A very rare photo of a very famous clown that so many of us have worked with. I wonder if you would care to use it as a "Guess who this clown is?' The photo was taken with a box brownie camera in 1927 on the Downie Bros Circus. It was given to me by the girls from the Peler (not sure of the spelling). It was in their grandmothers album, I think her name was something like Leatha. She passed away at about 100. The girls removed this photo from one of the old albums she left. As you can see, they could not remove the photo tabs on one side that held the photo without destroying the photo. This the the family that Bob Snowden married into. I am sure you know them much better that I. I really feel this photo is a rare one. I spoke to Chic about it and he gave me your email address and how to send this. I told him who it was but he said he would not tell anyone. I loved him dearly and am sure you did too and respected him as just about one of the funniest clowns that the American circus ever saw. |
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
From Jackie LeClair #2
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Looks like OTTO GRIEBLING.....He might be looking for his pie pans...
Otto.
Is that a young Otto?
Otto Griebling--who would be with Downie for another season, then on Sells-Floto (1929-31), Hagenbeck-Wallace (1931-34), Cole Bros. (1935-48), as well as Robbins (1938) and Polack (1949-50) before joining Ringling in 1951. And for decades he worked St. Louis department stores at Christmas time and Orrin Davenport winter dates. German-born, he arrived in the US in 1912, married his first wife Hannah in 1929 (they divorced in 1948), and had two daughters, a son (Otto, Jr.), and several grandchildren. Born into the business, his early career had him doing single trap in drag on the M.L. Clark show. He died in 1972 survived by his second wife Anna.
Dick Flint
Baltimore
There was a period when RBBB played Nashville every February. One year Otto asked me for a ride downtown to his hotel and of course I was happy to oblige.
I was due in Sarasota the next month to open with the Cristiani advance and he talked about knowing them for years. His last words when he got out of the car were, "Tell the boys I asked about them."
Later I mentioned this Lucio and of course he then recalled many fine memories of Otto.
Thank you Dick for that information on Otto. I cut and pasted it and will keep it with my photos of him. I generally knew his history, remembering other wives of his, but certainly not the shows he has been on and when. I have a Jim Howell copy of his painting of Otto and cherish it dearly. He was very good to me and helped me so much. Otto and Anna and I were quite close traveling through while working on the European Edition of Ringling Bros,same hotels etc. Clown wise he was a genious (spelling?) Thank you so much, Jackie
Albert White said, "Otto is the only clown who can make other clowns laugh."
Post a Comment