Joseph Grimaldi

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Joseph Grimaldi's Grave, Joseph Grimaldi Park, Pentonville Road London

Joseph Grimaldi (December 18, 1778 - May 31, 1837), the most celebrated of English clowns, was born in London, the son of an Italian actor (of the same name, also known as 'Iron Legs'). Grimaldi's performances were, in fact, reminiscent of the classic Commedia dell'arte.

When less than two years old, he was introduced to the stage at Drury Lane; at the age of three, he began to appear at the Sadler's Wells theater, and he did not retire until 1828. As a pantomime clown he was considered without equal, his greatest success occurring in Mother Goose at Covent Garden (1806 and often revived). Some people have claimed that Grimaldi was the inspiration for Frankenstein’s monster.

His Memoirs in two volumes (1838) were edited by Charles Dickens.

A famous 'sad clown' anecdote was first told of Grimaldi (later also told of Grock): A young man goes to see his doctor. He is overcome by a terrible sadness and doesn't think anything will make him feel better. The doctor says, "Why not do something happy, like going to see Grimaldi the clown?". The young man answers, with a knowing look, "Ah, but Doctor," he says, "I am Grimaldi."

Suffering from ill health, Grimaldi retired from the stage and died some years later, a physical wreck, owing to the years of extreme physical exertion his clowning had involved.

To this day, on every first Sunday in February, a memorial service is held for Grimaldi at All Saints' Church, Haggerston, North-East London - the home of the Clowns' Gallery. At this service, hundreds of clowns flock from all over the world in full 'garb', and the service is followed by a show for the children.

The original editions of Grimaldi's memoirs are very hard to find. There are, however, two digital / P.O.D. versions now available. Self-publisher John Haines ( Josh Rogan ) has made available a scanned copy of an 1846 edition and a full-text version of the 1853 Routledge 'Cheap New Series' edition. The former has a special charm, as it is entirely made up of scanned, original pages, so that the darkening and staining evoke the era; but it requires an hour to download. The 1853 edition is a full-text EBook that downloads quickly. Both include the illustrations and revisions.

It should be noted that the 'Memoirs' as they now exist leave much to be desired, since the editing was poorly done and the finished publication was based on an earlier editing job. Much of 'Memoirs' was not even written by Grimaldi (in the 1st person) but rather produced in the 3rd person (Dickens' technique). The original manuscript from which the 'Memoirs' was derived has long been thought to be lost. Richard Findlater discusses this problem in his work "Grimaldi: King of Clowns" (1955) and in his own edition of the 'Memoirs'. He suggests that the original work may still exist in a private collection.