Joseph Grimaldi
Encyclopedia
Joseph Grimaldi was an English actor and comedian who is perhaps best known for his invention of the modern day whiteface clown
. He chiefly appeared at Drury Lane
in pantomime
where his greatest success was appearing in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg
and followed with a successful performance at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
. Born in Clare Market
, London, he was introduced to the stage at Drury Lane; at the age of three and began to appear at the Sadler's Wells theatre.
, London, the son of an Italian
, Signor Giuseppe or Joseph 'Iron Legs' Grimaldi, pantomimist, circensian artist and ballet-master at the Drury Lane
and Rebecca Brooker, a dancer in the theatre's corps de ballet
. Grimaldi's father died in 1788, when Joseph was nine, and plunged the family into debt. When less than two years old, Joseph was introduced to the stage at Drury Lane; at the age of three, he began to appear at the Sadler's Wells theatre.
As a young man, Grimaldi fell in love and married the daughter of the principal proprietor of Sadler's Wells. Maria Grimaldi died in childbirth 18 months after their marriage. He found solace in performance, and eventually married again, to Mary. A son, Joseph Samuel Grimaldi was born and entered the profession, but drank himself to death by the age of thirty.
clown Grimaldi was considered unsurpassable, his greatest success occurring in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg
at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
(1806 and often revived).
Joseph Grimaldi was an innovator, his performance as Joey introduced the modern clown to the world, building on the existing role of Clown
as a country bumpkin and fool, derived from the Commedia dell'arte; and making the clown the central character in the Harlequinade
. His physical comedy was extraordinary, as was his ability to invent visual tricks and buffoonery, and his ability to poke fun at the audience. As Music hall
became popular, he introduced the pantomime dame to the theatre and was responsible for the tradition of audience participation. His most famous song was Hot Codlins - literally, Toffee Apples.
The audience would shout Gin, with some glee, and Grimaldi would fix them with a stare and say Oh! For shame!, in mock disappointment.
A famous 'sad clown' anecdote was first told of Grimaldi (later also told of Grock
): A young man goes to see his doctor. He is overcome by a terrible sadness and doesn't think anything will make him feel better. The doctor says, "Why not do something happy, like going to see Grimaldi the clown?". The young man answers, with a knowing look, "Ah, but Doctor", he says, "I am Grimaldi."
Comedy performer Tony Allen said of Grimaldi's performance:
(28 June). A pension of £100 per annum was instituted by the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund
. He could barely walk, but spent his last years at the Cornwallis Tavern, in Pentonville, the landlord, George Cook carrying him back to his nearby lodgings at the end of the evening. On the night of 31 May 1837, he died. He had become an invalid
, owing to the years of extreme physical exertion his clowning had involved. The London Illustrated News wrote Grimaldi is dead and hath left no peer. We fear with him the spirit of pantomime has disappeared.
Grimaldi requested that after his death he be decapitated before burial, ostensibly because of a fear of burial alive
Joseph Grimaldi's grave is in Joseph Grimaldi Park (formerly, the courtyard of St. James's Chapel), Pentonville Road in Islington
. There is a blue plaque
on a building in Granville Road, Finchley, commemorating that he once lived nearby.
, Hackney
. At this service, hundreds of clowns flock from all over the world in full 'garb', and the service is followed by a show for the children. (This memorial service was used as part of the setting of the climax of the 1989 romantic comedy Her Alibi
, although in the film it took place on July 26.) The church hall had been the home of the Clowns' Gallery, but after a fire they relocated to a nearby community centre. The Clowns Museum/Gallery has since moved to Wooky Hole.
. The original editions of Grimaldi's memoirs are very hard to find.
The 'Memoirs' as they now exist leave much to be desired, since the editing was poorly done and the finished publication was based on an earlier editing job. Much of 'Memoirs' was not even written by Grimaldi (in the 1st person) but rather produced in the 3rd person (Dickens' technique). The original manuscript from which the 'Memoirs' was derived has long been thought to be lost. Richard Findlater discusses this problem in his work "Grimaldi: King of Clowns" (1955) and in his own edition of the 'Memoirs,' he suggests that the original work may still exist in a private collection.
