Hamid-Morton 1954: Jimmy Davidson

Photo courtesy of Bill Strong
http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/

Hamid-Morton 1963: Whimpey & Hal Haviland

From the 1963 Hamid-Morton Milwaukee Shrine Circus program we have English clown, Whimpey (top) and, looking quite a bit like a pre-Larry Harmon era "Bozo the Capitol Clown" who would rather be somewhere else (why would any professional circus clown send THIS picture out as a promo photo?!?) we have Hal Haviland.

I believe I've seen old flyers on Ebay for Whimpey's school show which featured a high unicycle. As for Hal Haviland I found the following on the CHF website telling us what Mr. Haviland was up to in 1975...

Hal Haviland made another court appearance in his continuous fight against the government and its animal regulations. Observers felt the weight of evidence was in his favor, but a decision was delayed until some other time. As the year progressed even tougher laws were to be enacted by both the Federal government and various states, all of which caused great concern and worry for animal trainers, circuses and circus fans.

Photos coutersy of Bill Strong
http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/

Houston Shrine Circus 1963

Here are the clowns of the Houston, TX Shrine Circus 1963.

(Left to right) UNKNOWN, Band Leader IZZY CERVONE, HAPPY KELLUMS, VAN WELLS, JUNE DEWSBURY, LESLIE BROOKS, GEOF DEWSBURY, CHARLIE LEWIS, DIME & CONNIE, CHARLIE LEWIS, UNKNOWN, & ERNIE BURCH.

Photo and description courtesy of Bill Strong
http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/

The Barios

The other day I posted a photo of The Bario family of clowns and traffic here on the blogsite dropped by 30%. Here's more on the family in the hopes that the more we know about them, the more we will appreciate and love them...or perhaps traffic here will now drop by 40%, who knows?


(Manrico and Dario Meschi, flanked by Nello and Freddy)

The BARIOS

One of the most celebrated European musical clown families is that of the Barios. The brothers Dario and Manrico Meschi came originally from Livorno. Dario was the whiteface clown, while Manrico was the auguste who took the name of Bario. They worked with a number of other famous clowns, among them Cerratto, Charley Iiles and Rhum, but it is as the Trio Dario , the Dario, Bario Company or Bario-Barios that they are best remembered.

(Above, Bario (C) , Dario (D) and Rhum (E))

(Poster of the Trio Dario, from the collection of Dr. Alain Frere.)

They were greatly influenced by their Parisian contemporaries, the Trio Fratellini, with whom they were to share equal standing in their profession.

Dario and Manrico were later joined by their children, Nello, Swedish-born son of Bario born in 1918, Willy, Dario’s son born in Paris in 1920, Freddy, Bario’s second son born in Brussels in 1922 and his daughter Tosca, born in Nancy in 1924.

In postwar years, the equipe consisted of Bario, sons Nello and Freddy (the latter as whiteface clown, replacing Dario), and Henny, Freddy’s wife, who replaced Tosca.

(The Bario-Barios, left to right: Freddy, Nello, Henny and Bario)

Bario, born in 1888, died in 1974, leaving Nello, Freddy and Henny to continue the family clowning traditions together. Not only are they all fine musicians and comics, they are also adept as dancers and have gained fame in France on television.

Although they have appeared in many countries, with several summer seasons in England at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome, it is in France that they are most loved, and they returned to the circus ring there in 1984 with the Cirque Nouveau Jean Richard.

--From The Performers, Issue 4, June 1985

Mike Coco

(Photo from a Circus Hall of Fame Sarasota, FL postcard)

MICHAEL "Coco" POLAKOV (1923 - Present)

1991 International Clown Hall of Fame inductee Michael Polakov or "Mike Coco", as he is known, achieved fame in England where the family came while he was a youth and his father (also known as Coco) was the longtime star clown of the Bertram Mills Circus. He was associated with the Bertram Mills and Billy Smart Circuses in England, which later included tours of Europe. He came to the U.S. in 1953 to work for a limited time with the Mills Bros. Circus, before returning to England. Coco later returned to the States and joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, working both as a member of the alley as well as spending eight years as Advance Clown and Goodwill Ambassador. He is credited with creating the makeup for Ronald McDonald, touring theme parks with Coco's Musical Comix and continued performing in circuses and acting as an Advance Clown for smaller shows.

