I don't know how many times Lou wore this whiteface (it couldn't have been much) but there must be a billion and seven pictures of him in it.
THIS is the makeup that Larry Harmon should have adapted for the actors who would play Bozo the Clown on TV. Instead, most seem to have adapted Jimmy Stewart's makeup from The Greatest Show on Earth.
CC 74, I remember asking why Lou was in whiteface and was told that one season the word from the office was ALL WHITE FACE clowns, no exceptions.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was very strange but the information did come from a seasoned faculty member.
Would His Highness, Gregory the Great of Tuckahoe, be able to shed some light on this topic?
I had been told the same story at Clown College, which Jackie LeClaire dismissed as poppycock and flim-flam.
ReplyDeleteThe best explanation that I've been offered so far comes from Lou Jacobs by way of Greg DeSanto; that the show asked some of the clowns to put on different makeups on picture day to make it seem as though the show carried more clowns.
That also explains the few Cole Bros. pictures of Otto in his whiteface. I don't believe that Otto did any circus work in whiteface and (other than picture days) only used it for Christmas season when he worked the Santa line in large Department stores.
~P
CW 76-86, great picture; my favorite picture of Lou is a young Lou that Buckles shared with us on his Blog -- Lou's arms looked as strong as a chimp's arms in that picture. I have about a dozen postage stamps and sadly that face is the picture that most folks see of when they think of Lou. It looks too much like Bozo, and I have the utmost respect for Bozo (Joey) and Cooky (Roy). But Lou trained us all (even amusement park clowns like me) in Circus clowning and his stamp Icon should have scream Circus.
ReplyDeleteI stand by both stories, Lou did do white face in his early years, as did most of the clowns on the show (ie: Paul Jerome.). I've seen pictures of Otto in whiteface showing it to students at the first session of Clown College in the late 60's.
ReplyDeleteThe multiple make-up story was told to me by Ernie Burch, a master of the multiple make-ups, before he settled on the grand version we remember.
Whiteface or Auguste, Lou's make-ups made for great circus press shots.
-His Highness, Gregory the Great of Tuckahoe...or as he is known today, Gregory the Snowed Under in Baraboo!
(Thanks Mike!)
To Gregory the Great of Tuckahoe...please send kindest regards to HRH (her royal highness) Princess Karen of Cleverness.
ReplyDeleteThe snow you are enjoying today will be in New York tomorrow...according to the Weather Channel.
Don't let the anvil get rusty.