List of clowns

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article lists famous clowns from various media. See main article under Clown.

Contents 1 Famous circus-style clowns [1] [2] 2 Contemporary circus-style clowns [3][4] 3 Famous film clowns [5][6][7] 4 Famous television clowns[8] 5 Famous Theatrical Clowns [9] 6 Contemporary theatrical clowns 7 Fictional clowns 8 Further reading 9 References

[edit] Famous circus-style clowns ^{[1] [2]}

• Achille Zavatta (1915 - 1993).
• Batatinha (literally Little Potato), from Portugal. A very well-known clown.
• Bim Bom, a famous clown of Revolutionary Russian, executed by the Cheka for his Bolshevik satires.
• Blinko - Ernie Burch (1929-1997) R50's Tv show. Ringling Bros. circus. The Greatest Show on Earth movie. Named by Cecil B. DeMille.
• Charlie Rivel - Other than Grock perhaps the most beloved and respected of all European clowns.
• Coco the Clown (Nicolai Poliakoff), Longtime star clown of the Bertram Mills Circus.
• Daniel Rice (1823-1901) A famous U.S.A. clown of the 19th century.
• David Konyot, 4 times winner best clown (U K) Hungarian circus festival, Polish circus Festival.
• The Chickys, classic European clown act.
• Emmett Kelly - Extremely well-known American tramp clown.
• Francesco Caroli.
• The Fratellinis, a dynasty of French clowns.
• George Carl - American clown who found great success in Europe. Performed "Royal Command Performance" for the Queen at the Paladium in London. He also received the coveted "Golden Clown" award from Princess Grace, (Grace Kelly) at the Circus Festival of Monte Carlo.
• Glen "Frosty" Little, America's only living Master Clown and longtime "Boss Clown" with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
• Grock (Adrian Wettach).
• Joe Jackson Sr & Jr. - famous tramp clown entree with a breakaway bicycle.
• Johnny Tatum, rodeo clown
• Kahlan Brooks, known for her signature hair extensions and bright make-up
• Karandash (Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev).
• Lou Jacobs - During his 60 years in the American circus Master Clown Lou Jacobs came to be known as one of the most famous clowns in the world through his innovative comic routines, compassion for others and strong dedication to his work.
• Quail Dobbs, rodeo clown
• Oleg Popov, Greatly admired clown from the Soviet Union.
• Otto Griebling - Prolific and influential Master Clown with the Cole Bros. and Ringling circuses. The single most admired and respected American circus clown of the 20th century.
• The Rastellis - European clown act
• Remi, "Puerto Rico's Greatest Clown".
• Yuri Nikulin, Russian clown and actor.
• Vicki Gabereau, "Rosie Sunshine" who ran as a candidate in the 1974 Toronto mayoral election.
• Zig and Zag (Australian performers)

[edit] Contemporary circus-style clowns ^[3][4]

• Barry Lubin - "Grandma", star clown of the Big Apple Circus
• Jeff "Gordoon" Gordon - "Le Clown Gordoon", star clown with the Big Apple Circus
• David Shiner - Tony Award-winning American born mime and circus clown who has appeared on Broadway and with several prominent European circuses.
• Steve Smith - "T.J. Tatters"; longtime director of Ringling Clown College
• Greg and Karen DeSanto - Husband and wife clown/comedy team.
• John Gilkey, American clown and comic juggler who has appeared with the New Pickle Circus and Cirque du Soleil.
• Denis Lacombe - Star clown with Cirque du Soleil and Big Apple best known for his comedy conductor gag.
• Pat Cashin - American clown and "Comedy Ringmaster" with the Shrine Circuses.
• Rik Gern - Bonzo Crunch: Fool at Large; a popular circus and event clown from Austin, Tx.
• Jason T. and Kristen Stewart - Husband & wife team formerly with RBB&B. They are the founders of the Seaside Clowns (which also includes Aaron Tucker, Darren Burrell, Bryan Fulton, and Andrew Scharff, all Ringling alumni and all excellent clowns in their own right) clowning at resorts in Myrtle Beach, SC.
• Bob "Doodles" Kelmer - Appearing daily 2006 at the Circus World Museum, Baraboo, WI.
• Timothy Noel Tegge - American whiteface clown and ringmaster with the Shrine Circus.
• Fumagalli, European star clown soon to appear with the Big Apple Circus
• Chris and Gina Allison - "Bucky and Gigi"; Husband and wife clown team and founders of Cirque du Jour
• Aaron Rider - Melvino the Wonder Nerd, unicycling, bagpiping, juggling clown currently with the Culpepper and Merriweather Circus
• Bill Machtel - Mr. Bill, longtime clown at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, WI
• []Walter Galetti] price winning clown Austria
• Giovanni Zoppe - Youngest performer ever to be inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame.
• Ernest Borgnine, the American film and television actor, enjoys performing as a clown in parades, particularly in New York City.
• Cepillín, a Mexican clown.
• VeeKay the Zoot Suit Clown - Circus clown and official greeter at the Orange County Fair in Orange County, California.
• Buffo, claimed to be the worlds strongest clown.
• Jorn 'Erasorhead' Barger - from Hoboken, a hobo-clown in the tradition of Freddy the Freeloader of Red Skelton fame.
• Larry Pisoni - The founder of The Pickle Family Circus where he performed as character "Lorenzo Pickle"