- Paraphrased from the ICHOF Website

Mike Coco: Painters Gag

Though he is best known today for popularizing the "Busy Bee" gag in the United States, Mike produced and performed a painters "slosh gag" on Ringling so successful that it was used almost annually from the late 50s through the mid 60s.

Mike didn't invent the slosh gag (and the American circus clowns back to the 20s and 30s are rumored to have done them, although I have no photographic evidence) but he can be credited with creating, honing and popularizing the slosh gag format that served, and continues to serve, the Ringling show from that time to this day.

Mike Coco: With Coconut

I met Coco and Coconut at Great Adventure as a kid (more on that below) and my father said to me after they left, "Jeez! I betcha wish you were THAT kid!"

And I did.

Mike Coco: Coco's Musical Comix

Mike Coco, the very first clown I ever remember meeting in person (after Otto Griebling, but that's another story) on my very first trip to an amusment park, Great Adventure (pre-Six Flags ownership) in Jackson, NJ.

If I remember correctly, Mike performed walkarounds and worked the circus show in the arena in the western themed end of the park. He also worked the lakeside pavilion with Coco's Musical Comix (pictured above) singing any and all circus and clown themed hits of the rock and roll era.

For those of you who have never been to Great Adventure...

In the early 70s a real estate tycoon named Warner LeRoy wanted to open a Walt Disney World like resort in the pine barrens of New Jersey; a theme park with a drive-thru wild animal safari. New Jersey did have a short lived animal park in the 1970’s similar to Great Adventure’s safari called Warner Bros. Jungle Habitat (this was not owned by LeRoy) but Jungle Habitat had safety flaws and was an insurance nightmare (second only to Vernon Valley/Great Gorge Action Park, the deadliest amusement park in history) , so the park closed in 1976. LeRoy improved the drive-through safari concept and made it safer. Throughout the early 1970’s, Great Adventure slowly rose, turning into one of the nation's premier family theme parks.

Great Adventure opened on July 4th, 1974, with major rides, a 500 acre wild safari; just a huge entertainment complex. They even boasted the World's Largest Ferris Wheel called the Giant Wheel (eventually renamed Big Wheel when the ride lost the record). The wheel was the tallest structure in the park at opening, standing at 150 feet tall, and manufactured by famous designer Anton Schwarzkopf.

The 1974 season of the park was a success as was 1975 and '76. In the fall of 1977 Six Flags bought the park. The park continued to feature clowns after Coco but when Six Flags took over the clowning switched to recent CC grads and finally to any teenaged kid in a clown suit. By the mid 80s the clowns were fazed out in favor of costumed Warner Bros. characters.

Mike Coco: Stilts

There were very few high stilt walking clowns in the American circus prior to Mike.

After he left it was a production number staple on the Ringling show throughout virtually all of the Clown College era.

Bubi and Jules

East German clowns Bubi and Jules in the ring of the Blackpool Tower Circus in 1976.

New Website

I didn't have time to update the blog this morning since I was busy creating a new website for myself. Please take a moment to check it out and let me know what you think...

http://www.cashincomedyco.com

I've never built a website before so it's a little lame, hopefully It will get better as I tweak it over the next few days.

Anyone out there who needs a site...I work cheap!

Bernie Kallman

Bernie Kallman in a late 60s/early70s era publicity photo from the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus. Other than being featured prominently in Jill Freeman's book Circus Days ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0517520087/qid=1152712420/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5136262-0935313?s=books&v=glance&n=283155 ) and Mike Naughton's assertion that Bernie was a great guy and a wonderful clown I've got no information on the man.

Anyone out there remember Bernie?

Les Bario

Les Bario featuring Papa Bario.

Ben Dova Video

Video of Joseph Späh as Ben Dova, the Convivial Inebriate, performing his swaypole act on top of the Chanin Building for the newsreels in 1933; No wires, nets or camera tricks.

Ringling 104th Alley

From the early 70s - Members of the 104th Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Blue Unit Clown Alley (including Maude Flippen, Janice Gillespie, Swede Johnson, Prince Paul, Michu, Mark Anthony, Earl "Mr. Clown" Cheney, future Clown College directors Ron and Sandy Severini, Tim Tinsman, Kevin Bickford and longtime Vidbel's Old Tyme Circus star clown Billy Vaughn) as they appeared when I saw them at Madison Square Garden on 33rd St. in New York City, just an hour from my house.

