This year will mark the 43rd anniversary of a horrible event, the death of Paul Jung.
Ringling's run at the Garden is now so short that I believe that they will have played the Meadowlands twice and already be in Philadelphia by then.
The impact of the loss of Paul Jung on Ringling clowning cannot be overstated. The last few years of the pre-Feld era as well as the early years Clown College would have been quite markedly different had events not transpired the way that that they did.
Aside from the tremendous loss of Paul Jung himself as a performer in the Ringling Alley, the loss of his unique genius as a prop designer and builder for others was a catastrophic event on the clowning of his era.
Is there anyone around today that is of the calibre of Paul Jung? What kind of enviroment did he thrive in that allowed such freedom to develop into such a great clown ? Some biographic material on him would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loss, indeed...Pity the enlarged version of the articles aren't large enough to read. It would be interesting to see the spin the News's crack crime reporter of the day, Joseph McNamara, put on this allegedly very sordid episode, one which could not have pleased Ringling management nor PR dept. at all!
ReplyDelete--Michael Karp
I wish this was big enough to read.
ReplyDeleteRobin
Hi Pat,
ReplyDeleteVery sad memories. As an antidote, may I refer you to this recent post on the Circus History Message
Board:
"2305. Ringling Bros. clowns, 14 Feb 2008 - I have uncovered a set of medium format transparencies taken in Sarasota, FL in 1954, of several members of the Ringling Bros. clown troupe. The photos are paired images of each of the performers with and without their makeup. They were taken by my father for an article that was to appear in Ford Times (but was never published). The performers include, Emmett Kelly, Prince Paul Alpert, Gene Lewis, Carl Stephan, Charlie Bell, Paul Horomeo, Bill Hanlon, Frank Cromwell, Paul Jung and Walter Guice. I would appreciate any information on any of these men (except Kelly and Alpert). I am in the process of scanning and restoring the transparencies and would like to do a small POD photo book. Any information would be very helpful. Thank you. Michael Rainwater, Sammamish, WA, m.rainwater3@verizon.net."
I contacted Mr. Rainwater and he was kind enough to send me the pictures of Gene Lewis, both in and out of makeup. They are wonderful!
I told Mr. Rainwater about your blog and how you would likely be interested in seeing the shots.
If he hasn't contacted you by now, perhaps a note from you would help.
Rick Whelan