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Clown College was the brainchild of Irvin Feld, the owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and longtime Ringling clown and front man Bill Ballantine. In 1968, Ringling had only a handful of clowns, most of them over fifty years of age. It was clear that these performers would not be able to go on forever.
In 1968, with the craft of clowning seemingly neglected and with many of the clowns in their 50s, he established the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. [19] [32] Circus Williams, a circus in Europe was purchased for $2 million just to have its star animal trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams, for the core of his revamped circus.
In 1969, he attended the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, founded the year before. He was the only Black man in his classes, [9] and Ringling's first Black clown. [10] During the six weeks of clown college he also worked as a substitute English teacher.
Greg DeSanto graduated in 1985 from the acclaimed Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. [2] He was the featured producing clown and created, wrote, and directed original clown material for Ringling's Blue, Red, and Gold units.
John Nicholas Ringling (1866–1936). John was a singer and a professional clown. [1] Henry William George Ringling (1869–1918). Henry was the youngest of the brothers, and died October 10, 1918, of a heart disorder and other internal organ disorders. [11] Ida Loraina Wilhelmina Ringling (1874–1950).
Glen Gordon "Frosty" Little (December 5, 1925 – October 26, 2010) was a circus clown who served with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for over 20 years. He was one of only four clowns ever to have been given the title "Master Clown" by the Ringling organization.
Irwin was born in Santa Monica, California, to Elizabeth (née Mills), a teacher, and Horace G. Irwin, an aerospace engineer. [6] He graduated from Oberlin College in 1974 and attended Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College the following year.
Griebling spent the rest of his circus career with Ringling, going on strike in 1956 with Emmett Kelly [9] and later teaching to the first few classes of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. He appeared as Jimmy Durante's stunt double in the 1962 film Jumbo. In 1970 Otto had his larynx removed due to cancer, but it did not ...