Three clowns who haven't appeared here before, Dody Daniels, Uncle Jake Gibbs and Chuck Sateja.
I don't have any info on Dody or Jake and all I know about Chuck is what I've learned from Bill Ballantine's book CLOWN ALLEY and from ace clown and clown historian, Greg DeSanto.
Donald (or anyone else), if you've got more info on these three PLEASE share!
Dody Daniel was a true midget and had at one time worked on the Ringling Show when it was under canvas. A funny guy and loved to laugh and pull pranks. He and Buck Nolan were great friends and worked Flea Markets together whenever they could. Dody always got the job of pyrotechnics and shot gun loading until he shot the butt of the band leader "Chuck". Dody is gone now and I am happy to see him remembered here with his friends. So many times there are Clowns in the background who never get the spotlight so thanks Pat for putting the spot on Dody he really deserves it...
ReplyDeleteI'll have to dig it out, but Chuck wrote an "essay" called "My Year with the Greatest Show on Earth". It's a great overview of the first year of the clown college and Mel Miller & Danny Chapman's involement.
ReplyDeleteLike Billy McCabe's oral history, this one pulls no punches in his distaste for quite a few of his classmates, and while he never uses their real names, you can easily figure out who he talking about. Good descriptions of the clown gags and quite a different take from the Bill Ballentine profile of Chuck in his much later Clown Alley book.
-Greg