Shrine Circus: Toledo 1933

Photos courtesy of Bill Strong







The Toledo, OH Shrine Circus of 1933 was produced by Hagenbeck-Wallace. These are some of the clown photos from the program that year. I can't identify anyone in them except for the last, which looks to be Joe "Koko" Coyle.

Paul Gutheil: Greg DeSanto and Frosty Little

Photos by Paul Gutheil




If you were teaching a class of circus comedy novices in "Clowning 101" and had to illustrate the Auguste and Whiteface clown types you could do a lot worse than to choose these two Paul Gutheil portraits of Greg DeSanto (Auguste) and Master Clown, Glen "Frosty" Little (Whiteface).


And a great big hello goes out to Scott O' Donnell and the Ringling Blue Alley! I hope to be able to stop by in either Baltimore or Albany.

Paul Gutheil: Dentist Chase

"Dental Assistant" Arturo Figueroa gets a tongue lashing from an unidentified clown during the Dentist Chase on the Ringling show.

How often do you get to see a "chase gag" anymore?

Photo by Paul Gutheil.

Paul Gutheil: Billy & Mike

One of the truly great White Clown/ Red Clown partnerships in modern American circus clowning, Billy Vaughn (Auguste) and Mike Snider (Whiteface), seen here on Vidbel's Olde Tyme Circus at The Jaffa Shrine Circus in Altoona. PA circa 2000.

Photo by Paul Gutheil.

Pat Kelly's Real Yak Hair Clown Wigs

People often ask me where they can get a real yak hair clown wig. I had my custom made in New York but most people don't have the time or money for something like that.

Until now!

After years of trial and error with the dying process my friend Pat Kelly down in Atlanta is now making real yak hair clown wigs, hand-sewn onto cotton skullcaps, EXACTLY the way they have been made for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus clowns and used on road with the Greatest Show on Earth.

Please visit him online by clicking the title of this post and tell him I said "Hi"!

I'm not being compensated in any way for this endorsement, I'm just glad that someone has finally been able to create affordable yak wigs and that Pat was the guy to do it. If you've ever compared the look of yak to synthetic there is no comparison. The average non-Ringling clown is about to be able to look a whole lot better!!!

Paul Gutheil: Scott O' Donnell

Current Ringling Blue Unit Boss Clown Scott O'Donell a few years back on Vidbel's Olde Tyme Circus as seen through the lens of Paul Gutheil.

For more info on Scott, please click the title of this post.

Paul Gutheil: Leo Acton

A Paul Gutheil portrait of longtime veteran of the recent Ringling Alleys, Leo Acton.

For more info on Leo, please click the title of this post.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Clown!

Birthday greetings go out today to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College graduate, former Ringling road clown, longtime Ronald and "Clown Arts" educator, the one and only "Mr. Clown"...Earl Chaney.

Happy Birthday sir!

Paul Gutheil: Le Clown Gordoon

Photo by Paul Gutheil



Another great Paul Gutheil photo, this one of Ringling Clown College graduate and longtime star of the Big Apple Circus, Jeff "Le Clown Gordoon" Gordon seen here doing the multi-leg bit.

Jeff is the creator of the classic clown bit with the leaf blower and the toilet paper, the one that's been ripped off almost as many times than the bit with the audience volunteers and the four chairs. It's a contemporary classic, on par with the Washerwoman Gag in how unbelievably quickly it spread throughout the industry and became a "standard". But it isn't really a standard. It's Jeff's act, which he's still doing.

There are many variations on the idea out there but until you've seen Jeff's version, well... "You Ain't Seen Nothin'!"

Paul Gutheil: Dusty Sadler

Saturday's photo by E.J. Kelty got me thinking about circus photographers so this week we are going to feature shots taken by, IMHO, the BEST contemporary circus photographer in America, Mr. Paul Gutheil.

This is an example of one of Mr. Gutheil's candid portraits, a shot of Dusty Sadler taken, post-show, while on the Roberts Bros. Circus.

Joe Jackson Jr.

Photo courtesy of circusbutterflygurl


Another great find by circusbtterflygurl, it's Joe Jackson Jr.'s promo photo with hsi contact info on the back. There doesn't seem to be any clue as to the year but the stamp shows that this was used at a theater in Berlin, so it's sometime after 1945. My guess it's from the mid 50s to early 60s.

