page_title: Joseph Grimaldi
section_title: Covent Garden years
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Grimaldi / Biography / Covent Garden years
caption_attribution_description: English: Grimaldi in pose opposite an actor who was playing the part of a "pugilistic vegetable". Taken from the Christmas Pantomime "Harlequin Olio" which was staged at the Covent Garden Theatre in 1816. This watercolour drawing is by T M Grimshaw, who performed with Grimaldi from 1814 to 1823 at the Covent Garden, Sadlers Wells and Coburg theatres.
context_page_description: Joseph Grimaldi was an English actor, comedian and dancer, who became the most popular English entertainer of the Regency era. In the early 1800s, he expanded the role of Clown in the harlequinade that formed part of British pantomimes, notably at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden theatres. He became so dominant on the London comic stage that the harlequinade role of Clown became known as "Joey", and both the nickname and Grimaldi's whiteface make-up design were, and still are, used by other types of clowns. Grimaldi originated catchphrases such as "Here we are again!", which continue to feature in modern pantomimes.
  Born in London to an entertainer father, Grimaldi began to perform as a child, making his stage debut at Drury Lane in 1780. He became successful at the Sadler's Wells Theatre the following year; his first major role was as Little Clown in the pantomime The Triumph of Mirth; or, Harlequin's Wedding in 1781, in which he starred alongside his father. After a brief schooling, he appeared in various low-budget productions and became a sought-after child performer.
context_section_description: In 1806, Grimaldi bought a second home, a cottage in Finchley, to which he retired between seasons. He was engaged to appear at Astley's Theatre in Dublin, in a play by Thomas Dibdin and his brother Charles. The Dibdins leased the theatre, but it was badly in need of repair.  As a result audiences were small, and the show's box-office takings suffered. Grimaldi donated his salary to help pay for the renovation of the theatre. The Dibdin company, with Grimaldi, transferred to the nearby Crow Street Theatre where they performed a benefit concert in aid of Astley's.  After two more plays, the company moved back to London.
  Harlequin and the Forty Virgins opened the Easter season at Sadler's Wells and lasted the entire season.  Grimaldi sang "Me and my Neddy", which proved very successful for both him and the theatre.  Amid great expectations, he appeared at the Covent Garden Theatre on 9 October 1806 playing Orson opposite Charles Farley's Valentine in Thomas Dibdin's Valentine and Orson. Grimaldi, who considered the role of Orson to be the most physically and mentally demanding of his career, nevertheless performed the part with enthusiasm on tour in the provinces.
  Perhaps the best-known of Grimaldi's pantomimes was Thomas Dibdin's Harlequin and Mother Goose; or, The Golden Egg, which opened on 29 December 1806 at the Covent Garden Theatre. As in most pantomimes, he played a dual role, in this case first as "Bugle", a wealthy but abrasive eccentric womaniser, and after the transformation to the harlequinade, as Clown. Mother Goose was a runaway success with its London audiences and earned an extraordinary profit of £20,000. It completed a run of 111 performances over a two-year residency, a record for any London theatre production at the time. Grimaldi, however, considered the performance to be one of the worst of his career and became depressed. Critics thought differently, attributing the pantomime's success to Grimaldi's performance. It prompted one critic from European Magazine to write: "We have not for several years witnessed a Pantomime more attractive than this: whether we consider the variety and ingenuity of the mechanical devices [or] the whim, humour, and agility of the Harlequin, Clown and Pantaloon". Kemble stated that Grimaldi had "proved himself [as] the great master of his art", while the actress Mrs Jordan called him "a genius ... yet unapproached". The production regularly played to packed audiences.
  In September 1808, a fire at the Covent Garden theatre destroyed much of the Mother Goose scenery; the production transferred to the Haymarket Theatre where it completed its run.  While Kemble and Harris raised funds and renovated Covent Garden, Grimaldi made provincial appearances in Manchester and Liverpool.  The Covent Garden theatre re-opened in December 1809 with a revival of Mother Goose.  In an attempt to recover the costs incurred by the rebuilding, Kemble raised the theatre's seat prices, causing audiences to protest violently for more than two months, and the management was forced to reinstate the old prices. Grimaldi's 1809–10 productions included Don Juan, in which he appeared as Scaramouche, and Castles in the Air, as Clown.  Later in 1810, he appeared in Birmingham in a benefit performance in aid of his sister-in-law. The following year, Grimaldi sang "Tippitywitchet" for the first time at Sadler's Wells in Charles Dibdin's pantomime Bang up, or, Harlequin Prime; it became one of his most popular songs.
  By 1812, despite Grimaldi's success as a performer, he was close to bankruptcy as a result of his wife's extravagant spending, a number of thefts by his accountant and the cost of maintaining both an idyllic country lifestyle and his son JS's private education.  The strain on Grimaldi's finances caused him to accept as many provincial engagements as he could.  That year, he travelled to Cheltenham and appeared again as Scaramouche in a revival of Don Juan. In nearby Gloucester he met the poet Lord Byron, on whose poem the play was based, at a dinner party.  Byron was in awe at meeting the famous 
caption: Grimaldi as Clown opposite an actor playing a "pugilistic vegetable" at the Covent Garden Theatre, 1816
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