[edit] Famous film clowns ^[5][6][7]

• Charlie Chaplin - (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977) British born comedian. The most famous actor in early to mid Hollywood cinema era, he acted in, directed, scripted, produced, and eventually scored his own films. His principal character was "The Little Tramp".
• Buster Keaton - (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) The Great Stoneface. His innovative work as both a comedian and a director made great contributions to the development of the art of cinema.
• Harry Langdon - (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American silent film comedian and a first class mime.
• Laurel & Hardy - perhaps the most famous comedy duo in film history.
• Ben Turpin (September 19, 1869 - July 1, 1940) cross-eyed comedian, best remembered for his work in silent films.
• Chester Conklin (January 11, 1886 - October 11, 1971) American comedian and actor.
• Snub Pollard (November 9, 1889, Melbourne, Australia, - January 19, 1962) was a silent movie comedian, popular in the 1920s.
• Keystone Cops incompetent group of policemen created by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.
• Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) One of the most popular actors of his era, but is best known today for his central role in the so-called "Fatty Arbuckle scandal."
• W.C. Fields - (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946) was an American comedian and actor. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century
• The Marx Brothers - a team of sibling comedians that appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, film and television.
• The Three Stooges - starred in many short features that consisted of masterful ways of showcasing their extremely physical brand of slapstick comedy.
• Abbott & Costello (William (Bud) Abbott, 1897-1974); Louis Costello, 1906-1959) American comedy duo whose mastery of the white clown (straight man) /red clown (comic) relationship made them one of the most popular and respected teams in American comedy history.
• Martin & Lewis - an American comedy duo, comprised of singer Dean Martin (as the "straight man") and comedian Jerry Lewis (as his stooge).
• Jacques Tati - (October 9, 1908 – November 5, 1982) was a French comedian, mime and filmmaker best known as the socially inept Monsieur Hulot.
• Peter Sellers - (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) Extremely versatile and talented English comedian and actor best remembered for the character of Inspector Clouseu.
• Jim Carrey - a contemporary film star and comic actor best known for his lead roles in The Mask, Liar Liar and many more movies.
• Slim Pickens, rodeo clown and film actor.
• Jim Morrison, singer for The Doors

[edit] Famous television clowns^[8]

• Benny Hill - The Benny Hill Show
• Jackie Gleason - The Jackie Gleason Show, The Honeymooners
• John Belushi - Saturday Night Live
• Lucille Ball - I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy
• Michael Richards - Seinfeld
• Milton Berle - Texaco Star Theater, Berle's Buick Hour
• Paul Reubens - Pee-Wee's Playhouse
• Pinky Lee - The Pinky Lee Show
• Red Skelton - The Red Skelton Show
• Rowan Atkinson - Mr. Bean, The Black Adder, The Thin Blue Line
• Sid Caesar - Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour
• Soupy Sales - The Soupy Sales Show
• Damon Wayans - Homey D. Clown from In Living Color
• 'Clown' from Adventure Island (John Michael Howson)

[edit] Famous Theatrical Clowns ^[9]

• Will Kempe (fl c 1589–1600) actor dancer and clown who worked with Shakespeare.
• Joseph Grimaldi credited with being "the first whiteface clown" — in an homage to Grimaldi, circus clowns began referring to them selves and each other as "Joey"s, and the term 'joey' is now a synonym for clown.
• George Washington Lafayette Fox, perhaps the most famous American stage clown during the 19th century and one of the first known performers to become typecast in a role.
• W. C. Fields - Vaudeville comedy star who mastered the variety as well as the legitimate stage, silent and talking films, print and radio.
• Ed Wynn - The Perfect Fool
• Clark & McCullough - Bobby Clark & Paul McCullough started as circus clowns and progressed to be stars of stage and screen.
• Olsen & Johnson - Stars of Broadway's Hellzapoppin'
• Willie, West & McGinty - Fast-paced Irish-American vaudeville knockabout act about 3 laborers building a house
• Tommy Cooper - British comedy magician
• A. Robbins - Vaudeville's "The Banana Man" and "One Man Music Shop"
• Spike Jones and his City Slickers - Murdered the classics with their "Musical Depreciation Revue"; versatile American musical act featuring slapstick circus-style comedy
• Carl Ballantine - American comedy magician
• Andy Kaufman American comic and one of the most famous practitioners of anti-humor
• George Carl - Longtime star of the Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris
• Doink the Clown - pro wrestler

[edit] Contemporary theatrical clowns

• Blue Man Group - Trio of silent characters that perform covered in blue paint.
• Hilary Chaplain - Versatile NYC stage clown.
• Avner Eisenberg, also known as Avner the Eccentric, a "Broadway" clown.
• Dario Fo - Capo Comicio - creator of "Mistero Buffo" & "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" winner of 1997 Nobel prize for literature, takes Arlecchino as base for his stage persona, political activist.
• Bill Irwin - Tony award winning clown known for his new vaudeville-style performances.
• Mump and Smoot - Canadian "clowns of horror"
• Richard Pochinko - founder of "Canadian Clowning" style
• Slava Polunin - Russian-born clown and creator of "Slava's Snowshow," a theatrical experience currently running at Union Square Theater in New York, New York.
• Drew Richardson - The Dramatic Fool
• Dan "Sylvester the Jester" Sylvester - The Human Cartoon
• Geoff Hoyle A great stage clown. Started in the Pickle family circus with Bill Irwin and Larry Pisoni.
• Julie Goell - "If Olive Oyl played Tinkerbell, in a play by Kafka, directed by Mel Brooks, and designed by Samsonite."