Clyde Beatty - Cole Bros. Alley

From the early 70s - The Clyde Beatty - Cole Bros. Alley (Buck Nolan, Lou Nagy, Jimmy James, Bernie Kallman and Kenny Dodd among them) as they appeared when I saw them at their annual stop at the Brunswick Square Mall in East Brunswick, NJ just a few minutes from my house.

Hoxie Bros.: The Fornasaris

From the early to mid 70s - The Fornasaris as they appeared on Hoxie Bros. when the show used to come for it's annual date at the Sayrewoods Shopping Center at the corner of Route 9 and Ernston Road in Parlin, NJ, just a few FEET from my house.

Ben Dova, The Convivial Inebriate

Remember Lee Evans ring gag at the end of the film FUNNY BONES (or Bello Nock's swaypole routine from his final year with Big Apple)? Well, here is where it all starts...

Joseph Späh as "Ben Dova, The Convivial Inebriate", far and away the most interesting story that you'll read all day...

http://www.its-behind-you.com/bendova.html

Frankie in the Mirror

Saluto Bio

Frank T. "Frankie" Saluto
(1906 - 1982)

Born: Nov. 8 1906 in Massachusettes
Died: July 30, 1982 in Sarasota, Fla.

Exact height: 3' 10"

Known relatives: Lillian Saluto Cash, older sister

Frankie Saluto began clowning in 1928 and shortly afterwards joined the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He became known for his walkaround attempting to get a large live rabbit (the rabbit went through a long string of names before Saluto finally settled on "Buns") out of, and then back into, a large wooden box. His career highlights also include his uncanny minature Chaplin impersonation, playing the gas station attendant in Lou Jacobs' legendary car gag and being a member of the Ringling Giants, a midget baseball team that played exhibition games for circus publicity and charity causes.

In his will, John Ringling bequeathed a diamond stickpin to the one clown chosen "Most Popular" by his peers in Clown Alley. Saluto had the honor of winning that distinction, for which he was extremely proud.

Pictured frequently in circus programs as well as appearing in books on circus and clowning, he retired in 1974 at age 65 after 46 years of clowning.

One person's memories of a brush with Frankie...

I would like to inquire at this time about a photo that I have it was taken at the Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus performance at New York City's, Madison Square Garden in 1965. I am featured in the photo, holding a mirror for a very friendly clown named Frankie Saluto. I clearly remember it because I was excited and a little afraid. I had never gotten so close to a clown before and I didn't realize until that moment that they really were just regular people under all that make-up. I think what really caught me by surprise was the fact that this clown was a midget and we were the same height; I was only 5 years old at the time!! I can still remember being introduced to him by my dad and the clown said his name was Frankie Saluto! My Dad, Mr. Louis Liotta, was a legendary N.Y. Post Photographer for 57 years and going to the circus each year was always a special treat and great memories of me and my dad. In those days we got to see the sideshow before the main circus events, ie, the skinny lady, the fat man, the man who swallowed fire, the snake man and up close and personal with all the animals! Wow, that was alot of excitement and fun when you are only 5 years old!! The photos are large black and whites and they are great photos of a great clown and friend, Frankie Saluto! - from the CHS message board

Frankie Saluto

Earle Shipley

A very wistful looking Earle Shipley (identified on the back of the photo as "The Dean of Clowns") who, I recall Jackie LeClaire once telling me, was a really nice guy. Earle was a Ringling Advance Clown from 1958 through 1960.

If I remember correctly he was also the uncle of mid-to-late 60s Ringling clown Billy Ward and Earle gave Billy all of his costumes and props when he retired.

Kelly-Miller Alley?

Here is a photo that the caption on the back claims is from the Kelly-Miller Circus.

It might be, it might not.

If it's not, more than likely it's a photo taken on the Beatty-Cole show back in the early to mid 70s when Billy McCabe (center with an unusual Lou Jacobs/Jimmy Stewart-inspired cone headpiece atop his usual Harry Dann-inspired makeup and Jackie LeClaire-inspired costume) and Bernie Kallman (right) were alley-mates.

Anyone know identity of the auguste on the left? He looks like he borrowed a pair of Billy's extra pants and one of Bernie's other jackets.

