Saturday, August 26, 2006

Emmett Kelly, Sr. - world famous tramp clown, 1898-1979

Emmett Kelly Sr., was the most well-known of the tramp clowns of the circus. His character, Weary Willy, was the perpetual underdog, who never gave up - and, because of it, occasionally won. He was inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2007, the Emmett Kelly Museum will celebrate its’ 40th anniversary with an attempt at breaking the world’s record for the largest gathering of clowns.

Emmett Kelly Sr. was born in Sedan, Kansas on December 9, 1898. His father worked the railroad, and his mother ran the family-owned boarding house. Sedan has created the Emmett Kelly Museum in his honor. He grew up, not in Sedan, but on a farm in rural Missouri. He worked at various jobs, finally seeming to settle down working as a cartoonist for a silent film company in Kansas City. It was there that Emmett Kelly first drew the tramp clown character that he would later portray, Weary Willy.

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