Bernie Kallman and Jimmy James Plott (with an unidentified woman with crazy abs of steel) wearing drag nurse outfits that I've been told were made by the widow of the late Paul Jung.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Bernie and Jimmy
Bernie Kallman and Jimmy James Plott (with an unidentified woman with crazy abs of steel) wearing drag nurse outfits that I've been told were made by the widow of the late Paul Jung.
Bernie and The Jets
Bernie with two guys. I'm going to guess from the outfit that the fella in the middle is Dave Hoover many, many years before I met him.
1950s Ringling Alley
A collection of clowns from the Ringling alley of the late 50s: (clockwise from lower left) Pre-Periwinkle Productions, Circus Report contributor Chuck Burnes, Gene Lewis, Paul Jung, Dennis Stevens, Albert White and , I believe, one of the Nelsons.
Mike Bourbon
Someone out there had asked for a photo of Mike Bourbon the other day. Here he is with the lovely Dagmar.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
From Donald "Donni" Stambaugh: Dullam & Armstrong
Today's photos of the classic Beatty-Cole alleys of the late 60s and 70s come to us through the generosity of contributor Donald "Donni" Stambaugh...First up, Eddie Dullam stitching up Jimmy Armstrong.
Beatty Cole Alley in Living Color
I can Identify (l to r) Shorty Hinkle, Bernardo Crespo, Jimmy James, Dennis Stevens, Buck Nolan, Bernie Kallman, Lou Nagy and Kenny Dodd in the center. That leaves the other little person in the center and the gentleman squatting down at far right unidentified.
Mike Martin
Former Bozo the Clown and future member of the "Top Bananas" (along with Albert "Flo" White) Mike Martin in drag.
Mike Martin as a drag nurse.
Beatty Cole Ladder Shot
(From top to bottom) Jimmy James, Kenny Dodd, Shorty Hinkle, Lou Nagy and another unidetified clown.
Bernardo, Louie, Jimmy, Bernie and Dennis
Bernardo Crespo, Louie Nagy, Jimmy James Plott, Bernie Kallman and Dennis Stevens
Charivari
Here is an excellent representation of what is known in the circus as a "charivari" performed at Circus Circus Reno by The Knockabouts.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Spike: The Beloved Entertainer
The DeSantos have produced a homage to Spike Jones for the Ringling show (one of my favorite gags of the entire Clown College era) and Todd Robbins has honored the legacy of Spike and the City Slickers on the Big Apple's Happy On tour.
Here is the original, Mr. Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones from his rarely seen feature Fireman, Save My Child (a remake of a Joe E. Brown vehicle that was supposed to star Abbott & Costello) featuring the All-Star classic City Slickers line-up including Earl Bennett (as Sir Frederick Gas),
Dick Morgan, Freddy Morgan (a truly funny guy who was a fantastic banjo player), Georgie Rock and Joe Siracusa. Music lovers, enjoy.
Monday, July 17, 2006
'Cowboy Mike' Keever
When I was a kid you knew that the Red Unit was back at the Garden because the papers were always filled with photos of 'Cowboy Mike' Keever.
'Cowboy Mike' Keever graduated Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College (the year Emmett visited) in 1977. He performed with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for 13 years. First with the Red Unit, from 1978 - 1983, then as Advance Clown from 1983 - 1990.
I met Mike a few years back at the Cel-ebration Art Gallery in Red Bank, NJ. He was there in makeup and so was I (I was just coming back from a show and didn't want to stop home and change for fear that I'd miss him), we had a great talk. He struck me as just as wonderful a guy as I remebered seeing in the ring all those years before.
To see what Mike is up to now visit...
http://www.cel-ebration.com/Cowboy%20Mike%20Keever%20the%20Clown.htm
Harry Dann: Beatty-Cole
I've been told by several reliable sources that Harry Dann NEVER worked on the Beatty-Cole show but here we see SOMEONE who looks an awful lot like him in his usual whiteface, small peaked hat but sporting a baggy, plaid suit.
I knew I had seen pictures of SOMEONE who looked like Harry but was always told that it could never have been him.
Submitted for your approval: Above we have a Beatty-Cole publicity photo from the spring of 1967 featuring several clowns identified (top to bottom) as Eddie Dullam, John James, Marvin Gauger and Cliff Cowen.
