaVah Ho, Step Right Up! The Circus in America

National Gorilla Suit Day!

National Gorilla Suit Day, which mysteriously falls on January 31 of each year, is perhaps the important holiday of the year. Every National Gorilla Suit Day, people of all shapes and colors around the world get their gorilla suits out of the closet, put them on and go door-to-door.

That's really all there is to it. You don't have to buy gifts. You don't have to fast, although some Orthodox Gorilla Suiters do. If you want to have a parade, fine. Just make sure all the marchers are wearing gorilla suits and that all the balloons are giant, inflatable gorillas.


National Gorilla Suit Day was invented by "Mad's Maddest Artist" (i.e., the weirdest of all the cartoonists in Mad Magazine), Don Martin...and maybe also by E. Solomon Rosenblum, a writer who collaborated with him on the 1964 paperback book, Don Martin Bounces Back! The book was reissued several times and was among the best-selling of the Mad paperback series.

In its lead story, the irascible Fester Bestertester sits in his breakfast room, explaining the concept of National Gorilla Suit Day to his friend, Karbunkle. Fester finds the whole holiday repulsive and as he discusses it with Karbunkle, a number of gorilla-suiters come to his door and proceed to pummel, bash and otherwise maim him. At one point, three men arrive from the Senate Anti-Trust Committee, inviting him to testify against the leading manufacturers of gorilla suits...

And then they, like all the other gorilla-suiters and even a few Abominable Snowmen, beat the crap out of him. It's a very funny story and no one who's read it will ever forget it. Unfortunately, the book is long out of print. Moreover, Mr. Martin was not on good terms with Mad Magazine when he died and since the copyright on the book is a joint one, it may be some time before there's ever a deal to reprint it. It does, however, turn up fairly often on eBay and rarely goes for more than a few dollars.

Martin's other Mad paperbacks are pretty good, too. So were his cartoons for Mad and later, after he departed on the aforementioned not-good terms, for Cracked. He really was a very funny man. So this year, as you traipse about the neighborhood in your gorilla suit, pause for a moment and remember Don Martin...the man who made it all happen.

~Mark Evanier
http://newsfromme.com/

Mr. Clown

A trailer for the upcoming film MR.CLOWN, a documentary about Earl "Mr. Clown" Chaney.

Of course, it HAS to address the "scary clown" thing. What film could POSSIBLY discuss clowns and clowning without touching upon the "scary clown" thing...oh yeah, every single American film prior to 1978 and any one made overseas.

Still, it's worth it to see Earl, Jim Howle, Trish Bothun, Joe Barney and some other folks to a soundtrack of the Rolling Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knockin" from their Sticky Fingers album. I bet your not going to see THAT anywhere else.

Paul Jung On the Cover of This Week

Wildly inventive producing clown Paul Jung earns the cover of the weekend newspaper supplement This Week.

Olsen & Johnson: Crazy House (1943)

Olsen and Johnson's followup to their zany, iconoclastic Hellzapoppin' was the more conventional Crazy House. The premise: Having nearly laid waste to Universal while filming Hellzapoppin', O & J are thrown out of the studio when they arrive with plans for a new picture.

Only momentarily daunted, our heroes decide to produce the film themselves, renting a studio and hiring carhop Margie (Martha O'Driscoll) as their leading lady. The success of this plan hinges upon an "angel", self-proclaimed millionaire Col. Merriweather (Percy Kilbride), who promises to advance the money for the new film.

Things get sticky when the Colonel turns out to be a balmy eccentric with nary a cent to his name. After a wild courtroom trial presided over by ever-scowling Edgar Kennedy, it is decided that Olsen and Johnson will be permitted to screen their new film before a gathering of Hollywood studio executives, with distribution rights going to the highest bidder. The finale devolves into frantic slapstick when the last reel of the film turns up missing (a plot device later utilized in Mel Brooks' Silent Movie).

