66 Fun Facts About Clown

Thanks to the great Regency performer Grimaldi, the pantomime Clown role became known by what nickname?

Joey comes from Joseph Grimaldi, who so dominated the Clown role at Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden in the early 1800s that the pantomime clowns who followed took his first name.

Clowns in full costume attend an annual church service honouring Joseph Grimaldi in which city?

London: the service began in the 1940s at the Islington church where Grimaldi is buried, then moved east to Hackney in the late 1950s, and it draws clowns from around the world.

Which famous novelist did Richard Bentley hire to edit and improve Joseph Grimaldi's memoirs?

Charles Dickens, then writing as Boz, reworked Thomas Egerton Wilks's clumsy draft for publisher Richard Bentley, and the Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi appeared in 1838 with illustrations by George Cruikshank.

Philip Astley, regarded as the father of the modern circus, added a clown to fill time between what kind of acts?

Equestrian displays were the heart of Astley's show, which grew out of his riding school; the clown was there to amuse the crowd between the trick riders.

Tom Belling's clumsy Auguste clown was created as the foil for which stock character?

The whiteface is the bossy, elegant partner: in the classic double act he gives the orders, and the Auguste spoils the trick by fouling things up at the wrong moment.

In the sitcom Modern Family, which character performs at parties as Fizbo the Clown?

Cameron Tucker's clown was real: actor Eric Stonestreet had performed as Fizbo at children's birthday parties from the age of 11, and the episode named 'Fizbo' won him an Emmy.

Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelly are classic examples of which circus clown type?

Tramp: both men played down-and-out drifters for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and Kelly first drew his character as a cartoon before bringing him to life in the ring.

Emmett Kelly's famous sad-faced circus clown character was named what?

Weary Willie's signature bit was trying to sweep up a pool of spotlight with a broom; in 1957 the Brooklyn Dodgers took Kelly on as a mascot.

Ringling clown Lou Jacobs, a 6-foot-1 former contortionist, was famous for squeezing himself into what?

A tiny car, about two feet by three, was Jacobs's best-remembered gag in six decades with Ringling; his painted face grew so familiar that it appeared on a 1966 US postage stamp.

Clown Charlie Rivel, born Josep Andreu and famed for the German cry 'Akrobat schööön!', was from which country?

Spain: Rivel was born in Cubelles, near Barcelona, to travelling circus parents; he took his stage name from Charlie Chaplin, and his catchphrase became the title of a 1943 film.

Which future Jackass star graduated from Ringling's Clown College in 1997?

Steve-O finished Clown College but was not picked for the Ringling circus, so he clowned at a Florida flea-market circus and on cruise ships before Jackass; the college itself shut in the late 1990s.

Which future Las Vegas magician graduated from Ringling's Clown College in 1973?

Penn Jillette graduated from Clown College in 1973, then spent the next few years in a juggling act with a school classmate before teaming up with Teller.

Which clown, later Sesame Street's Mr. Noodle, was awarded a MacArthur 'genius grant' fellowship in 1984?

Bill Irwin trained at Ringling's Clown College, yet his 2005 Tony came for a serious role, George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The performer behind Sesame Street's Mr. Noodle was an early clown with which San Francisco circus troupe?

The Pickle Family Circus did without animals or a ringmaster: founded by veterans of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, it put its clowns at the centre of the show.

Britain's Clowns International records members' face-paint designs on what unusual object?

The register exists so that no two clowns end up wearing the same face, and the originals were real hen's eggs before ceramic ones took over.

Which Motown singer wrote the lyrics to 'The Tears of a Clown' after its music reminded him of a circus?

Smokey Robinson was handed an instrumental by Stevie Wonder and Hank Cosby; its calliope riff sounded like a circus to him, so he wrote about a clown hiding his sadness, and the Miracles took it to No. 1 in 1970.

Which US president proclaimed August 1 to 7, 1971 as National Clown Week?

Richard Nixon issued the proclamation in 1971 after Congress passed a 1970 joint resolution requesting it; clown groups went on to mark the first week of August as International Clown Week.