Now the guy on top certainly looks like Eddie Dullam so I'll buy that one. The third one down could be Marvin Gauger, I don't know. I've never heard the name before. The bottom guy looks to me to be Jimmy Armstrong not Cliff Cowen. Cliff Cowen is identified in another press photo and the person in the picture is neither a little person nor a clown on the show.
All of which brings us to the man second from the top.
Folks, that's Harry Dann. It's not Billy McCabe or "John James" or Jimmy James or even Jimmy "J.J." Walker... that is Harry Dann in a plaid suit looking quite a bit like what Frosty Little would look like just a year or so later on the Ringling show.
Just because Harry is in the photo doesn't mean he toured with the show. He may have just been there for press photos. And just because the photo was published in 1967 that doesn't mean that's when it was taken.
But that's Harry Dann in a plaid suit working for Beatty-Cole. So there!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS JUST IN FROM BILL STRONG!!!
"According to "Encyclopedia Herriott", when Harry Dann first came to Beatty-Cole he announced the show, wearing a red Blazer, he indeed did clown on the show. Marv Gauger & Cliff Cowen were very close friends and often attended Circuses & CFA functions together. I spent 3 years with Marv at CWM, and feel like it is Marv in the picture, BUT, that is Jimmy Armstrong on the bottom sure as you're born. On top is Eddie Dullum, and if that's not Harry Dann, I'm not Bill Strong, and I'm going this afternoon to get a DNA test to confirm that I am really me. I am enclosing a scan of the same pic that I made off an 8X10 glossy that I sold earlier.
Harry Dann: Ringling
One place Harry Dann definetly DID work was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus...just NOT in 1973 when this postcard was being sold at the Circus World theme park in Haines City, FL.
(From the back of the postcard) "MASTER OF MIRTH AND MERRIMENT, Harry the Clown and his young friend Herman typify the wholesome amusement the Circus brings to the young and young at heart."
To that I say, "Well, sure. If a confirmed bachelor wearing makeup and holding a duck is your idea of wholesome then more power to you!" ; )
Photos from this session are STILL being used on shows around the world. Outside of Lou Jacobs, Harry Dann has posthumously promoted more shows he wasn't on than any other clown in history!
Circus World Postcard
From new contributor and former "Boss Clown" of Circus World in Haines City, Fl. Mr. Donald "Donni" Stambaugh...
Thats a me lower left side of photo which was sold at park as a post card. Photo also was on bi-centenial brochure, handout map etc. This photo was taken 2 hours after I got to the park to work there. Still hadn't even been in the place. Well there's a teaser of my C. W time More later if you want---------Donni
I think we'd all like to hear more Circus World stories!
For more on Circus World...
http://www.lostparks.com/cwld.html
http://www.dizzyrambler.com/index.html?legends/ThemeParks/CircusWorld/CW_History.html~mainFrame
And especially the Circus World clowns
http://www.crazyirving.com/cw/default.htm
http://www.dizzyrambler.com/index.html?legends/ThemeParks/CircusWorld/CW_History.html~mainFrame
Bobo Barnett
Whenever I ask anyone who's been around the circus industry for any length of time who the very best clown they ever saw was, the answer almost always comes back... Otto Griebling.
On the rare occasion that they don't say Otto, they almost always say Chester "Bobo" Barnett.
Bobo would enter the ring in a midget car, similar to Lou Jacobs, Kinko Sunberry or Hip Raymond. He'd emerge from the car and then pull from it a full comedy dog act. He'd perform with the dogs and then finish by playing "Peg of My Heart" on the trumpet.
Sounds easy. Doesn't sound all that funny.
People assure me that he used to KILL with that act. Everytime. Everywhere. K-I-L-L!
There are tapes, somewhere I'm sure, of Bobo's appearances on Ed Sullivan and other variety shows of the era. I haven't been able to track any down yet but if you've got one, or know someone who does, I'd love to see it!
Chester's daughter, Bonnie Ann recently wrote a book. It's mostly about her own life's journey but contains a good amount of info on Bobo...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0970768605/sr=8-1/qid=1153134378/ref=sr_1_1/002-5080884-3749648?ie=UTF8
Jackie LeClaire
Catch ‘em when they’re young – as the Jesuits know – and they’re yours for life.
If your first memory of circus clowning is of the classic, three-ring American clown - part cotton candy cartoon character, part sawdust Santa Claus, made from the same stuff as fairy tales and Mickey Mouse... the very living personification of fun and childhood dreams - then the mark left by the experience tends to be indelible.
