Remembering Emmet Kelly

Emmett Kelly Sr. first circus job was with Howe’s Great London Circus with Emmett performing an aerialist act and doubling as a white faced clown. He married Eva Moore, another circus trapeze artist, and they performed together as the “Aerial Kellys” with Emmett still performing occasionally as a white faced clown until 1923. The next year, Eva became pregnant and Emmett tried to increase his salary by developing a new clown character for the show based on his sketches of Weary Willy. His boss of the circus thought that the tramp clown wasn’t appropriate for the circus. Weary Willy was, in his opinion, too scruffy and dirty-looking. Later, in 1933, during the Great Depression, the appearance of tramps and hobos became more acceptable to American audiences, and Emmett introduced his Weary Willy character full-time. He caught the attention of John Ringling North, who eventually signed him in 1942 for the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. He remained with the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus for fourteen seasons, taking the 1956 season off to perform as the ‘mascot’ for the Brooklyn Dodgers, to travel and pursue his writing career full-time.