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
. He chiefly appeared at Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
where his greatest success was appearing in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
and followed with a successful performance at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
. Born in Clare Market
Clare Market
Clare Market was an area of London to the west of Lincoln's Inn Fields, between the Strand and Drury Lane, with Vere Street adjoining its western side...
, London, he was introduced to the stage at Drury Lane; at the age of three and began to appear at the Sadler's Wells theatre.
Early and personal life
Grimaldi was born in Clare MarketClare Market
Clare Market was an area of London to the west of Lincoln's Inn Fields, between the Strand and Drury Lane, with Vere Street adjoining its western side...
, London, the son of an Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, Signor Giuseppe or Joseph 'Iron Legs' Grimaldi, pantomimist, circensian artist and ballet-master at the Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
and Rebecca Brooker, a dancer in the theatre's corps de ballet
Corps de ballet
In ballet, the corps de ballet is the group of dancers who are not soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. A corps de ballet works as one, with synchronized movements and corresponding positioning on the stage...
. Grimaldi's father died in 1788, when Joseph was nine, and plunged the family into debt. When less than two years old, Joseph was introduced to the stage at Drury Lane; at the age of three, he began to appear at the Sadler's Wells theatre.
As a young man, Grimaldi fell in love and married the daughter of the principal proprietor of Sadler's Wells. Maria Grimaldi died in childbirth 18 months after their marriage. He found solace in performance, and eventually married again, to Mary. A son, Joseph Samuel Grimaldi was born and entered the profession, but drank himself to death by the age of thirty.
Career
As a pantomimePantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
clown Grimaldi was considered unsurpassable, his greatest success occurring in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg
Mother Goose
The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
(1806 and often revived).
Joseph Grimaldi was an innovator, his performance as Joey introduced the modern clown to the world, building on the existing role of Clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
as a country bumpkin and fool, derived from the Commedia dell'arte; and making the clown the central character in the Harlequinade
Harlequinade
Harlequinade is a comic theatrical genre, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "that part of a pantomime in which the harlequin and clown play the principal parts". It developed in England between the 17th and mid-19th centuries...
. His physical comedy was extraordinary, as was his ability to invent visual tricks and buffoonery, and his ability to poke fun at the audience. As Music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
became popular, he introduced the pantomime dame to the theatre and was responsible for the tradition of audience participation. His most famous song was Hot Codlins - literally, Toffee Apples.
The audience would shout Gin, with some glee, and Grimaldi would fix them with a stare and say Oh! For shame!, in mock disappointment.
A famous 'sad clown' anecdote was first told of Grimaldi (later also told of Grock
Grock
Grock , born Charles Adrien Wettach, was a Swiss clown, composer and musician. Called "the king of clowns" and "the greatest of Europe's clowns", Grock was once the most highly paid entertainer in the world....
): A young man goes to see his doctor. He is overcome by a terrible sadness and doesn't think anything will make him feel better. The doctor says, "Why not do something happy, like going to see Grimaldi the clown?". The young man answers, with a knowing look, "Ah, but Doctor", he says, "I am Grimaldi."
Comedy performer Tony Allen said of Grimaldi's performance:
Any description of Joey Grimaldi's varied talents always includes his unusual skill of lampooning popular figures of the day by apparently re-arranging fruit, vegetables and cooking utensils and other every day items on a barrow. It wasn't a one-off joke, he was known for it and he rang the changes. For example: upper class dandies, the Prince Regent included, had made the Hussar uniform high fashion. Now just how Grimaldi arranged a coal scuttle, a muff and a full-length coat into a primitive cartoon sculpture that had a Covent Garden audience of 2,500 rolling in the aisles night after night was beyond me. I assumed that an allusion to royalty was dangerous and his comic genius must have been in the execution, leaving the joke therefore lost to us.
