Circus performer who 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 career by performing as a trapeze artist and clown in the early 1920's but didn't start working as a clown full-time until 1931. He envisioned the hobo clown character while working at an art firm years before he got into the circus.
