*”Joseph Grimaldi”-the ‘King of Clowns’ – from the cradle to the grave !!!

One of the many good things I find about doing my London Shoes stuff, is that every now and then I will do a bit of trivial insignificant research on a place or a building or a person – but then that specific subject matter/topic ends up taking me on a totally unexpected ‘journey of discovery’.…..and this weeks publication is a prime example of that scenario – and is entitled :-……

“Joseph Grimaldi-the ‘King of Clowns’ – from his cradle to the grave”

EARLY YEARS

Joseph Grimaldi was an English actor/entertainer/dancer/comedian who is now widely referred to as England’s ‘King of Clowns’.

He single-handedly changed the way that ‘clowns’ performed and were perceived – the world over.

Grimaldi was born on 18^th December 1778 in ‘Clare Market’ –  a London street in the Holborn area which, at that time, was one of London’s worst slum areas.

The ‘Clare Market’ street still exists today, but it’s now a modernised area of corporate Holborn – far removed from what it once was.

Joseph Grimaldi came from a long line of entertainers – his Great Grandfather was a dentist and part-time entertainer who came to Britain from Italy in 1730. His Grandfather was also a professional entertainer – and his father ‘Joseph Guisseppe Grimaldi’ – known professionally as ‘The Signor’ or ‘Guisseppe’, was an actor and dancer, who regularly played the popular role of ‘Pantaloon’ in Pantomimes, throughout London’s theatres.

Grimaldi junior’s mum was Rebecca Brooker – a dancer and an extremely young mistress of Grimaldi’s dad.

Apparently – Grimaldi’s dad was a bit of a player and allegedly had loads of mistresses across London, no doubt leaving Joseph Grimaldi junior with many half-brothers & sisters – none of which he never really knew.

It is said that Joseph Grimaldi first joined his dad on stage when he was only around 3yrs old – and from then on regularly performed with his father – sometimes doing 2 shows per night, performing at  the Sadlers Wells Theatre and legging it down to the Theatre Royal-Drury Lane to do another gig.

At an early age Joseph Grimaldi junior learnt the ‘Harlequinade’ role from constantly watching his father perform it.

Harlequinade was the name given at that time, for the main interaction between a Harlequin and a Clown – in a Pantomime production – both were leading roles.

Sadly, Grimaldi’s father died when Joseph Grimaldi junior was only 9yrs old – leaving him being the sole breadwinner for the family – a real tough responsibility for someone so young – but that’s the way it was in those times.

CAREER

The devastating loss of dad’s income forced the Grimaldi family to move to an even worse slum area – ‘Great Wild Street’ in the St. Giles ‘Rookery’ district of London (a ‘Rookery’ being a slang term for a slum district).

Young Grimaldi regularly played the popular character role of ‘Harlequin’, a role he’d learnt from his father, at the Theatre Royal-Drury Lane, which had the posh punters – and also Sadler Wells, the theatre where the poor working classes used to frequent.

He also started to perform at other London theatres, which gave him the chance to enhance his entertainer skills by observing older established actors.

At such a young age Grimaldi was already starting to establish himself as a worthy performer on the London stage. One of his first notable reported successes was playing the role of ‘Clown’ in the production “Harlequin & Mother Goose”. Apparently – Grimaldi was so impressive in his role as Clown – it is said that he upstaged the main character, Harlequin.

Now – it was at this time that Grimaldi put his own mark on ‘clowning’ which changed the way that the role was viewed and performed going forward.

He was the first clown to whiten-up his face with make-up – and wear flamboyant colourful costumes – it was so influential that, as a result,  clowns were thereafter commonly referred to as a ‘Joey’ (named after Grimaldi’s first name ‘Joseph’) – a name that continues to this very day.

Joseph Grimaldi also introduced his own catchphrases into his act – such as “Here we are again!” and “Shall I…?” – which always provoked an audience response. Very soon Grimaldi was known for these catchphrases – (I guess – similar to the late Bruce Forsythe’s ‘Nice to see you-to see you….Nice’)

FIRST WIFE

In 1796 Joseph Grimaldi met his future wife ‘Maria Hughes’ who was the daughter of the owner of the Sadlers Wells Theatre.

Grimaldi married Maria in May 1799 and they moved into their marital home at no.37 Penton Street, which was then in the Pentonville district of London (now it’s Islington-London N1).

The street still exists to this very day – but understandably, is nothing like it was in Grimaldi’s day.

Things were on the up for Joseph Grimaldi as he was now in demand, getting loads of work, and he was getting a decent income. He even ‘trod the boards’ at theatres outside of London.

Sadly – in 1800, just 1 year into their marriage – Grimaldi’s wife Maria died in childbirth – as did their baby.

Grimaldi was mortified at the loss of Maria, and to deal with his grief, he threw himself into his work, often doing 2 shows per night – mainly one at Drury Lane and another at Sadlers Wells. This heavy workload had a detrimental effect on his physical health, as his performances involved him throwing himself about all over the place – becoming covered in bruises and regularly picking up physical injuries.

His mother was so concerned about his physical and mental health that she employed a dancer called Mary Bristow, to become a sort of full-time carer for her son.

SECOND WIFE

That arrangement with his carer soon turned into a romance and in Dec 1801 Joseph Grimaldi and Mary Bristow were married.

Around this time Joseph Grimaldi had a big falling out the boss of the Drury Lane Theatre which led to him being dismissed as one of their top performing acts.

As a result, Grimaldi accepted bookings as far afield as Kent and even Devon – where he was earning up to £150 per gig – a massive amount of money in those days.

However – due to popular demand – it wasn’t long before Grimaldi was reinstated back into the Drury Lane fold of performers.

It was at this time that Grimaldi began to elaborate his white-face ‘Joey’ make-up by spreading it to his neck and chest – and also adding red triangles to his cheeks – and giving himself thick eyebrows and ruby red lips – and wearing even more flamboyant outfits.

This ‘look’ set the trend for future clown appearance/persona – and in theatrical terms, is viewed as one of the most important theatrical designs of the 1800’s.

By 1802 Grimaldi had become the principal ