Jimmy “Happy” Williams (1942 – 2015)
Jimmy “Happy” Williams was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1961, he landed his first job in clowning when he was hired to perform at Mayfair […]
Famous Clowns
Bill "Boom-Boom" Baily (1917 – 1990)
Bill began clowning while still in high school. For over seven years he appeared in his tramp character on the Sealtest Big Top and Mark’s […]
Earl Chaney – Mr. Clown
Earl Chaney (March 6, 1945 – ) Earl Chaney – Mr. Clown – has been making children of all ages laugh for over twenty years.He […]
Giovanni Zoppé – “Nino”
Sixth-generation circus performer Giovanni Zoppé has nothing against the modern lions-and-tigers-and-bears spectacle of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, or the Vegas-style slickness of […]
Frank "Slivers" Oakley
Frank Oakley, aka. Slivers, 1871-1916 Frank Oakley, also known as Slivers (1871 – 1916) was the most popular circus clown of his generation. Born in […]
Curly Robbins
W.D. Robbins – Curly Robbins – 1928 – 2002 Curly Robbins began his clown career in 1959. He volunteered to be a clown at a […]
Bill Irwin
Bill Irwin (April 11, 1950 – present) Everyman clown Bill Irwin graduated from the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1974. The next […]
Barry Lubin – Grandma
Biography of Barry Lubin – “Grandma” (July 3, 1952 – ) A member of the 1974 class of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown […]
Footit and Chocolat
George Footit (1864-1921) was a British equestrian, acrobat and clown who was brought into his profession at the young age of twelve. He was known […]
Charlie Rivel
Josep Andreu i Lasserre (April 23, 1896 – July 26, 1983), best known as Charlie Rivel, was an internationally known Spanish circus clown. He was born in Cubelles (Barcelona, Spain). His […]