[edit] Fictional clowns

• Buggy the Clown is a fictional character & antagonist of the manga and anime One Piece. His appearance is best described as a mix between a blue-haired clown and a stereotypical pirate. He is extremely sensitive about his real nose (which actually looks like a false clown nose) and anyone who says any thing that he thinks sounds like an insult to his nose, (even if the statement has absolutely nothing to do with his nose) will cause him to get extremely violent. (if you watch the episodes in Japanese you will see the words are similar to "big" "red" & "nose")
• Cluffy the Clown, a clown that punches himselve and the throws up in front of you.
• Buttons (clown), a central character from the 1952 movie The Greatest Show on Earth, played by Jimmy Stewart.
• Bozo the Clown, a franchised clown played by many local television performers and on cartoons, based on the character created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingston for Capitol Records' record-reader series.
• Calvero was a famous clown character played Charlie Chaplin in the film Limelight (film).
• Captain Spaulding, from the horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects.
• Charlie Chalk from the British children's TV series of the same name.
• Chuckles the Clown was a Mary Tyler Moore Show background character who was trampled to death in one of the best-known episodes.
• Clarabell the clown was a regular character from the Howdy Doody television program, originally played by Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame.
• Dodo Delwyn once a famous Ziegfeld star, is reduced to playing clowns in burlesque and amusement parks in 1953 film The Clown, played by Red Skelton.
• Doink the Clown, a gimmick used by several wrestlers in the 1990s. Doink began as a heel wrestler in the evil clown archetype, but later Doinks portrayed the character as a babyface who loved to entertain the children in the crowd.
• Eric The Clown, a character on Seinfeld, played by Jon Favreau
• Frenchy the Clown of the national lampoon comic "Evil clown comics" series.
• Homey the Clown, a character from the In Living Color television program, whose famous catch phrase was "Homey don't play dat", played by Damon Wayans.
• I Pagliacci, (The Clowns) a tragic opera by Ruggiero Leoncavallo prominently features Arlecchino as a character. This opera was inspired by a true story.
• Pennywise, the clown monster in the Stephen King book 'It'.
• Clarabell the clown was a regular character from the Howdy Doody television program, originally played by Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame.
• Ronald McDonald, McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain's advertising clown character, performed by various performers, all of whom were trained to portray the character in an identical manner. Prior to this standardization of the character, Ronald McDonald was played by several performers. In the first television ad featuring Ronald McDonald, the clown was portrayed by Willard Scott in Washington, D.C.
• Mr. Noodle, character created by Bill Irwin for the Elmo's World segment of Sesame Street.
• Loonette, character played by Alyson Court on the The Big Comfy Couch
• Jack, advertising icon for the fast food company, Jack in the Box.
• Jack Point, from the Judge Dredd Megazine's The Simping Detective series. Undercover Judge who dresses like a clown in order to appear crazy enough to fit in. Also conceals several weapons within clown gear.
• Jojo, main character on the Disney Channel's Jojo's Circus
• The Joker is a supervillain often called the "Clown Prince of Crime" from DC Comics.
• Koko the Clown from Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell series of animated cartoons.
• Krusty the Clown the television clown from the animated television series The Simpsons.
• J. P. Patches, seattle children's television clown.
• Pierrot Bolneze from Yakitate! Japan, world-class clown, bread judge and master of ceremonies, he's also the crown prince of Monaco according to the series. Even though he's defined as a clown, he looks more like an harlequin and he perform acrobacies (like free-falling from a great height) and even magic tricks (like cloning himself).
• Rajoo, a circus clow and the central character in Raj Kapoor's film Mera Naam Joker.
• Rusty Nails, Pacific Northwest Children's television clown, and model (in part) for Matt Groening's "Krusty" character on the television program "The Simpsons"
• Shakes the Clown the title character of the movie of the same name. Shakes the Clown was called "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies" by the New York Times.
• Willie Whistle - WSBK-TV38, a clown who had a kids' show in the early 1980s. He got his name because he "spoke" with a squeeky whistle.
• Yorick was a court jester who featured as the subject of a lengthy soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

[edit] Further reading

• Poor Clown by Charlie Rivel
• Behind My Greasepaint by Coco
• Bert Williams - A Biography of the Pioneer Black Comedian by Eric Ledell Smith
• The Book Of Clown by George Speaight
• Bring On The Clowns by Beryl Hugil
• Clown, My Life In Tatters and Smiles by Emmett Kelly and F. Beverly Kelly
• The Clown In Times (Volumes 1-6) by Bruce Johnson
• Clowns by Douglas Newton
• Clowns by John Towsen
• Clowns Of The Hope - Tradition Keepers and Delight Makers by Barton Wright
• Felix Adler by Anne Aull Bowber
• The Fool and His Scepter by William Willeford
• Fools and Jesters At The English Court by John Southworth
• Greasepaint Matadors - The Unsung Heroes of Rodeo by Jeanne Joy Hatnagle-Taylor
• Grimaldi - King of Clowns by Richard Findlater
• Grock - King of Clowns by Grock
• Here Come The Clowns by Lowell Swortzell
• Jest In Time: A Clown Chronology by Bruce Johnson
• Life's A Lark by Grock
• A Ring, A Horse And A Clown by John H. McConnell
• Russian Clown by Oleg Popov
• The Tramp Tradition by Bruce Johnson
• Hammond, J.
• Woven Gods: Female Clowns and Power in Rotuma (book review)^[10]
• Handelman, D., Models and Mirrors: Towards an Anthropology of Public Events ^[11]
• Little, K., Clown Performance in the European One-Ring Circus. Culture, 1981. 2(1):61-72.^[12]
• Rudlin, J., Commedia Dell'Arte; An Actors Handbook[1]

Pogo the Clown, Vern King, Master Clown,1984 to present, Holder of 37 trophies in clown competition and still competes.

[edit] References