Before becoming a tramp clown, Paul Jerome created a equally great whiteface makeup which is often mis-identified today as being that of Felix Adler.
Paul Jerome's whiteface wears a Adler-ish (Adlerian? Adlerific?) outsized white costume but without Adler's trademark padded rear end. Jerome also favored clown shoes that looked like enormous bare feet when in whiteface.
Jerome's makeup does feature a similar gap-toothed grin (three teeth to Felix's two) but differs in it's high arched eyebrows and comic strip style eyes, which give the appearance of Jiggs from the Geo. McManus comic strip "Bringing Up Father".
Jerome's whiteface also differs from Adler's in that Adler's usually featured a gemstone in the tip of his nose.
After he switched to tramp Jerome occasionally switched back to whiteface for publicity photos but found much greater fame with his tramp makeup and his assortment of battery-operated props such as his light up nose, glasses and heart.
Paul Jerome's makeup seems to have been a strong influence on the makeup of "Cliffy", the clown who appeared on the 1950s television program Super Circus.
1 comment:
If Paul did Whiteface first, who is the guy on Sells-Floto in 1929, someone thought he was Paul Jerome.
Pat, I've tried to email you 3 times, they won't leave my outbox, I don't know if the problem is on your end or mine.
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