In The Simpsons, which sidekick framed Krusty the Clown for armed robbery?

Sideshow Bob, voiced by Kelsey Grammer, robbed the Kwik-E-Mart disguised as Krusty because he was sick of being the butt of the clown's gags; Bart exposed him in the first season.

What term is used for an intense fear of clowns?

Coulrophobia is a popular coinage rather than a term from psychology: it surfaced in the late 20th century and is said to be built on a Greek word linked to stilt-walkers.

In a 2022 survey of 987 adults from 64 countries, about what share reported some fear of clowns?

54% is the rounded figure: 528 of the 987 said they had some degree of fear, far above earlier adult surveys, which had put the rate at between 1.5% and 17%.

A photo of Conrad Veidt in which 1928 silent film inspired the Joker's grin?

The Man Who Laughs gave the Joker his face: Veidt's Gwynplaine has a grin carved into him as a boy, and Batman's creators agreed that a still from the film inspired the villain's smile.

Joaquin Phoenix's 2019 film Joker won which top prize at the Venice Film Festival?

Golden Lion is Venice's highest prize, and Joker took it in 2019; Phoenix, who lost 52 pounds to play failed party clown Arthur Fleck, went on to win the Best Actor Oscar.

In Stephen King's It, Pennywise the Dancing Clown preys on the children of which fictional Maine town?

Derry, King's fictional stand-in for Bangor, Maine, is It's hunting ground; the 1986 novel runs on two timelines because the creature sleeps for roughly 27 years between feeding cycles.

Who played Pennywise in the 1990 television adaptation of It?

Tim Curry looked back on Pennywise in 2015 as 'a wonderful part' and wished the actor cast in the remake good luck.

John Wayne Gacy became the 'Killer Clown' after it emerged he performed under what clown name?

Pogo the Clown was Gacy's act at parties and charity events; the 'Killer Clown' label followed his 1978 arrest, and his case is often named among the roots of the evil-clown figure of the 1980s.

Which US retailer pulled clown masks from its stores and website during the 2016 creepy-clown scare?

Target removed clown masks from shelves and its website in October 2016 as sightings spread from the US to Canada, Australia and the UK; McDonald's also gave Ronald McDonald a lower profile.

Which actor played Twisty the Clown in American Horror Story: Freak Show?

John Carroll Lynch's Twisty drew a public complaint from the head of Clowns of America International, who said such killer characters add to people's fear of clowns.

Pinto Colvig, the first voice of Bozo the Clown on 1946 children's records, also originated the voice of which Disney character?

Goofy and Bozo shared a voice: Colvig, a former circus clown himself, played Bozo on Capitol's read-along album Bozo at the Circus before the character reached television in 1949.

How long did the waiting list for studio tickets to WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus eventually reach?

Ten years: WGN stopped issuing tickets once the wait hit eight years, and a cut in live shows then stretched it to ten; the Chicago programme stayed on air for more than 40 years.

Which actor purchased the rights to the Bozo the Clown character in 2021?

David Arquette bought the rights to Bozo the Clown from Larry Harmon Pictures in 2021 with plans to revive the character, and the next year added a female counterpart, Jozo Bozo.

Which future Today weatherman played Bozo on Washington's WRC-TV and then the first Ronald McDonald in 1963?

Willard Scott had played Bozo for three years; when that show ended, the local McDonald's franchisees who sponsored it hired him to create a replacement clown, complete with a paper cup for a nose.

Which In Living Color star played Homey, an ex-con working as a clown as a condition of his parole?

Damon Wayans played Homey D. Clown, who answers every request for a silly trick with 'Homey don't play that!' and a swipe of a weighted sock; the catchphrase later titled a history of the show.

Until October 2026, McDonald's clown mascot was known in Japan by what name?

Donald McDonald was chosen because it is easier to pronounce in Japanese than the original; on 1 October 2026 McDonald's Japan switched the mascot's name to Ronald.

Which cause did Britain's Coco the Clown campaign for, earning an OBE in 1963?

Road safety for children became Coco's cause after he was hurt in a road accident in 1959: he lectured in schools between circus dates, and his OBE cited that work.

