List of clowns

Main article: Clown

File:CanalStClownsWelcomeWinterCapital.jpg

"ON THE LAST DAY OF THE CARNIVAL, Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday,) promiscuous masking is allowed on the streets, which are thronged with picturesque bands of maskers of every age and condition, and their costumes run in every garment from the clown to kings and queens."
The view shows a group of maskers in the street, most in costumes of clowns with polka-dots and pointed hats. A sign on the neutral ground reads "Welcome to the Winter Capital of America". Early 20th century postcard

Circus-style

Famous

• Russell Francis - Lenny Henry on a bad hair day.
• Angus Oblong -"Angus Oblong" from USA (1976-), Creator of the animated series "The Oblongs", Only appears as Angus Oblong.
• Charles Adrien Wettach – Grock (1880–1959), A celebrated Swiss clown.
• Achille Zavatta (1915–1993)
• António Melo – Batatinha (literally Little Potato), from Portugal. A very well known clown.
• Bim Bom – a famous clown duo of early 20th Century Russia
• Ernie Burch – Blinko - (c. 1944-1995) Host of 1950s TV show. Ringling Bros. circus. The Greatest Show on Earth film. Named by Cecil B. DeMille
• Josep Andreu i Lasserre – Charlie Rivel Other than Grock perhaps the most beloved and respected of all European clowns
• Cha-U-Kao - French clown, performer at the Moulin Rouge
• Jose de Jesus Medrano – Chuchin (1953–1984), a Mexican clown and performance star
• Nicolai Poliakoff – Coco the Clown a longtime star clown of the Bertram Mills Circus
• Daniel Rice (1823–1901) A famous American clown of the 19th century and principal inspiration for Uncle Sam.
• Emmett Kelly – Extremely well known American tramp clown
• Charlie Cairoli - Italian-born British clown
• The Fratellini Family – a dynasty of French clowns
• George Carl – American clown who found great success in Europe. Performed Royal Command Performance for the Queen at the Palladium in London. He also received the coveted "Golden Clown" award from Princess Grace at the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo.
• Glen "Frosty" Little – America's last living Master Clown and longtime "Boss Clown" with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus
• Joe Jackson Sr. and Jr. – famous tramp clown entree with a breakaway bicycle
• Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev – Karandash (1901–1983) Soviet Clown and clowning teacher.
• Johann Ludwig Jacob – Lou Jacobs (1903–1992) – During his 60 years in the American circus this Master Clown came to be known as one of the most famous clowns in the world through his innovative comic routines, compassion for others and strong dedication to his work. Credited with inventing the clown car gag.
• Oleg Popov – Greatly admired clown from the Soviet Union and student of Karandash
• Otto Griebling – (1896–1972) Prolific and influential Master Clown with the Cole Bros. and Ringling circuses. The single most admired and respected American circus clown of the 20th century
• José Vega Santana – Remi (1958–present) – "Puerto Rico's Greatest Clown"
• Vicki Gabereau – Rosie Sunshine - Ran as a candidate in the 1974 Toronto mayoral election
• Yuri Nikulin – Russian clown and actor
• Jack Perry and Doug McKenzie – Zig and Zag Australian Television clowns

Contemporary

• Cepillín, a Mexican clown
• Greg and Karen DeSanto – husband and wife clown/comedy team
• Dimitri – Swiss clown and mime
• Barry Lubin – "Grandma"; star clown of the Big Apple Circus
• Fumagalli, European star clown, Big Apple Circus
• John Wayne Gacy – "Pogo"; a painter and serial killer
• Jeff Gordon – "Le Clown Gordoon"; star clown with the Big Apple Circus
• Michael Halvarson – Swedish clown and star pickpocket entertainer who has appeared in Cirque du Soleil Kooza
• Paul Hunt – gymnast clown
• Demetrius Nock – "Bello Nock"; a star clown in Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus
• Sergey Pavlov – "Lalala", Russian clown, director and actor
• Arthur Vercoe Pedlar – "Vercoe", an English clown
• David Shiner – Tony Award-winning American born mime and circus clown who has appeared on Broadway and with several European circuses
• Steve Smith – "T.J. Tatters"; longtime director of Ringling Clown College
• Tom Bolton – American clown and juggler living in Germany

Rodeo

• Flint Rasmussen – Seven time winner of Man in the Can award.
• Johnny Tatum – American rodeo clown
• Quail Dobbs – American rodeo clown
• Slim Pickens – American rodeo clown and film actor.

