  emmett leo kelly (december 9, 1898 - march 28, 1979) was an american circus performer, who created the memorable clown figure "weary willie", based on the hobos of the depression era. ==career development== kelly began his career as a trapeze artist. by 1923, emmett kelly was working his trapeze act with john robinson's circus when he met and married eva moore, another circus trapeze artist. they later performed together as the "aerial kellys" with emmett still performing occasionally as a white face clown. he started working as a clown full-time in 1931, and it was only after years of attempting to persuade the management that he was able to switch from a white face clown to the hobo clown that he had sketched ten years earlier while working at an art firm. "weary willie" was a tragic figure: a clown, who could usually be seen sweeping up the circus rings after the other performers. he tried but failed to sweep up the pool of light of a spotlight. his routine was revolutionary at the time: traditionally, clowns wore white face and performed slapstick stunts intended to make people laugh. kelly did perform stunts too&mdash;one of his most famous acts was trying to crack a peanut with a sledgehammer&mdash;but as a tramp, he also appealed to the sympathy of his audience.  from 1942&ndash;1956 kelly performed with the ringling brothers and barnum and bailey circus, where he was a major attraction, though he took the 1956 season off to perform as the mascot for the brooklyn dodgers baseball team. he also landed a number of broadway and film roles, including the role of "willie" in cecil b. demille's the greatest show on earth (1952). he also appeared in the bertram mills circus. kelly was a mystery guest on the march 11, 1956, broadcast of what's my line? and answered the panelists' questions with grunts rather than speaking yes or no. when the round was over, panelist arlene francis mentioned that kelly was not allowed to speak while in makeup. kelly was a masonic lodge member, and belonged to the scottish rite and egypt shrine temple of tampa, florida. kelly is depicted in a famous photograph, still in full clown make-up and costum
1898_births 1979_deaths American_clowns Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction People_from_Chautauqua_County,_Kansas People_from_Sarasota,_Florida People_from_Texas_County,_Missouri