Dan Castellaneta based Krusty the Clown's voice on which Chicago performer, who played Bozo?

Bob Bell played a raspy-voiced Bozo on WGN-TV from 1960 to 1984, the years when Castellaneta was growing up in the Chicago suburbs of River Forest and Oak Park.

Which comedian won a Primetime Emmy for voicing Krusty the Clown's father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky?

Jackie Mason had been an ordained rabbi before turning to comedy, like the father he voiced; his 1992 Emmy was for 'Like Father, Like Clown', in which Krusty and the rabbi reconcile.

Which performer, the first to play Clarabell on Howdy Doody, later became Captain Kangaroo?

Bob Keeshan first appeared as the mute Clarabell in January 1948, answering questions with a honk of his horn and dousing Buffalo Bob with seltzer, and launched Captain Kangaroo in 1955.

What did the silent Clarabell the Clown finally say in the 1960 Howdy Doody finale?

On September 24, 1960, after a drum roll stopped, Lew Anderson's Clarabell whispered 'Goodbye, kids', the character's first and last words on the show, with a tear visible as the picture faded.

What formal term began replacing 'rodeo clown' for the performers who protect fallen riders?

Professional rodeo adopted 'bullfighter' for the athletes who distract the bull and protect thrown riders, acknowledging the danger of the job, while the purely comic role was split off as separate entertainment.

Which now-standard arena safety item is rodeo clown Jasbo Fulkerson credited with introducing?

A wooden barrel was Fulkerson's refuge: tired of being run over in the arena, the rodeo clown built one he could dive into when an animal charged.

In the traditional pantomime love triangle, Columbine leaves the sad clown Pierrot for whom?

Harlequin, the nimble masked trickster, wins Columbine, leaving the unmasked, white-faced Pierrot heartbroken in his loose white blouse, a theme that became a favourite of poets and painters.

The commedia dell'arte servant Arlecchino wears a costume covered in which pattern?

Diamonds began as patches: Arlecchino first wore a peasant's shirt and trousers covered in coloured scraps, which were later tidied into a tight suit of triangles and diamonds.

Which French mime created the character Bip the Clown in 1947?

Marcel Marceau built Bip as half Pierrot, half Charlie Chaplin's screen character, and the clown became his lifelong alter ego.

Which composer wrote Pierrot lunaire, a 1912 setting of 21 poems about a moonstruck clown?

Arnold Schoenberg wrote it for the actress Albertine Zehme, who commissioned the cycle and performed the Berlin premiere herself, half-speaking and half-singing the poems.

Who conducted the 1892 Milan premiere of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci?

Arturo Toscanini, then 25, conducted the premiere in Milan; Leoncavallo claimed he took the plot from a murder case his father, a judge, had handled.

Circus clown Dan Rice, a star known for his Uncle Sam beard, sought which office in 1868?

President of the United States was one of several offices Rice sought and then gave up on; in the 1860s he commanded a then-phenomenal $1,000 a week, yet he died almost penniless in 1900.

In the 1988 film Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the alien clowns wrap their victims in cocoons of what?

Cotton candy cocoons are just one of the Klowns' circus tricks turned deadly: they also kill a guard with pies and capture a crowd with shadow puppets.

The heyoka, a contrarian 'sacred clown' who acts backwards, belongs to which Native American people?

The heyoka belongs to the Lakota Sioux: only someone who has dreamed of the thunder beings, the Wakinyan, may take on the role, and the holy man Black Elk described himself as one.

Clown Grock, born Charles Adrien Wettach and famed for piano and violin blunders, was from which country?

Switzerland: Grock's switch from the circus ring to the stage with his partner Antonet flopped at first, but the pair mastered the new setting and won a booking in England in 1911.

Which Soviet circus star, famous for his checked cap, was known internationally as 'The Sunshine Clown'?

Oleg Popov picked up the name in France, where a critic dubbed him 'le Clown Soleil' during a Soviet circus tour and the label spread to other languages; he settled in Germany after the Soviet collapse.