Though Crazy House gets off to a suitably wacky start-when word arrives at Universal that Olsen and Johnson are coming, barricades are set up and armed guards posted, while every studio contractee from Leo Carrillo to "Sherlock Holmes" (Basil Rathbone) and "Dr. Watson" (Nigel Bruce) brace themselves for the comedians' invasion-the film quickly settles into a standard musical-comedy groove, complete with such guest stars as Allan Jones, Count Basie, the Delta Rhythm Boys and the Glenn Miller Singers.

Still, there are plenty of hilarious moments along the way, most of them handled by raucous comedienne Cass Daley, playing a dual role. And there's seldom been a more satisfying movie finale than the last gag of Crazy House, which literally disposes of tiresome romantic leads Martha O'Driscoll and Patric Knowles.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide



Olsen and Johnson
The Zaniest of the Zanies
by Charles Stumpf

Although they are all but forgotten today, the zany comedy team of Olsen and Johnson were a big part of the entertainment scene for nearly half a century.

John Sigvard Olsen was born in Peru, Indiana on November 6, 1892. Of Swedish descent, he became known as "Ole." Olsen earned his way through Northwestern University by playing violin in a dance band. Later he sang with a quartet, appearing in rathskellers throughout the Chicago area.

Harold Ogden Johnson, also of Swedish descent, was born in Chicago on March 15, 1891. He, too, had attended Northwestern University but dropped out to enter show business as a ragtime pianist.

The pair met when they were hired as musicians in the same band. When the band broke up "Ole" Olsen and "Chic" Johnson formed a comedy team. They really did not have a set act but found themselves booked into a small Chicago nightclub as part of "Mike Fritzol’s Frolics." When it came time for their turn in the show, unannounced and not particularly welcome, the brave pair pushed a piano onstage. Johnson seated himself at the keyboard and began to plunk out a ragtime tune. Olsen joined in with his violin and started singing, making up comical lyrics, as he went along. The pair began to exchange "patter," mostly insults—and the soon-to-be-famous "Olsen and Johnson" team emerged.

By some miracle, audiences found them very amusing, and it wasn’t long before the pair was appearing on the Pantages vaudeville circuit. As their popularity gained, their salaries rose to $250 a week between them. "Not bad," they thought, and they continued to beat their fertile brains out—anything to please the audience!

Their efforts paid off, and they reached the apex of the vaudeville world when they were signed to the Keith-Orpheum circuit. Billed as "Two Likable Lads - Loaded with Laughs" their salary reached four figures. In a 25-year career as vaudeville headliners, Olsen and Johnson made appearances in nearly every town on the circuit.

In 1930 Warner Bros. signed them for their film debut. They appeared as a pair of American sailors on the lookout for the crook who had robbed a Navy storehouse—who happened to have a wooden leg. The pair’s zany method of detecting was to aim pea-shooters at the legs of anyone they suspected. The film featured the pair’s famous "Laughing Song." They also appeared in some comedy shorts for Vitaphone.

In 1931 they made a second feature for Warners, Gold Dust Gertie. For the first and only time in his long film career, Ole Olsen wore a moustache. This time around, the duo portrayed bathing suit salesmen. Both at one time had been married to the same woman, "Gold Dust Gertie," played by winsome Winnie Lightner. During their travels, they kept bumping into her, and each time gave her the slip to avoid alimony.

Also that year Warners starred the comedians in a lavish Technicolor production, Fifty Million Frenchmen. There wasn’t much of a plot but plenty of laughs. To add to the fun, Bela Lugosi was featured as a mysterious Fakir.

While making films on the West Coast, they appeared in another zany revue, Monkey Business. The pair relied a great deal on "sight gags" and combined elements of slapstick comedy also used by The Keystone Kops, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, and the Ritz, as well as the Marx Brothers.

Ole and Chic also tried their hand at radio—making an early appearance on Rudy Vallee’s program. There was a studio audience on hand so the sight gags got plenty of laughs on the air. Other radio guest appearances followed.

For a time they settled in Chicago where they appeared in the stage revue Take a Chance (1933) in which they replaced Jack Haley and Sid Silvers. The pair’s rambunctious, nonsensical buffoonery had audiences falling out of their seats. When the revue closed, Olsen and Johnson returned to vaudeville. They toured England and Australia in the revues Tip Toes and Tell Me More.