Believe me, I know!
In this increasingly cynical world, every child should be given the opportunity to discover afresh the eternal joy of the circus clown as "every child's pal". As Spike Milligan recalled of Laurel & Hardy: "From the moment I saw them on screen, I knew they were my friends."
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Children of All Ages...1996 International Clown Hall of Fame inductee..."the Children's Clown"...Mr. Jackie LeClaire.
http://community-2.webtv.net/JACKIELECLAIRE/JACKIELECLAIREClown/
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Mike Coco: Stiltwalking
The other day I had posted photos of Mike Coco and stated that he had walked high stilts on the Ringling show in the 60s while posting a later photo of him posing outside a photographer's studio.
Here is Mike in action, walking the track during the 1966 Ringling spec, in all his three ring, star-spangled glory...
Otto Griebling: Quartet
I have no information on the year or the show but I would have to guess that's it's an indoor winter Shrine date back during Otto's Cole Bros. days; he stopped wearing his wig by the time he joined the Ringling show.
Pictured (left to right) are Otto Griebling, Happy Kellams, Unidentified (possibly Charlie Lewis or Art Cooksy judging from the painted, scarecrow-style triangle red nose) and Joe Lewis.
Anyone want to try to tell me why Jojo Lewis, one of the most famous circus clown cops of the "Golden Age" is NOT in a cop suit, but the other guy IS?!?
Mike Naughton
A true gentleman and a great person to work both with and for... Mr. Mike Naughton.
The photo bears the legend "MIKE NAUGHTON presents 'KOSCO THE CLOWN' APPEARING IN THE WORLD'S FINEST CIRCUSES".
Take a moment and see what Mike has been up to with his own show, the Yankee Doodle Circus
"America's Number One Circus for Children": http://www.yankeedoodlecircus.com/
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This just received from the one and only Bernie Kallman...
"I did want to mention Mike Naughton. We had the joy of working together on Shrine dates back in the dark ages with a Producer/Director Don Francisco. A marvelous man and great lover of the American Clown. Mike was producing clown for one of the dates and we had as much fun doing the gags as the audience did seeing them. It was one of the highlights of working with a guy like Mike who loved doing what he loved best, Clowning. If you get a chance, remember me to him would you?" - Bernie Kallman
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros: Buck Nolan
Buck NolanDate of birth: February 1936 Princeton, West Virginia, USA
Date of death: November 2004 Richmond, Virginia, USA. (colon cancer)
His real last name was Buxton, but performed under the name Buck Nolan "The World's Tallest Clown" and was with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus for many years. He received modest royalty checks for his film work in the 1993 Debra Winger movie, "Wilder Napalm," and reportedly turned down the role of Darth Vader in Star Wars because he had a contractual conflict for another obligation.
After 33 years as a professional circus clown, Buxton retired to his home in Princeton where he traveled around to flea markets in the area. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV)
Photo courtesy of Bill Strong
http://yesterdaystowns.blogspot.com/
Al Ross
From Bill Strong...
"Al Ross was always a favorite of mine, mostly because he was such a quiet, and gentle man, the girl with him is Joanne Sherman, who's husband Dennis was a Flyer in Phil, & Fran Schacht's Flying Apollos. A lot of people now don't know Phil & Fran did a Flying Act, they also did a Fabulous Cradle Act. Taken in Hawaii in the early 70's"
Al Ross (1907 - 1981)
Born Alphonse Helwig in Cincinnati, Ohio, he took the professional name Al Ross in 1930 when he was part of the Ross acrobatic troupe.
Ross, a tramp clown, provided training for fellow shrine clowns in proper clowning skills and etiquette. He would shoot long balloons into the circus crowd. When he threw away his black derby hat, it came right back to him. He rode an old bicycle that fell apart, and was adept at acrobatic balancing and tumbling. Ross was a member of the Aladdin Temple Shrine unit and was seen in many shrine and other circuses in the U.S. He was a performer with the Jack Parr Special Service Unit.
During his last interview he stated, "anyone who can make people laugh has the greatest gift God can give a man."
Al Ross was inducted into the 1993 Clown Hall of Fame.
- From the International Clown Hall of Fame website
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.
(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
Friday, July 14, 2006
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
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.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
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!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
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?
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
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.
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