Film

• Abbott & Costello (William (Bud) Abbott, 1897–1974; Louis Costello, 1906–1959) American comedy duo whose mastery of the white clown (straight man)/red clown (comic) relationship made them one of the most popular and respected teams in American comedy history
• Ben Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) cross-eyed comedian, best remembered for his work in silent films
• Buster Keaton – (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) The Great Stoneface. His innovative work as both a comedian and a director made great contributions to the development of the art of cinema
• Charlie Chaplin – (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977) British born comedian. The most famous actor in early to mid Hollywood cinema era, he acted in, directed, scripted, produced, and eventually scored his own films. His principal character was "The Little Tramp"
• Chester Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) American comedian and actor
• Harry Langdon – (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American silent film comedian and a first class mime
• Jacques Tati – (October 9, 1908 – November 5, 1982) was a French comedian, mime and filmmaker best known as the socially inept Monsieur Hulot
• Keystone Cops incompetent group of policemen created by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917
• Laurel & Hardy – perhaps the most famous comedy duo in film history
• Martin & Lewis – an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin (as the "straight man") and comedian Jerry Lewis (as his stooge)
• The Marx Brothers – a team of sibling comedians that appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, film and television
• Peter Sellers – (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) Extremely versatile and talented English comedian and actor best remembered for the character of Inspector Clouseu
• Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle (March 24, 1887 – June 29, 1933) One of the most popular actors of his era, but is best known today for his central role in the so-called "Fatty Arbuckle scandal"
• Shaggy 2 Dope; DJ of the Insane Clown Posse, a Detroit-based hip-hop group with a fan army of "schizophrenic wizards" called the juggalos and star of underground film Big Money Hustlaz
• Slim Pickens, rodeo clown and film actor
• Snub Pollard (November 9, 1889, Melbourne, Australia, – January 19, 1962) was a silent film comedian, popular in the 1920s.
• The Three Stooges – starred in many short features that consisted of masterful ways of showcasing their extremely physical brand of slapstick comedy
• W.C. Fields – (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946) was an American comedian and actor. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century
• Violent J; The leader of the Insane Clown Posse, a Detroit-based hip-hop group and star of Big Money Hustlaz underground film.
• In Halloween (1978 film) and the remake Halloween (2007 film) the main character Michael Myers (Halloween) is dressed in a clown costume when he murders his older sister Judith Myers on Halloween night.
• In Poltergeist (1982 film) a supernatural movie directed by Tobe Hooper features a clown doll in several scenes. During the finale, this doll becomes possessed by a demonic presence and attempts to strangle the character Robby Freeling.

Television

• Bassie – Clown on the Dutch "Bassie & Adriaan" television series, played by Bas van Toor
• Benny Hill – The Benny Hill Show
• Blinky the Clown - The famous clown played by Russell Scott as The star of "Blinky's Fun Club" in Colorado, Denver.
• Bozo the Clown - a franchised clown played by many local television performers and on cartoons, based on the character created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingston for Capitol Records' record-reader series
• Bubbles the Clown – a clown doll that appears on BBC test cards F, J & W.
• Charlie Chalk - the main character of the British children's TV series of the same name.
• Clarabell the Clown - a regular character from the Howdy Doody television program, originally played by Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame.
• John Michael Howson - 'Clown' from Adventure Island.
• Loonette the Clown - main character of Canadian series The Big Comfy Couch.
• Doink the Clown - a gimmick used by several wrestlers in the 1990s. Doink began as a heel wrestler in the evil clown archetype, but later Doinks portrayed the character as a babyface who loved to entertain the children in the crowd.
• Dink the Clown - the midget sidekick of Doink the Clown.
• Homey the Clown - a character from the In Living Color television program, whose famous catchphrase was "Homey don't play that (or dat)".
• J.P. Patches - a Seattle children's television mainstay for decades.
• Lucille Ball – I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy
• Milton Berle – Texaco Star Theater, Berle's Buick Hour
• Mr. Noodle, character created by Bill Irwin for the "Elmo's World" segment of Sesame Street
• Mr Tumble, character on Something Special, played by Justin Fletcher
• Paul Reubens – Pee-wee Herman, Pee-Wee's Playhouse
• Pinky Lee – The Pinky Lee Show
• Red Skelton – The Red Skelton Show
• Rowan Atkinson – Mr. Bean
• Jim Allen – Rusty Nails (1957–1972), Pacific Northwest children's television clown, and model (in part) for Matt Groening's "Krusty" character on the television program The Simpsons
• Sid Caesar – Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour
• Soupy Sales – The Soupy Sales Show
• Yucko the Clown - a clown made famous by his rude observations, obscenities, and public intoxication
• Zig and Zag (Australian performers)
• Der Clown – German television series