Back home Republic Pictures signed them to a picture deal resulting in Country Gentlemen (1936) and All Over Town (1937).

The best was yet to come. The masters of "anything-goes-mayhem" created their most chaotic conglomeration of comedy routines for the stage smash Hellzapoppin, which opened at New York’s 46th Street Theater on September 22, 1938.

Broadway critic Brooks Atkinson wrote: "Folks, it’s going to be a little difficult to describe this one. Anything goes in Hellzapoppin -- noise, vulgarity, and practical joking. Olsen and Johnson make their entrance in a clownish automobile, and the uproar begins. There is no relief, even during the intermission, when a clown roams the aisles. You can hear some lymphatic fiddling by rotund Shirley Wayne who looks as though she has just finished frying a mess of doughnuts. It is mainly a helter-skelter assembly of low comedy gags to an ear-splitting sound accompaniment. If you can imagine a demented vaudeville brawl without the Marx brothers, Hellzapoppin is it ... and a good part of it is loud, low, and funny!"

The show consisted of two acts with 25 scenes, during which the audience was bombarded with eggs and bananas. Then when the lights went out, the audience was besieged with rubber snakes and spiders. A woman ran up and down the aisles shouting out in a loud tenement voice for "Oscar! Oscar!" Meanwhile, a ticket salesman began to hawk tickets for a rival show (I Married an Angel). The Broadway madness ran for a record breaking 1,404 performances.

In 1938 when Warner Bros. were casting the roles of two screenwriters for Boy Meets Girl, they wanted Olsen and Johnson, but the pair was tied up solidly in Hellzapoppin. The roles went to James Cagney and Pat O’Brien.

With the huge success of Hellzapoppin, Olsen and Johnson decided to produce another Broadway show. In association with the Messrs. Shubert, they produced the revue Streets of Paris. It featured comedian Bobby Clark and introduced some new names, as well. The biggest draw was "The Brazilian Bombshell," Carmen Miranda. Colorful Carmen wowed audiences at the end of the first act with her sensational rendition of "The South American Way." Miranda became a new sensation and was promptly signed by 20th Century-Fox for a series of Technicolor musicals. Also appearing in Streets of Paris was the comedy team of Abbott and Costello who kept the audiences in hysterics.

When Olsen and Johnson opened in their next starring show, Sons O’ Fun at the Winter Garden on December 1, 1941, Carmen Miranda was once again featured. This time she was given three show-stopping numbers beginning with "Thank you, North America," at the end of Act One. Later in the show she sang renditions of "Manuelo" and "Tete a Tete." The lady in the tutti-fruit hat also joined Olsen and Johnson for the finale. Also in the stellar cast was comedian Joe Besser and singing Scottish lass Ella Logan.

Olsen and Johnson returned to the Broadway stage in Laffing Room Only which opened at the Winter Garden on December 23, 1944. The show brought Betty Garrett to Broadway and ran through July 14, 1945.

The zany pair tried again to repeat the mammoth success of the record breaking hit Hellzapoppin but without success. In 1949 they gave it one last try with Funzapoppin which has long been forgotten.

In 1941 Universal Pictures presented Olsen and Johnson in a screen version of Hellzapoppin Although some of the finest comedy talent on the screen were added to the cast, the film was just a lot of weird happenings, a romantic triangle, and a mish-mash of musical numbers which resulted in a misfire. In 1943 the studio tried to resurrect Olsen and Johnson on screen in Crazy House which had an inept script about a comedy team making a Hollywood film. The studio once again added some sure-fire talent to the production, but the likes of Cass Daley, Edgar Kennedy, Percy Kilbride, and Franklin Pangborn, and at least a dozen top musical acts, couldn’t get a spark going. It was another dud.

