Vintage 1947 AUTOGRAPHS--Famous RINGLING Circus Clowns: Emmett Kelly & Pat Valdo

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Vintage 1947 AUTOGRAPHS--Famous RINGLING Circus Clowns: Emmett Kelly & Pat Valdo:
$38.72

Vintage Movie Star Autographs for sale, Hollywood autographs, movie star signed photos, etc

Pat Valdo and EmmettKelly and Roland Tiebor

Ringling Brothers Two MostFamous Clowns!

Three Autographs!

\"Send in the Clowns\"Attributed to Valdo

Roland Tiebor World\'sGreatest Seal Trainer

Pat Valdo (1881-1970) wasborn \"Patrick Francis Fitzgerald\", the son of a cigar-maker.But the lad was entranced by the traveling side shows and carnivalsthat passed through Binghamton, New York and he learned to jugglevarious objects as a child. He leftschool in 10th grade to join a small circus asa candy-maker and by the time he was 23, he\'d joined the Ringling Brotherscircus as an apprentice clown.

It wasn\'t long before he became a crown favorite with hiswhite face, red lips and black eyebrows, and by now he\'d taken onthe stage name \"Pat Valdo,\" which he kept for the restof his life. It was Valdo who created the distinctive and often-copied clownact where midget firemen raced intothe arena to extinguish a \"burning building\"and rescue a lady clown. In 1929, he became Ringling\'s Director of Personnel, a positionhe held until his retirement shortly before his death. Always rememberingthe significance of the clowns to promote cohesion and fluidity of the overallperformance, it was Valdo who is credited with first using the phrase \"send in the clowns!\"

\"The clowns,\" said Valdo, \"arethe pins that hold the performance together.\" Pat Valdo, one of history\'s all-time great circus clowns andperformers, died in 1970.

Emmett Kelly (1898-1979) wasborn in Sedan, Kansas, was an American circus performer, who createdthe memorable clown figure \"Weary Willie,\" based on thehobos of the Depression era. Kelly began his career as a trapezeartist. By 1923, Emmett Kelly was working his trapeze act with John Robinson\'scircus when he met and married Eva Moore, another circus trapeze artist.They later performed together as the \"Aerial Kellys\" with Emmett stillperforming occasionally as a white face clown.

He started working as a clown full-time in 1931, and itwas only after years of attempting to persuade the management that he wasable to switch from a white face clown to the hobo clown that he had sketchedten years earlier while working at an art firm. \"Weary Willie\"was a tragic figure: a clown, whocould usually be seen sweeping up the circus rings after the other performers. He tried but failed tosweep up the pool of light of a spotlight. Hisroutine was revolutionary at the time: traditionally, clowns wore whiteface and performed slapstick stunts intended to make people laugh.

Pat Valdo recognized Kelly\'s talent, and from 19421956, Kelly performed with the Ringling Brothersand Barnum and Bailey Circus, where he was a major attraction, though hetook the 1956 season off to perform as the mascot for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseballteam. He also landed a number of Broadway and film roles, including therole of \"Willie\" in Cecil B. DeMille\'s The Greatest Showon Earth (1952).

Kelly is depicted in a famous photograph, still in fullclown make-up and costume, trying to extinguish the flames of the devastating Hartford Circus Fire that struck the Circus on July 6, 1944, and killed 167 peopleduring the afternoon performance in Hartford, Connecticut. Accordingto eyewitnesses, it was one of fewtimes in which he was seen crying.

Emmett Kelly died at the age of 80 of a heart attackon March 28, 1979, at his home in Sarasota, Florida.

Roland Tiebor was Ringling Brothers\' star \"sealtrainer\", and although well-known in circus circles, never achievedthe stardom reached by clowns Valdo and Kelly.

Item Description -- Please ReadCAREFULLY!

Here are threeink autographs from Valdo, Kelly and Tiebor dated \"1947\" -- the year after the great HartfordCircus fire.

All autographs are on the SAME sheet of light-gray autographalbum page. Page measures approximately 9x 10\" in size. Signatures are BOLD and clear,and ALL three have written \"RinglingCircus\" after their names. Tiny piece of lowerright-hand corner missing, but this can easily matte out. The small photosin the thumbnail and on the graphics are NOT included, but you can buy photoson the internet for a few dollars if you wish to matte and frame.

VERY UNCOMMON to have two of the century\'smost famous clowns signing the SAME autograph page!

Autographs Of Americaincludes a written lifetime money backguarantee of authenticity (COA) with your purchase! We\'ve been buying/selling autographs for 35 years!

Buy with confidence! See our \"thumbsup\" in the George Sanders graphic above!

Check our \"seller\'s rating\"above -- 100 percent satisfaction in 15 years of selling! We must be doing something RIGHT!

Please email me with any specific questions!

Take the \"See Other Items\"link above to see MORE great autographs we\'re listing on ! We are dealers you can trust!

Payment must be made upon purchase.

Thank you!

Autographs Of Americais the autograph authority for Schroeder\'s Antiques Price Guide,a popular collectibles book sold nationwide in all major bookstores. Ourmagazine articles on autograph collecting have been published in TheSaturday Evening Post, Senior World Magazine, American Airlines Magazine,The Denver Post and many other national publications and newspapers.We are or have ben members of the UACC (UniversalAutograph Collector\'s Club), IACC and TheManuscript Society. Letters of personal reference are availableupon request.

Shipping Costs

FREE First Class Mail Postagein the U.S!

Return Policy

14-Return Privilege --Read Details!

We make every effortto protect your purchase! Allpurchases are sent in a plastic sleeve between TWO pieces of sturdy cardboardin a large envelope, sealed with packingtape. Notice our 100 percent ratingof happy buyers! Thank you!

Autographs Of America has been buying and sellingautographs since 1981. All autographs we sell carrya lifetime money back guarantee of authenticity.

autographs of famous clowns,autographs of circus stars, autographs of circus performers, vintage circusautographs, circus memorabilia, signatures of famous clowns, signaturesof vintage clowns, circus collectibles, circus autographs, famous circusclowns, signatures of clowns, circus autographs, circus signatures, autographsof famous clowns, autographs of circus stars, autographs of circus performers,vintage circus autographs, circus memorabilia, signatures of famous clowns,signatures of vintage clowns, circus collectibles, circus autographs, famouscircus clowns, signatures of clowns, circus autographs, circus signatures,autographs of famous clowns, autographs of circus stars, autographs of circusperformers, vintage circus autographs, circus memorabilia, signatures offamous clowns, signatures of vintage clowns, circus collectibles, circusautographs, famous circus clowns, signatures of clowns, circus autographs,circus signatures,