Retirement
Suffering from ill health, Grimaldi retired from the stage. In his farewell speech he told his audience:Like vaulting ambition, I have overleaped myself and pay the penalty in advanced old age. It is four years since I jumped my last jump, filched my last oyster, boiled my last sausage and set in for retirement. By 1828, he was broke, and benefit performances were held at both Sadler's Wells (17 March) and Covent GardenCovent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
(28 June). A pension of £100 per annum was instituted by the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund
Drury Lane Theatrical Fund
The Drury Lane Theatrical Fund is a benevolent fund for established in 1766 by members of the Theatre Royal in London, England, "for the relief and support of such performers and other persons belonging to the said theater, as, through age, infirmity, or accident, should be obliged to retire from...
. He could barely walk, but spent his last years at the Cornwallis Tavern, in Pentonville, the landlord, George Cook carrying him back to his nearby lodgings at the end of the evening. On the night of 31 May 1837, he died. He had become an invalid
Invalid
Invalid may refer to:* Patient, a sick person* A person with a disability* .invalid, a top-level Internet domain not intended for real useAs the opposite of valid:* Validity, in logic, true premises cannot lead to a false conclusion...
, owing to the years of extreme physical exertion his clowning had involved. The London Illustrated News wrote Grimaldi is dead and hath left no peer. We fear with him the spirit of pantomime has disappeared.
Grimaldi requested that after his death he be decapitated before burial, ostensibly because of a fear of burial alive
Joseph Grimaldi's grave is in Joseph Grimaldi Park (formerly, the courtyard of St. James's Chapel), Pentonville Road in Islington
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London borough in Inner London. It was formed in 1965 by merging the former metropolitan boroughs of Islington and Finsbury. The borough contains two Westminster parliamentary constituencies, Islington North and Islington South & Finsbury...
. There is a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
on a building in Granville Road, Finchley, commemorating that he once lived nearby.
Memorial and Clowns' gallery
To this day, on every first Sunday in February, a memorial service is held for Grimaldi at All Saints' Church, HaggerstonHaggerston
Haggerston is an area and a electoral ward in the London Borough of Hackney, in northeast London, UK. It is bounded by Hackney Road on the south, Kingsland Road on the west, Middleton Road on the north with London Fields and Broadway Market on the east...
, Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
. At this service, hundreds of clowns flock from all over the world in full 'garb', and the service is followed by a show for the children. (This memorial service was used as part of the setting of the climax of the 1989 romantic comedy Her Alibi
Her Alibi
Her Alibi is a 1989 American romantic comedy directed by Bruce Beresford, written by Charlie Peters, and starring Paulina Porizkova, Tom Selleck, and William Daniels.-Plot summary:...
, although in the film it took place on July 26.) The church hall had been the home of the Clowns' Gallery, but after a fire they relocated to a nearby community centre. The Clowns Museum/Gallery has since moved to Wooky Hole.
Memoirs
His Memoirs in two volumes (1838) were edited by Charles DickensCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
. The original editions of Grimaldi's memoirs are very hard to find.
The 'Memoirs' as they now exist leave much to be desired, since the editing was poorly done and the finished publication was based on an earlier editing job. Much of 'Memoirs' was not even written by Grimaldi (in the 1st person) but rather produced in the 3rd person (Dickens' technique). The original manuscript from which the 'Memoirs' was derived has long been thought to be lost. Richard Findlater discusses this problem in his work "Grimaldi: King of Clowns" (1955) and in his own edition of the 'Memoirs,' he suggests that the original work may still exist in a private collection.
External links
- Clowns Gallery & Museum
- Joseph Grimaldi English Heritage Blue Plaque at Grimaldi's home - Exmouth Market, London.
- The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi by Andrew McConnell Stott, Jenny Uglow, Guardian, 1 November 2009
- Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, edited by Boz
- The Life of Joseph Grimaldi; with Anecdotes of his Contemporaries by Henry Downes Miles, 1838