Red Skelton seemed to love reliving his salad days (Red started out as a circus clown on the Hagenbeck-Wallace show) and hanging out with circus clowns. There are numerous stories of him taking the entire Ringling alley out to dinner.
Here he is in a 1973 photo with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. alley taken in New Orleans where he rode an elephant in the show's opening.
From left to right we have Jimmy James Plott, Bernie Kallman, a young Ann Margaret fresh from the set of Kitten With a Whip (just kidding, I'm not sure who the woman is. Mrs. Skelton? A daughter?) Red, what looks like it might be Mike Ferreira, Kenny Dodd, Dennis Stevens and down front we have Bernardo Crespo on the left and Lou Nagy on the right.
Where was Shorty Hinkle? Was he cropped out of this? Did Red have something against short clowns and refuse to be photographed with him ; )
Bernie Kallman, I know you are out there! Please tell us all about your meeting with Red! Give me just a moment first as I cue up the David Rose Orchestra recording of "Holiday for Strings" on my CD player...
That's Mrs. Skelton in the picture.
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BernieYes, Greg is correct, that is Mrs Skelton. Shorty was asleep at the time this photo was taken and the clown next to Kenny Dodd is John LeBlock of the high wire LeBlocks'. Red was like a kid, really he just loved the clowns and was like a kid in a candy store. We sat him in the front row and loaded him up with popcorn and cotton candy. All he did was laugh and wave at all the clowns when they performed. I was thrilled to be there the day one of the greatest clowns came to visit. Try Thunder and Blazes for music next time......Bernie
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