“Weary Willie”

Emmett Leo Kelly (December 9, 1898 – March 28, 1979)

Circus performer Emmett Kelly created the memorable clown
figure ‘Weary Willie’, based on the hobos of the Depression
era. His circus career spanned 55 years and he notably
portrayed the role of ‘Willie’ in Cecil B. DeMille‘s 1952 classic
The Greatest Show on Earth. He began his circus career as
a trapeze artist and clown in the early 1920’s but didn’t start
working as a clown full-time until 1931. Kelly envisioned the
hobo clown character while working at an art firm long before
he got into the circus.