Kelty Photograph of the 1934 Ringling Alley

Photo courtesy of Rik gern


Felix Adler, Lou Jacobs, Charlie Bell, Chesty Mortimer, Paul Wenzel, Jack LeClair, Gijon Polidor, Prince Paul... some of the first half of the 20th century's best Ringling clowns as photographed by one of the era's greatest circus photographers, E.J. Kelty.

For more info on Mr. Kelty's photographs and an excellent DVD on his life and work please click on the title of this post.

Henry Fonda as Emmett Kelly in CLOWN

Academy Award, Emmy Award, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner Henry Fonda in the General Electric Theater television adaption of Emmett Kelly's autobiography, CLOWN which premiered March 27, 1955.

Look for fellow Academy Award winner Dorothy Malone as Emmett's first wife, Eva and longtime actor, Spike Jones sideman and future Little People of America founder Billy Barty as a member of Clown Alley.

I sure wish I could come up with a lifetime's worth of great material off-the cuff and in under a half an hour!

Ain't T.V. great? : )

Emmett Kelly: Sweeping Up the Spotlight Gag (1967)

Every artist dreams of painting their masterpiece. This is Emmett's.

Not the funniest gag in the circus world, but inarguably the best known and the one that resonated the strongest with 20th century American circus audiences. This gag was bigger than big, huger than huge and elevated Emmett into a whole different level of celebrity, one that tracended mere "circus star" (such as Clyde Beatty, Gunther Gebel-Williams or the Flying Wallendas) and made him a bona-fide household name.

Credit goes out not only to Emmett for creating and performing the gag but also to John Ringling North and his production team for knowing how to showcase it so well.

This clip is from the 1967 film THE CLOWN AND THE KIDS, made at the tail end of Emmett's circus career, so it may not be performed here precisely as audiences might have seen it in the late 40s or early 50s but it does provide us a valuable document of this important gag.

Emmett Kelly: Feather Balancing Gag

Video of Emmett performing his Feather Balancing Gag on an early (unidentified) television show.

Emmett Kelly: DuPont Show of the Week (1962)

A friend recently took me to task for ignoring Emmett Kelly on this blog. It's true. In over 700 posts I don't think Emmett appears here more than 4 or 5 times.

I think it's because Emmett doesn't need me, or anyone, to shine the spolight on him. He's a star. Emmett is still one of the best known circus performers in America and his name and likeness continue to resonate with audiences.

But that's no excuse for excluding him.

So here he is, the legendary Emmett Kelly as star and narrator of a television special entitled CIRCUS (co-written by future Clown College Director Bill Ballantine) which aired as an episode of THE DUPONT SHOW OF THE WEEK in 1962.

Emmett is seen with his trunk, in the Alley of the early 60s Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Clown Alley (alongside Kenny Dodd, Lou Nagy and Eddie Dullam seen performing the Washerwoman Gag) and at his home in Sarasota, FL.

Ft Worth Shrine Circus Clown Alley 1958

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong


Not sure about the little people down front but the clown cop on the left looks like Charlie Lewis, that's Peluza one and a half guys in on the right (in his Jimmy Stewart GSOE inspired makeup) and that may be George LaSalle in the center with Connie Wilson to his immediate left.

The one person that I'd NEVER be able to identify if it weren't for Bill telling me is the person to the immediate right of George LaSalle. That's Dime Wilson is his usual tramp costume but wearing his old whiteface makeup for this one date only.


Please click on the title of this post to be taken to Bill's excellent circus blog, YESTERDAY'S TOWNS.

Milton Berle: Always Leave Them Laughing

The opening scene (according to the film, a nightclub in beautiful downtown Asbury Park, NJ) from Milton Berle's 1949 film ALWAYS LEAVE THEM LAUGHING.

Doodles and Lou

Bob "Doodles" Kelmer, star clown at the Circus World Museum last summer, looks on in loving reverance at the legend that looms large before him.

Rudy Coby: 4 Legs

Rudy Coby "The Coolest Magician on Earth" performing the Multi-Leg Gag I enjoy Jeff "Le Clown Gordoon" Gordon's version very much but I think my favorite is Geoff Hoyle's.