Clown Charlie Cairoli was the star of which British venue's summer seasons for forty years?

Blackpool Tower Circus first booked Cairoli in 1939, the summer war broke out, and he stayed until ill health forced him out of the ring in 1979.

Slava Polunin's wordless Slava's Snowshow premiered in October 1993 in which city?

Moscow hosted the world premiere in October 1993; the show is known for its climax, when a blizzard of fake snow blows off the stage and out over the audience.

In which sitcom is Chuckles the Clown killed by a rogue elephant?

The Mary Tyler Moore Show's 'Chuckles Bites the Dust' has Mary scold her colleagues for joking about the death, then dissolve into giggles at the funeral; TV Guide ranked it No. 1 of all episodes in 1997.

Which star plays Buttons, the clown who never removes his makeup, in The Greatest Show on Earth?

James Stewart played Buttons, who hides his face because he is a doctor wanted for his wife's mercy killing; DeMille shot the 1952 film with the real Ringling troupe in Sarasota.

Which TV comedian's hobo clown, Freddie the Freeloader, debuted on his show in 1952?

Red Skelton introduced the hobo Freddie the Freeloader on his NBC show in 1952; off camera he was a prolific painter of clowns whose lithographs he said earned him $2.5 million a year.

Which actor played the real-life clown-doctor Hunter 'Patch' Adams in the 1998 biopic?

Robin Williams played Adams in the 1998 film, which the real doctor disliked; Adams founded the Gesundheit! Institute and has led clown-costumed volunteer trips to hospitals and orphanages worldwide.

'Send In the Clowns' was written by Stephen Sondheim for which 1973 Broadway show?

A Little Night Music: Sondheim wrote the song in rehearsals for Glynis Johns, whose light voice couldn't sustain long notes, so he built it from short phrases that end as questions.

Whose hit recording carried 'Send In the Clowns' to Song of the Year at the 1976 Grammy Awards?

Judy Collins put the song on the Hot 100 twice, peaking at No. 19 in 1977; because Song of the Year honours the writer, the Grammy itself went to Stephen Sondheim.

Will Sommers was court jester to which English king?

Henry VIII's fool Will Sommers outlasted his master: he stayed on at court under Edward VI and Mary I and was still there for Elizabeth I's coronation.

Fans of the hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse are known by what name?

Juggalos got the name when Violent J addressed a 1994 crowd that way during the song 'The Juggla'; after a 2011 FBI report listed them as a gang, fans marched on Washington in 2017 in protest.

Art the Clown is the silent, grinning killer of which horror film series?

Terrifier: creator Damien Leone designed Art as the opposite of Pennywise, bald, wordless and drained of colour; Terrifier 3, made for about $2 million, topped the US box office in 2024.

Stephen King says the monster of It grew out of the villain of which children's tale?

Three Billy Goats Gruff: crossing a wooden bridge in Boulder, Colorado, in 1978, King imagined a troll calling out from below, then decided a troll belonged under a whole city, in its sewers.

Which English actor was first cast as Pennywise in the 2017 film It, before Bill Skarsgård took the role?

Will Poulter was Cary Fukunaga's Pennywise; when Fukunaga left the project in 2015 and filming slipped, Poulter dropped out over scheduling and Andy Muschietti cast Bill Skarsgård instead.

Ronald McDonald's first national TV appearance came during which annual event?

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took Ronald McDonald national in the mid-1960s, after his start in local Washington ads; around then, McDonald's hired a circus clown to redesign his costume and make-up.

Ronald McDonald 'won' a Golden Raspberry for Worst New Star for a cameo in which 1988 film?

Mac and Me, a 1988 E.T. knock-off built around McDonald's and Coca-Cola product placement, ends with the promise 'We'll be back!', but it flopped and the announced sequel was never made.

Krusty the Clown was partly inspired by which gentle TV clown Groening watched as a boy in Portland?

Rusty Nails, a gentle Christian clown on Portland TV in the 1960s, was one model for Krusty; Groening found the name unsettling, and an abandoned early idea would have revealed Krusty as Homer's secret identity.