EMMETT KELLY
Emmett Kelly (December 9, 1898 - March 28, 1979), a native of Sedan, Kansas, was
an American circus performer, who created the memorable clown figure "Weary
Willie," based on the hobos of the Depression era. Kelly began his career as a
trapeze artist. By 1923, Emmett Kelly was working his trapeze act with John
Robinson's circus when he met and married Eva Moore, another circus trapeze
artist. They later performed together as the "Aerial Kellys" with Emmett still
performing occasionally as a white face clown.
He started working as a clown full-time in 1931, and it was only after years of
attempting to persuade the management that he was able to switch from a white
face clown to the hobo clown that he had sketched ten years earlier while
working at an art firm. "Weary Willie" was a tragic figure: a clown, who could
usually be seen sweeping up the circus rings after the other performers. He
tried but failed to sweep up the pool of light of a spotlight. His routine was
revolutionary at the time: traditionally, clowns wore white face and performed
slapstick stunts intended to make people laugh. Kelly did perform stunts too—one
of his most famous acts was trying to crack a peanut with a sledgehammer—but as
a tramp, he also appealed to the sympathy of his audience.
From 1942 - 1956 Kelly performed with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey
Circus, where he was a major attraction, though he took the 1956 season off to
perform as the mascot for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. He also landed a
number of Broadway and film roles, including the role of "Willie" in Cecil B.
DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). He also appeared in the Bertram
Mills Circus.
Kelly is depicted in a famous photograph, still in full clown make-up and
costume, trying to extinguish the flames of the devastating Hartford Circus Fire
that struck the Circus on July 6th 1944, and killed 167 people during the
afternoon performance in Hartford, Connecticut.
Emmett Kelly died at the age of 80 of a heart attack on March 28, 1979, at his
home in Sarasota, Florida. Emmett Kelly is buried in the Rest Haven Memorial
Park, in Lafayette, Indiana.
The Emmett Kelly Museum is located in Sedan, Kansas.
His son, Emmett Kelly, Jr., did a similar "Weary Willie" character; the two were
estranged for many years,as a result. Kelly, Jr. claimed that his version of
Willie was "less sad", but they seemed quite similar to most observers. Emmett
Kelly, Jr. died November 29, 2006, in Sierra Vista, Arizona, at age 83. He had
been a resident of Tombstone, Arizona.
Emmett Kelly (December 9, 1898 - March 28, 1979), a native of Sedan, Kansas, was
an American circus performer, who created the memorable clown figure "Weary
Willie," based on the hobos of the Depression era. Kelly began his career as a
trapeze artist. By 1923, Emmett Kelly was working his trapeze act with John
Robinson's circus when he met and married Eva Moore, another circus trapeze
artist. They later performed together as the "Aerial Kellys" with Emmett still
performing occasionally as a white face clown.
He started working as a clown full-time in 1931, and it was only after years of
attempting to persuade the management that he was able to switch from a white
face clown to the hobo clown that he had sketched ten years earlier while
working at an art firm. "Weary Willie" was a tragic figure: a clown, who could
usually be seen sweeping up the circus rings after the other performers. He
tried but failed to sweep up the pool of light of a spotlight. His routine was
revolutionary at the time: traditionally, clowns wore white face and performed
slapstick stunts intended to make people laugh. Kelly did perform stunts too—one
of his most famous acts was trying to crack a peanut with a sledgehammer—but as
a tramp, he also appealed to the sympathy of his audience.
From 1942 - 1956 Kelly performed with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey
Circus, where he was a major attraction, though he took the 1956 season off to
perform as the mascot for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. He also landed a
number of Broadway and film roles, including the role of "Willie" in Cecil B.
DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). He also appeared in the Bertram
Mills Circus.
Kelly is depicted in a famous photograph, still in full clown make-up and
costume, trying to extinguish the flames of the devastating Hartford Circus Fire
that struck the Circus on July 6th 1944, and killed 167 people during the
afternoon performance in Hartford, Connecticut.
Emmett Kelly died at the age of 80 of a heart attack on March 28, 1979, at his
home in Sarasota, Florida. Emmett Kelly is buried in the Rest Haven Memorial
Park, in Lafayette, Indiana.
The Emmett Kelly Museum is located in Sedan, Kansas.
His son, Emmett Kelly, Jr., did a similar "Weary Willie" character; the two were
estranged for many years,as a result. Kelly, Jr. claimed that his version of
Willie was "less sad", but they seemed quite similar to most observers. Emmett
Kelly, Jr. died November 29, 2006, in Sierra Vista, Arizona, at age 83. He had
been a resident of Tombstone, Arizona.