JOJO LEWIS

PAUL JEROME

KENNETH WAITE

A GALLERY OF UNIDENTIFIED CLOWNS II

A GALLERY OF UNIDENTIFIED CLOWNS

LOU JACOBS: Hunting Gag (Backstage footage from the "BE A CLOWN" shoot at the Venice Arena)

Video courtesy of Ron and Joey Severini

The Sunday comics have Will Eisner, Garry Trudeau and Bill Waterson. Animation has Walt Disney, Max Fleischer and John Lasseter. Comic books have Jack Kirby and Bill Finger. Puppetry has Jim Henson and Frank Oz.

I'm always amazed how people are surprised to find that circus clowning has its own Babe Ruths, its own Duke Ellingtons.

As with painting, we have our own Rembrandts, Picassos, Duchamps and Rothkos that emerge in a field littered with a lot of Keane and Kincade knockoffs.

It's an art form that stretches back hundreds of years, didn't you think ANYONE ever got REALLY good at it?

Ronald McDonald is a corporate mascot.

The character no more represents what a clown is than Mickey represents what a mouse is.

JIMMY "HAPPY WILLIAMS: Baraboo Gem Award

Baraboo Mayor Mike Palm, Jimmy "Happy" Williams and ICHOF Director Greg DeSanto

These are Happy times in Baraboo.

Jimmy Williams, better known as Happy the Clown, is the latest winner of the Gem Award.

“His iconic image still brings a smile to generations of faces,” Mayor Mike Palm said in reading a proclamation in Williams’ honor during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Each month, Palm gives the Gem Award to someone who has helped the community prosper. This time, he donned a red clown nose before handing a plaque to Williams, who is wheelchair-bound due to ill health and was escorted to the meeting by fellow clown Greg DeSanto.

“His legacy in clowning and circuses continues to influence future generations of aspiring clowns, and it is fitting that the community he gave so much to recognizes his contributions,” said DeSanto, executive director of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Museum in Baraboo.

Williams arrived in Baraboo in 1962 at the urging of then-Circus World Museum boss Chappie Fox. At Circus World, Williams developed his Happy the Clown character, who entertained audiences for 35 years.

Happy was an ambassador for the museum and the city, appearing in parades across the Midwest. He created a clown club that helped launch the careers of many clowns, including Jed Crouse of Baraboo.

“Happy’s generosity in sharing his wisdom as well as his props with me has set me up for opportunities to grow into the performer I am,” Crouse said.

Longtime Circus World clown and ICHOF inductee Jimmy Williams with current Circus World clown Neil Skoy at the Grand Opening of the International Clown Hall of Fame in Baraboo, WI.

Crouse said Happy was well-known in the clowning community, and was a generous and detail-oriented teacher. Whenever Happy taught Crouse a trick, he’d insist upon it being demonstrated immediately to passersby. “Hap was always willing to share a trick, but wanted to make sure I always understood what he meant and could perform it correctly,” Crouse said.

Williams also served on the staff of a clown camp at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and routinely appeared at Wisconsin Dells attractions such as Storybook Gardens.

DeSanto noted Williams is one of three Hall of Fame inductees from Wisconsin, and Happy the Clown’s display is one of the museum’s most popular exhibits. “He has entertained generations of Baraboo citizens and thousands of guests in our community,” DeSanto said.

HIP RAYMOND

Photo courtesy of Beth Grimes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAN "ELMO GIBB" CHAMBERS!

THE AUSTINS: Car Wash at Belle Vue (1960s)

Photo by Peter Slade

BOXING GAG: Chesty Mortimer & Billy Denaro (1930)

This photo turns up every now and again but I've finally identified the whiteface as Billy Denaro, born Wilhelm Bohm (or Vohm) in Prague in 1895. He spent 16 years in the Ringling clown alley starting in 1924.

He passed away in an automobile accident near Monroe, NY while serving in the Merchant Marine following World War II in the summer of 1946.

HOW DID CLOWNS BECOME CREEPY?

PROF. PAUL WENZEL: Sparks Circus (1927)

WITH BELLO NOCK: Melha Shrine Circus (April 25, 2015)

Pat Cashin and Bello Nock backstage at the Melha Shrine Circus in Springfield, MA
(Photo courtesy of Bello Nock)

CHESTY MORTIER (1941)

Chester Mortier, Clown, 1941
Photo © Sverre O. Braathen, Illinois State Univerity

FUNNY GEORGE: Duffy's Circus (1911)

PAUL JUNG and RED NOSE DAY

 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of learning of Paul Jung's death at New York's Forrest Hotel at 224 W. 49th St, just around the corner from Madison Square Garden.

Jung, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus' chief Producing Clown for 22 years, was murdered by two heroin addicts for $40. and his typewriter.

They were arrested pawning the typewriter.

But, as if the Comic Universe was attempting to right this terrible wrong, one month from today is Red Nose USA Day! Red Nose Day is a campaign dedicated to raising money for children and young people living in poverty by simply having fun and making people laugh. A 30 year institution in the UK, the inaugural Red Nose Day will be held in the US today. People across the country will come together to have fun and raise funds and awareness. The day's events will culminate in a three-hour entertainment TV special on NBC featuring the country's favorite comedians, musicians and Hollywood stars.

So get ready to make someone laugh, watch the show May 21st and BE SURE TO MENTION that you are donating in honor of Paul Jung's memory!

Visit https://www.rednoseday.org/about for more info on Red Nose Day USA!

THE FRANCESCOS: The Haunted House (1968)

Courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

FATTINI: La Piste aux Etoiles

FATTINI ET SON REVERBERE A LA PISTE AUX ETOILES MIS EN LIGNE PAR VOTRE SERVITEUR LIONEL LUTRINGER
Posted by Lionel Lutringer on Sunday, April 19, 2015

GEORGE CARL: Am laufenden Band (1974)

DONOVAN & BYL: Tumbling Tomfoolery (1945)

JACK STANFORD: Eccentric Dance (1935)

Link courtesy of Betsy Batos and Michael Karp

LOU JACOBS

THIS is EXACTLY what a circus, and a circus clown, look like.

FRANKIE SALUTO: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

1973 

1968

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY: When Sir Paul Met Prince Paul (1974)

RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY: Paul Jung and Lou Jacobs (Undated)

Paul Jung and Lou Jacobs in the Clown Alley of the Greatest Show on Earth.

"And All Was Right With the World... "

IN MEMORIAM: FRANCIS (FRANK) "SLIVERS OAKLEY" ANDERSON

Courtesy of Bill Strong

THE AUSTINS

Photo courtesy of Sue Lenz

Alby (top), Spider and Billy Merchant

ACHILLE ZAVATTA

Link courtesy of Lionel Lutringer

Post by Lionel Lutringer.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG DESANTO!

Birthday greetings go out today to International Clown Hall of Fame Director Greg DeSanto, pictured here in the final circus related photo taken at the historic Venice Arena before its demolition.

FELIX ADLER & FRANKIE SALUTO: Dagmar's Canteen (April 12, 1952)

Link courtesy of Beth Grimes

 Jump forward to the 24:30 mark to watch Felix Adler and Frankie Saluto in a PR hit for the annual appearance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden.