Wheeler the Clown Presents . . .

Expert Clown Quiz

(for those who really know their Clowns)

1.	*Which is not* one of the four categories of rodeo clo**wn?
	a.	*Bullfighters*
	b.	*Matadors*
	c.	*Barrelmen*
	d.	*Funnymen*
	e.	*Freestyle Bullfighters*

2.	Which clown has entertained people at the circus, on Broadway, in the movies, at baseball games, and on television?
	a.	*Bozo*
	b.	*Lou Jacobs*
	c.	*Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly Sr.*
	d.	*Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly Jr.*
	e.	*Ronald McDonald*

3.	Michael "Karandash" Rumyantsev was a famous Soviet auguste clown. What does Karandash mean?
	a.	*Buffoon*
	b.	*Happy*
	c.	*Moron*
	d.	*Pencil*
	e.	*Half-wit*

4.	In the 1964 movie, Circus World, who played a superstitious performer whose heritage and head were in the clouds on a trapeze, but whose feet were kept firmly on the ground by a stepdad who kept his ward playing such parts as a sharpshooter and a circus clown?
	a.	*Doris Day*
	b.	*Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly Jr.*
	c.	*Debbie Reynolds*
	d.	*Betty Hutton*
	e.	*Claudia Cardinale*

5.	Pinto Colvig Sr., the original Bozo the Clown, *also did voiceover work for Walt Disney animated cartoons and features. Which of the following was not* one of the characters he voiced?**
	a.	*Grumpy the Dwarf*
	b.	*Pluto*
	c.	*Sleepy the Dwarf*
	d.	*Goofy*
	e.	*Donald Duck*

6.	Walt Disney and what famous clown were at one time co-workers at the same advertising company?
	a.	*Lou Jacobs*
	b.	*Mark Anthony*
	c.	*Emmett Kelly, Sr.*
	d.	*Pat Valdo*
	e.	*Lorenzo Pickle*

7.	Who has been called, amongst other titles, "the White House Clown?
	a.	*Emmett Kelly, Sr.*
	b.	*Emmett Kelly, Jr.*
	c.	*David Larrible*
	d.	*Lou Jacobs*
	e.	*Felix Adler*

8.	Who was the first person to be appointed Boss Clown of both the red and blue units of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus?
	a.	*Steve "T J Tatters" Smith*
	b.	*Lou Jacobs*
	c.	*Glen "Frosty" Little*
	d.	*Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly*
	e.	*Frankie Saluto*

9.	What European religious building is the current site of an annual church service honoring the great clown Joseph Grimaldi?
	a.	*Westminster Abbey*
	b.	*St. Paul's Cathedral*
	c.	*The Sacre Coeur Cathedral*
	d.	*Saint James Church*
	e.	Clowns *Church, the Holy Trinity*

10.	In 1956, several Clowns (Emmett Kelly Senior, Otto Griebling, Felix Adler, and Poodles Hanneford) resigned from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. What was the most likely reason for all of these resignations?
	a.	*Support of a strike of the circus's non-performing personnel.*
	b.	*Health problems*
	c.	*They all received better offers from other circuses*
	d.	*It had been a bad year financially, so they decided to resign instead of being laid off*
	e.	*They left in protest of the fact that* Clown solo acts were a thing of the past

11.	Who was the first clown known by name to perform in an American circus?
	a.	*Emmett Kelly Sr.*
	b.	*Joseph Grimaldi*
	c.	*Tom Sully*
	d.	*John Rich*
	e.	*Yankee Dan Rice*

12.	In 1980, Peggy Williams left clowning to pursue another career. What was her new job?
	a.	*A position with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus advertising department*
	b.	*A speech therapist*
	c.	*A wife, mother, and homemaker*
	d.	*A position with the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus education program.*
	e.	*Director of the International* Clown Museum.

13.	JoJo Lewis, a circus clown and contemporary of Emmett Kelly Sr., is credited for being the first to portray what clown character type?
	a.	*Cowboy*
	b.	*Cop*
	c.	*Tramp*
	d.	*Farmer*
	e.	*Fireman*

14.	Joseph Grimaldi's final clown performance was to raise money for a specific purpose. What was it?
	a.	*for his own upkeep, as physical problems were forcing him to retire*
	b.	*for London's major orphan asylum*
	c.	*to create a long term training grant for new* clowns
	d.	*to get a relative out of debtors' prison*
	e.	*to build his own theatre, just outside of London*

15.	Historically speaking, which of the following is not a specific clown type?
	a.	*Harlequin*
	b.	*Auguste*
	c.	*Bozo*
	d.	*Pierrot*
	e.	*R'izhii*

16.	Which of the following clowns was never a part or full owner of a circus?
	a.	*Emmett Kelly Jr.*
	b.	*Albert Fratellini*
	c.	*Larry "Lorenzo Pickle" Pisoni*
	d.	*Yankee Dan Rice*
	e.	*None of the above; they all owned circuses of their own*

17.	Which of the following is not the child of a circus clown?
	a.	*Joey Kelly*
	b.	*Lou Ann Barrenda*
	c.	*Anni Fratellini*
	d.	*Red "Freddie the Freeloader" Skelton*
	e.	*Michael "Coco" Poliakov*

18.	Thomas Belling is the man who is usually credited for creating the original Auguste clown. Belling was not very successful as a clown, however, and soon chose a different profession. What did he become?
	a.	*an animal trainer*
	b.	*a ringmaster*
	c.	*a vaudeville tramp juggling act*
	d.	*a professional magician*
	e.	*a bull man*

19.	Early 20th Century Russian Clowns / comics freely lampooned important public figures and events in their acts. (kind of like Jay Leno and David Letterman do today). Sometimes the public figures ignored the barbs; sometimes not. On one of the not situations, Vladimir Durov was banned from a European country after he compared a well know public figure to a warmonging pig. Who was the public figure, and from what country was Durov banished?
	a.	*Emperor Hirohito, Japan*
	b.	*Kaiser Wilhelm, Germany*
	c.	*Czar Nicholas II, Russia*
	d.	*Adolph Hitler, Germany*
	e.	*Winston Churchill, England*

20.	R'izhii was a specific and popular clown type in Russia in the 1800s and 1900s. What does the Russian word *R'izhii* mean?
	a.	*Buffoon*
	b.	*Clumsy*
	c.	*Fool*
	d.	*Red-haired*
	e.	*Red-nosed*

21.	In 1944, the famous Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus's grand spectacle featured famous clown Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly, Sr. What was this spectacle called?
	a.	*Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?*
	b.	*Panto's Paradise*
	c.	*A Hobo's Dream*
	d.	*Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes*
	e.	*Cindefella*

22.	Which of the following is a famous rodeo clown?
	a.	*Otto Griebling*
	b.	*Kiowa Kid*
	c.	*Quail Dobbs*
	d.	*Poodles Hanneford*
	e.	*JoJo Lewis*

23.	Some authorities claim that the present-day auguste clown (and certainly Albert Fratellini's makeup) was inspired by which earlier clown type?
	a.	*Pierrot*
	b.	*Pantaloon*
	c.	*Harlequin*
	d.	*Court Jester*
	e.	*R'izhii*

24.	Upon his death in 1985, John Ringling, one of the famous Ringling Brothers, bequeathed a diamond stickpin to the one clown chosen most popular by fellow members of the clown alley. Who received the stickpin?
	a.	*Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly Sr.*
	b.	*Prince Paul" Alpert*
	c.	*Lou Jacobs*
	d.	*Frankie Saluto*
	e.	*Otto Griebling*

25.	*Which of the following was not* a standard part of Emmett "Weary Willie" Kelly, Sr.'s widely recognized costume and/or makeup?**
	a.	*a kelly green shirt*
	b.	*a big white frown*
	c.	*a clothespin for a tie tack*
	d.	*a battered looking hat*
	e.	*disheveled black clothing*

26.	*Which of the following was not* one of Emmett Kelly Sr.'s early circus occupations?**
	a.	*in charge of the sideshow act*
	b.	*a comic equestrian*
	c.	*a circus wagon painter*
	d.	*a trapeze artist*
	e.	*a whiteface* clown
Click Here for the answers

          This site was designed and is owned by
     
 Wheeler the Clown & Company
Clownfacts1@aol.com or WhlrClown@aol.com 
                         All rights reserved
   This Website was updated on: 07/21/2004