Doug Ashton

Doug Ashton was born into the circus. His mother was a bareback rider and trapeze artist and his father played trumpet in the circus band. Like his five brothers and two sisters, he was born as his parents toured Australia, although the family lived in Melbourne.

From the time he was born Doug was trained in the art of entertaining. He and his brothers practiced and acrobatic and tumbling act in the front window of an old store in Swanston Street, dazzling Melbourne lunchtime crowds with their somersaults and backflips.

By the time he was 16 Doug and his brothers Neville, Hoody, Dingie, Mickey, Goldie and his sister Ruva had turned professional with an act they called the Flying Ashtons. They signed a one year contract to tour South Africa with Boswell's Circus and set themselves on a course which would take them to venues all over the world as one of Australia's most famous circus acts.

"I was what they used to call the flyer," Doug said. "My brothers called me skinny, and because I was the lightest I was the one in the air most of the time." The Flying Ashton' lightning speed and pinpoint accuracy made them the toast of overseas circus and vaudeville acts.

After South Africa came a sell-out tour of England and within a year a Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium.

The Ashtons left Australia in 1947 and their fame and success kept them on the road - traveling between Britain, the United States, and Europe - until 1963, when they decided to split and seek their own fortunes. Ruva, Neville and Mickey returned to Australia, Dingie, Goldie, Hoody and Doug all decided to settle in the US.

"I went out on my own and it was then that I decided that clowning - making people laugh - was as good a way of making a living as I could find," Doug said. "I think I was just born silly."

While Doug was growing up, and practicing the tumbling routines with his brothers in Melbourne, he also worked with some of Australia's greatest stand-up comics. Those he admired were Roy Rene and George Wallace, and he learned a lot from taking bit parts in vaudeville shows at the old Tivoli Theater in Melbourne. "I remember seeing those men make audiences laugh and it always impressed me - there can never be enough laughter in the world," Doug said.

And, since his decision to become a clown, Doug brought laughter to people all over the world. He performed with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey for nine seasons, met and married a circus showgirl named Sally and together they toured the US and Australia as a double act for many years. He appeared on the Ed Sullivan show with Elvis and appeared in movies with Red Skelton and Mickey Rooney.

In 1987 he and his wife were invited to join the International Training Program for the Flying Fruit Fly Circus in Albury - Wodonga, a youth circus, where Sally taught web, trapeze and cloud swing and Doug taught what he knew best: slapstick, knockabout circus comedy.

George Carl

"He seems to be retired now but, years ago in Vegas, I loved to go see George Carl do a comedy act that Johnny Carson (no stranger to great comedy acts) called "The funniest 20 minutes in show business." It basically consisted of Mr. Carl getting tangled in the microphone cord. For 20 minutes.

Ostensibly, he was there to play a harmonica solo...but before he got the first note out, he dropped the mike and then he had trouble with the mike stand. And then he knocked over a tray with his harmonicas on it. And then he somehow got the mike down his pants...and the more he tried to undo things, the more tangled and snarled and hopeless and hysterical things got.

I don't know how many times he performed it. I'm guessing 3 shows a night, 6 nights a week for 40 years. Those are very conservative numbers and it still totals out to 37,440 performances. Long before I saw him — near the end of a very long career — he had every second of the act perfected. Every movement, every gesture, every expression, he'd polished the way Nijinsky honed each step of Afternoon of a Faun. If there was a way to get a laugh in any given second of his performance, Carl had found it. A dead person would have laughed at that act — even one pumped full of formaldehyde."

Mark Evanier
http://www.povonline.com





George Carl:

Date of birth
05/07/1916 Ohio, USA.

Date of death
01/01/2000 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. (complications from cancer)

George Carl, the legendary pantomime artist, began his career as a circus clown while still in his teens. He, his wife and two children entertained as a family of acrobats in the Kelly-Miller Circus in the early 50's. They traveled throughout the south doing two and sometimes three shows a day, six days a week. For a time the Carls were the nightly featured act at the luxurious Condado Beach Hotel in San Juan Puerto Rico.

He eventually attained international fame as a clown, vaudevillian, and slapstick comic. He appeared on numerous variety shows such as the Ed Sullivan Show, the Hollwood Palace and was one of Johnny Carson's favorite guests on the "Tonight" show-- always bringing down the house. He also worked the Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris for many years.