Theatrical

Famous

• A. Robins – Vaudeville's "The Banana Man" and "One Man Music Shop"
• Andy Kaufman American comic and one of the most famous practitioners of anti-humor
• Clark and McCullough – Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough started as circus clowns and progressed to be stars of stage and screen
• Ed Wynn – The Perfect Fool
• George Carl – Longtime star of the Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris
• George Washington Lafayette Fox, perhaps the most famous American stage clown during the 19th century and one of the first known performers to become typecast in a role
• Joseph Grimaldi credited with being "the first whiteface clown" — in an homage to Grimaldi, circus clowns began referring to themselves and each other as "Joey"s, and the term 'joey' is now a synonym for clown
• Olsen & Johnson – Stars of Broadway's Hellzapoppin'
• Richard Tarlton – actor and clown in the Elizabethan theatre in England
• Robert Armin – actor and clown in Shakespeare's company
• Spike Jones and his City Slickers – Murdered the classics with their "Musical Depreciation Revue"; versatile American musical act featuring slapstick circus-style comedy
• Tommy Cooper – British comedy magician
• W. C. Fields – Vaudeville comedy star who mastered the variety as well as the legitimate stage, silent and talking films, print and radio
• Will Kempe (fl. c 1589–1600) – actor dancer and clown who worked with Shakespeare; famously jigged his way from Norwich to London in 1600

Contemporary

• Alan Clay – International clown teacher and performer; and author of Angels Can Fly, a Modern Clown User Guide.
• Alex the Jester – the "King of Jesters," speaks a contemporary version of the medieval gibberish language Grammelot.
• Avner Eisenberg – also known as Avner the Eccentric, a "Broadway" clown
• Bill Irwin – Tony award winning clown known for his new vaudeville-style performances
• Blue Man Group – Trio of silent characters that perform covered in blue paint
• Dan "Sylvester the Jester" Sylvester – The Human Cartoon
• Dario Fo – Capo Comicio – creator of "Mistero Buffo" and "Accidental Death of an Anarchist"; recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature; uses Arlecchino stage persona, political activist
• Eric Davis - Cirque du Soleil clown and creator of Red Bastard
• Geoff Hoyle – stage clown. Started in the Pickle Family Circus with Bill Irwin and Larry Pisoni
• Jango Edwards – American clown and entertainer in the European cabaret tradition
• John Gilkey - Cirque du Soleil clown
• Mump and Smoot – Canadian "clowns of horror"
• Ekaterina Pirogovskaya - Russian Cirque du Soleil clown
• Richard Pochinko – founder of "Canadian Clowning" style
• Slava Polunin – Russian-born clown and creator of "Slava's Snowshow"
• Puddles Pity Party (Michael Geier) – American traditional popular singer and YouTube viral video celebrity who performs as a whiteface clown. Billed as the "sad clown with the golden voice."
• Wolfe Bowart – Stage clown touring internationally with his productions LaLaLuna and The Shneedles
• Sergey Pavlov – Russian clown "LALALA", creator of "LALALA SHOW"