The studio reshuffled plans and tired again with Ghost Catchers (1944), adding the gimmick of a spooky old mansion, creaking doors, fog, as well as the musical talents of Gloria Jean, Morton Downey, and Mel Torme. They also threw in a lot of comedy favorites such as Andy Devine, Leo Carillo, Walter Catlett, and the lovable "drunk," Jack Norton. For some creepy chills Lon Chaney, Jr. was also added to the cast. None of these extra elements helped much. Olsen and Johnson’s stage successes had relied largely on the fact that their comedy material was unrehearsed and spontaneous—for the screen, this wasn’t possible.

Practically desperate, Universal was brave enough to attempt to milk the formula for one last time. See My Lawyer (1945) had a plodding plot that might have been lifted out of the comic team’s own lives. It dealt with the trials and tribulations of an over-worked pair of comedians and their frenzied attempts to get themselves released from an unwanted nightclub commitment. Despite the presence of about three dozen "screen names," all of whom added drawing power, it wasn’t enough to satisfy demanding audiences, and See My Lawyer marked Olsen and Johnson’s final film.

Olsen and Johnson had enjoyed much success of varying degree in most phases of show business—small nightclubs, vaudeville, radio, Broadway, and motion pictures. There weren’t many other fields to conquer.

After a few guest spots on variety and comedy telecasts, Olsen and Johnson’s big break came from NBC-TV in 1949. When Milton Berle took a summer break for the Texaco Star Theater, the network offered Olsen and Johnson a full hour in which they could reacquaint audiences with their "anything goes" comedy style. Fireball Fun For All premiered on Tuesday, June 28, 1949. The zesty comics loaded their tv show with sight gags, gimmick props, clowns running through the audience, leggy show girls, seltzer water and pies in the face. At first many of the gags took place in the audience. The show broke for a brief summer vacation, and when it returned there were a number of changes. Airdate was moved to Thursday at a later time, 9 to 10 PM. Regulars included singer Bill Hayes and comedian Marty May, as well as two newcomers to show business, June Johnson, daughter of Chic Johnson, and J. C. Olsen, son of Ole Olsen.

The telecasts originated in New York’s large Center Theater before an enthusiastic studio audience, some of whom were old enough to remember Hellzapoppin. What they saw in the tv’s studio didn’t quite measure up. Many of the jokes were old and no longer funny. After faltering for nearly four months, Fireball Fun For All fizzled out on October 27, 1949.

The zaniest of the zany comedy acts had passed their peak. There were some bookings in small night clubs and some minor stage appearances. Then a new phase of show business presented opportunities --- the glitzy gambling casinos of Las Vegas where the antiquated antics of Olsen and Johnson were still welcome. But both men were tired, growing old, and suffering serious health problems.

"Chic" Johnson died of kidney ailment at the age of 71 on February 28, 1962. His comedy partner, "Ole" Olsen followed on January 26, 1963. Their lives had shared many similarities. Both were born less than a year apart, both were of Swedish ancestry, both attended Northwestern University, both entered show business as musicians. They both suffered from kidney problems and died at the age of 71, less than a year apart. And there was still one more ironic similarity—both are buried in the same cemetery in Las Vegas.

In their prime, their comedy was greeted with thunderous applause. Though forgotten by most people now, Olsen and Johnson are still remembered by film buffs as the zaniest of the zanies.

Reducing Machine: Beatty-Cole 1980

"The Reducing Machine" presented by the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros, Circus Clown Alley on their 1980 indoor tour.

The gag was produced by Dean "Elmo Gibb" Chambers and was announced by longtime Beatty-Cole ringmaster (and former Beatty-Cole clown), Mr. Jimmy James.

Lou and Harold

Lou Jacobs with Ringmaster Harold Ronk, 1957

Chaz Chase, "The Unique Comedian"

French clown Chaz Chase's unusual stage act was an inspired unfurling of comic business that had audiences in disbelief as he ate a steady string of stuff (everything from paper to an entire book of lit matches) including the string itself while dancing inside a hugely oversized and disheveled suit.

During his long career he appeared in circus, vaudeville and on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies in 1925 and in Sugar Babies in the 1980's.