He appeared in a "Royal Command Performance" for the Queen at the Paladium in London and the Circus Festival of Monte Carlo honored him with an the coveted "Golden Clown" awar

for his act, presented by Princess Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monocco.

George Carl made his screen debut at the age of 79, portraying an eccentric music-hall comedian in Funny Bones (1995). He can be seen performing segments from his act in the film, which also starred Oliver Platt, Lee Evans, Freddie "Parrot Head" Davies, Leslie Caron and Jerry Lewis, and was also the last time George Carl performed professionally.

Charlie Cairoli: Blackpool 1967

Charlie Cairoli at the Blackpool Tower Circus in 1967.

St. Louis Police Circus 1956

Taken 9 years after the other day's photo from the St. Louis Police Circus, here's the 1956 alley.

Another great one from Bill Strong...

I hope this will fit on. This is just the clowns from a larger photo of the cast, which I hope to post later today, the original has been rolled up so long, and is so cracked, it took me an hour with the cloning tool to clean up as much as I did. I recognize almost all of them but can only name 7. Okay, by the numbers, #1, is Van Wells, who often partnered with Happy; #7, George LaSalle; #11, Bill Bentledge; #12 Joe "Coco, or Koko" Coyle; #13, Percy Radamacher,(from Sheboygin); #14, Bill Alcott; and of course down front is Happy Kellums. The date was produced that year by L.N.Fleckles.

You may recognize Joe "Koko" Coyle if you've ever read Ernie Kern's How to Be a Magic Clown.

Jimmy and Tommy

From an old greeting card Bill Strong sends us this one of Jimmy O'Donell and Tommy Whiteside. No date given, it's possibly from the late 40s or early 50s.

Hagen-Wallace 1952

More from Bill Strong: two pictures of the 1952 Hagan-Wallace alley taken at Atlantic City, NJ. In and out of makeup they are (top row) Zeke Lamonte, Red Bebehler, Happy Davis (missing in 2nd pic) & Tommy Whiteside. In the center is Lou Kish (bottom row) Jimmy O'Donell, Gil Wilson, & Candy Dickson.

Fireman! Save My Bay-beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Bill Strong sends us this one definitely taken in the 1940's because of Dime's straw hat, (possibly on the Polack show). We have Happy Knapp, Dime & Jimmy Davidson (top row) and on the running board is Kinko Sunberry & Gabby De Koe.

Space-Age Otto

Otto Griebling sporting a different look than the one we are used to seeing. He's replaced his derby with a graduation cap, his usual coat or vest for a US Navy jacket and is all ready for the end of the Eisenhower Era and looking forward to the beginning of Kennedy's New Frontier with a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses and a space-age Sputnik gag.

Anyone out there remember the gag?

Wikipedia Entry

Please visit the wikipedia entry that I've created especially for circus clowning at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_clown

And PLEASE feel free to edit and add to it so that it becomes a honest, useful and reliable resource.

Thanks,
Pat

The Stimaxes

Another piece of the great big puzzle of American circus clowning comes to us from new contributor David Powell who sends us this photo of Walter (silver tailcoat) and Millie (black & white checks) Stimax taken March 6, 2000 on the LE Barnes Circus.

Photos taken about the same time appeared Monday on Bill Strong's blog, YESTERDAY'S TOWNS...

http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/

The Stimaxes must have been hired at the beginning of the season, Walter then suffered a stroke some soon after. Dave Hoover told me over and over that he wanted classic three ring circus clowning for the show. I was flat out dumbfounded when the show made it here to New Jersey and the somewhat lackluster clowning was being done by a Russian couple in the contemporary European/Latin American style.

Thanks for helping clear that up David!

Sa-So

Another great photo from Bill Strong...

Pat, I lifted this off a 1954 Hamid-Morton program, so I don't know how it will come through.

I don't know a thing about Sa-So, (pronounced Say-So), what kind of clown he was, or whether he worked anywhere except the Hamid-Morton Show, but his make-up has always fascinated me. I seem to remember that he was also Bob Morton's chauffeur.

The 1956 Hamid-Morton Milwaukee program features the same photo with the captions "Sa-Sothe Clown - His Father A Clown" and "Always Clowning".

