Harty the clown – (1906–1986) Frank "Harty" Hart was chief clown for Billy Smart's Circus for 12 years. He toured the US and UK's biggest auditoriums, as well as appearing many times on TV. He even beat the panel on the BBC's What's My Line.
Johnny B, Kummiedjant Lokali
Ian P, Maltese Clown and Actor of the Rivendell Circus
Joe Jackson Sr & Jr. – famous tramp clown entree with a breakaway bicycle
Johann Ludwig Jacob – Lou Jacobs (1903–1992) – During his 60 years in the American circus this Master Clown 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. Credited with inventing the clown car gag.
Oleg Popov – Greatly admired clown from the Soviet Union and student of Karandash
Otto Griebling – (1896–1972) 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
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
Ben Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) cross-eyed comedian, best remembered for his work in silent films
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
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"
Chester Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) American comedian and actor
Harry Langdon – (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American silent film comedian and a first class mime
Jacques Tati – (October 9, 1908 – November 5, 1982) was a French comedian, mime and filmmaker best known as the socially inept Monsieur Hulot
Keystone Cops incompetent group of policemen created by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917
Laurel & Hardy – perhaps the most famous comedy duo in film history
Martin & Lewis – an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin (as the "straight man") and comedian Jerry Lewis (as his stooge)
The Marx Brothers – a team of sibling comedians that appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, film and television
Peter Sellers – (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) Extremely versatile and talented English comedian and actor best remembered for the character of Inspector Clouseu
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"
Joseph Utsler – Shaggy 2 Dope; DJ of the Insane Clown Posse, a Detroit-based hip-hop group with a fan army of "schizophrenic wizards" called the juggalos and star of underground film Big Money Hustlaz
Snub Pollard (November 9, 1889, Melbourne, Australia, – January 19, 1962) was a silent film comedian, popular in the 1920s.
The Three Stooges – starred in many short features that consisted of masterful ways of showcasing their extremely physical brand of slapstick comedy
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
Joseph Bruce – Violent J; The leader of the Insane Clown Posse, a Detroit-based hip-hop group and star of Big Money Hustlaz underground film
Doink the Clown, a gimmick used by several wrestlers in the 1990s. Doink began as a heel wrestler in the evil clownarchetype, but later Doinks portrayed the character as a babyface who loved to entertain the children in the crowd
Flunky the Clown, a character on Late Night with David Letterman, a bitter, chain-smoking, depressed, very unenthusiastic clown who helped Dave answer viewer mail about circuses and clowns, played by show writer Jeff Martin. His catchphrase was <in a very unemotional voice> "yeah, it's a real panic."
Jim Allen – Rusty Nails (1957–1972), Pacific Northwest children's television clown, and model (in part) for Matt Groening's "Krusty" character on the television program "The Simpsons"
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
Joseph Grimaldi credited with being "the first whiteface clown" — in an homage to Grimaldi, circus clowns began referring to themselves and each other as "Joey"s, and the term 'joey' is now a synonym for clown
Olsen & Johnson – Stars of Broadway's Hellzapoppin'
Robert Armin – actor and clown in Shakespeare's company
Spike Jones and his City Slickers – Murdered the classics with their "Musical Depreciation Revue"; versatile American musical act featuring slapstick circus-style comedy
W. C. Fields – Vaudeville comedy star who mastered the variety as well as the legitimate stage, silent and talking films, print and radio
Will Kempe (fl. c 1589–1600) – actor dancer and clown who worked with Shakespeare; famously jigged his way from Norwich to London in 1600
Willie, West & McGinty – Fast-paced Irish-American vaudeville knockabout act about 3 laborers building a house
Contemporary
Adam Gertsacov – bills himself as "The Most Educated Clown In America (barring certain elected officials.)" Currently the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt, Maryland, and the "boss clown" of the Acme Clown Company
Alan Clay – International clown teacher and performer; and author of Angels Can Fly, a Modern Clown User Guide.[10]
Alex the Jester, the "King of Jesters," speaks a contemporary version of the medieval gibberish language Grammelot.
Avner Eisenberg – also known as Avner the Eccentric, a "Broadway" clown
Bill Irwin – Tony award winning clown known for his new vaudeville-style performances
Blue Man Group – Trio of silent characters that perform covered in blue paint
Dario Fo – Capo Comicio – creator of "Mistero Buffo" and "Accidental Death of an Anarchist"; recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature; uses Arlecchino stage persona, political activist
Drew Richardson – The Dramatic Fool
Emma the clown- the most popular French stage clown.emmalaclown.com
Gale LaJoye – International performer and creator of "Snowflake"LaJoye.com
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
Wolfe Bowart – stage clown touring internationally with his productions LaLaLuna and The Shneedles
Sergey Pavlov – Russian clown "LALALA", creator of "LALALA SHOW"
Fictional
Adam the Clown, from the video game Dead Rising. Equipped with two chainsaws that he juggles, he is a boss in the game. He dies by falling on his chainsaws and suffering from massive blood loss.
Buggy the Clown is the antagonist of the manga and animeOne 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")
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
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)
Ronald McDonald, McDonald'sfast-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.
Scoopy, clown mascot of the Safe-T-Cone novelty ice cream cone company.
Stan is the clown name of the character Louison in the 1991 French film Delicatessen. When Louison worked as "Stan" his sidekick was a chimp known as Livingstone and they were employed in the fictional "Cirque du Colonial" in Paris.
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