Fictional

• Adam the Clown, from the video game Dead Rising. Equipped with two chainsaws that he juggles, he is a boss in the game. He dies by falling on his chainsaws and suffering from massive blood loss.
• Binky the Clown from the Garfield comic by Jim Davis.
• Buggy the Clown is the antagonist of the manga and anime One Piece. His appearance is best described as a mix between a blue-haired clown and a stereotypical pirate. He is extremely sensitive about his real nose (which actually looks like a false clown nose) and anyone who says any thing that he thinks sounds like an insult to his nose, (even if the statement has absolutely nothing to do with his nose) will cause him to get extremely violent. (if you watch the episodes in Japanese you will see the words are similar to "big" "red" & "nose")
• Buttons the Clown - a central character from the 1952 film The Greatest Show on Earth, played by James Stewart
• Calvero was a famous clown character played Charlie Chaplin in the film Limelight
• Captain Spaulding, from the horror films House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects
• Chuckles the Clown - a Mary Tyler Moore Show background character who was trampled to death in one of the best-known episodes
• Crackers the Clown, played by Peter Brocco - the "bad-guy" clown in the Adventures of Superman episode titled "The Clown Who Cried".
• Dodo Delwyn once a famous Ziegfeld star, is reduced to playing clowns in burlesque and amusement parks in 1953 film The Clown, played by Red Skelton
• Fatso the Clown - a clown statue in The 70s Show episode titled "Fun It", where the main group of teenage characters remove it from a fast food restaurant as a joke but soon become creeped out by the clown statue and return it to the restaurant. However, Donna Pinciotti decides to keep Fatso's nose as a memento.
• Frenchy the Clown - a character of the national lampoon comic Evil clown comics series.
• The Ghost Clown - evil hypnotist clown featured in the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode titled "Bedlam in the Big Top"
• Harley Quinn is The Joker's former partner in crime
• Gamzee Makara is a clown like Highblood Troll and one of the antagonists of the webcomic "Homestuck" Also a parody of the band "Insane Clown Posse"
• I Pagliacci, (The Clowns) a tragic opera by Ruggiero Leoncavallo prominently features Arlecchino as a character. This opera was inspired by a true story
• Jack, advertising icon for the fast food company, Jack in the Box
• Jack Point, from the Judge Dredd Megazine's The Simping Detective series. Undercover Judge who dresses like a clown in order to appear crazy enough to fit in. Also conceals several weapons within clown gear
• Jojo, main character on the Disney Channel's Jojo's Circus
• The Joker - a supervillain often called the "Clown Prince of Crime" created by DC Comics
• Kefka Palazzo, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VI
• Koko the Clown from Max Fleischer's Out of the Inkwell series of animated cartoons
• Krusty the Clown the television clown on the Fox animated television series The Simpsons
• Pennywise, the clown monster in the Stephen King book It
• Pierrot Bolneze from Yakitate! Japan, world-class clown, bread judge and master of ceremonies, he's also the crown prince of Monaco according to the series. Even though he's defined as a clown, he looks more like an harlequin and he perform acrobacies (like free-falling from a great height) and even magic tricks (like cloning himself)
• Rajoo, a circus clown and the central character in Raj Kapoor's film Mera Naam Joker
• Rollo the Clown, played by William (Billy) Wayne - the "good-guy" clown in the Adventures of Superman episode titled "The Clown Who Cried".
• Rollo the clown, from the 1991 film The Little Engine That Could, based on the children's book of the same name.
• Ronald McDonald, McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain's advertising clown character, performed by various performers, all of whom were trained to portray the character in an identical manner. Prior to this standardization of the character, Ronald McDonald was played by several performers. In the first television ad featuring Ronald McDonald, the clown was portrayed by Willard Scott in Washington, D.C.
• Shakes the Clown the title character of the film of the same name. Shakes the Clown was called "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown films" by the New York Times
• Sweet Tooth, is a sociopathic serial killer who is a primary protagonist/antagonist in theTwisted Metal franchise.
• Violator, is a serial killer and one of the enemies from the Spawn franchise.
• Vulgar the Clown, whose quest for revenge after being brutally raped by three men constitutes the plot of the 2000 motion picture Vulgar
• Wobble, a roly-poly clown from the BBC children's TV show Playbus (later Playdays)
• Yorick was a court jester who featured as the subject of a lengthy soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet
• Stan is the clown name of the character Louison in the 1991 French film Delicatessen. When Louison worked as "Stan" his sidekick was a chimp known as Livingstone and they were employed in the fictional "Cirque du Colonial" in Paris.

See also

• Evil clown
• List of jesters