License to Clown

Looks to be (from left to right) Dime Wilson, Ed Raymond, unidentified, Dennis Stevens, Gene Randow and Kinko Sunberry looking down from above.

This from Bill Strong...

I have been trying for months to identify the Clown between Ed Raymond & Dennis Stevens, just looking in a 1949 Polack Program I discovered it is Jack Klipple.

St. Louis Police Circus 1947

The clown at the cannon appears in a series of photos in the recent coffee table book 1000 CLOWNS but isn't identified. I see Dick "Rocko" Lewis, possibly Otto Griebling and Jojo Lewis in among the line.

Also in the ring for this gag were Joe Coyle, the Bakers, the Sherman Brothers and Bill Alcott but they do not appear in this crop. Looks like they are doing the chicken gag, shooting a chicken from the cannon.

Billie Burke's Christmas Card

Billie Burke is here to remind us that there are only 194 shopping days left until Christmas.

Moon Launch Gag

The Lou Jacobs-inspired auguste on the far right is "Jazzbo", the clown cop next to him looks to be Charlie Franks. I'm not sure about the two whitefaces, the year or the show but it looks to be a gag about a moon launch. Cheesy looking props but a great looking ring curb!

Happy Kellams Litho

One of Happy Kellams' autographed giveaway lithographs.

Shrine Alley

I don't know what Shrine show this is from (if Irv Romig is there it's probably from the Michigan area) but I do know that the two on the far right are Dick "Rocko" Lewis (on top) and Irv "Ricky" Romig (on bottom, leaning on his hay wagon) . Anyone know the other three? I know that the auguste clown cop turns up in the back row of the Cole Bros. alley photo that I posted a few weeks back.

And if anyone has photos of Johnny Tripp, Bobby Kellogg or Buck Baker I've got info that I'd like to post but no photos.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

This just in:

The Clown cop is Charlie Lewis...

http://greatcircusclownsofthepast.blogspot.com/2006/05/charlie-leuro-clown-cop.html#links

John Toy

Ask and ye shall receive... here is a photo of John Toy. John had a long career on the Shrine circuit and taught one year at Clown College, which is chronicled in Bill Ballentine's book CLOWN COLLEGE.

Thanks go out once again to Robin Estes for providing the following info from Jackie LeClaire...

Photo was taken by Ralph Vincent who was a news photographer for the Journal in Portland Oregon.

The clown in the photo is John Toy or Johnny Toy. He clowned with me on the Orin Davenport dates in the 50's. He was from Minneapolis, Minn. His mother I think owned a dramatic school or taught there. Pardon my spelling but I think it was The McPhail School of Dramatic Arts. I visited it once myself. John Toy had instant memory. We could go to a musical movie and he would come out knowing all the words to the tunes. He had worked, and here I go with the spelling again in the ( probably 40's) dramatic presentations called Chetalkwas (?) He was a very brilliant man and loved clowning. He later married and for all I know may still be alive today. He has a mind that was hard to keep up with. Excellent, hard working clown with a definite individual style of his own.—Jackie LeClaire

Billy Griffin

We have the following info on the 1st picture, from the Tegge Circus Archives...

Snapped on the Bailey-Cristiani show in 1955.—Tim Tegge


Now we're cooking with gas! Here's some pictures of Billy Griffin, a name I often see attached to ANY photo of an old-time whiteface that can't otherwise be identified.

Carl Marx

Here's a guy who must have had a hard time getting work during the McCarthy era, Carl Marx.

He's one of those people whose name your read mentioned as being a fixture on Shrine shows of his time but you almost never see a picture of him. Now we have, thanks once again to Bill Strong.

Marx makeup is very similar to Billie Burke's, an adaption of Lou Jacobs' adaption of Albert Fratellini, yet they are all different and distinct.

Now if anyone out there has photos of John Toy and Billy Griffen THAT would be a big help too!

Superman Commercial

Great Caesar's Ghost! The cast of the Adventures of Superman pitches Kellogg's Sugar Smacks with Lou Jacobs featured prominently on the box and an animated Paul Jung at the end.

Lou Jacobs Sugar Smacks

Lou Jacobs as one of the original mascots (along with Paul Jung) for Kellogg's Sugar Smacks. I wonder if the clowns used in the campaign saw any additional income from these?