Emmett Kelly Biography

Emmett Kelly

A clown who made his character of Weary Willie a living character in the circus scene. Through the 1930s, he developed the act with various circuses eventually landing a place with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1942. There he would wander around the circus rings in a tattered clown outfit, wearing a truly woeful expression and trying to sweep away the spotlight. After he retired from the circus in 1956, he appeared in various media including film, television, and a sixteen year stretch at clubs in the Lake Tahoe and Reno area.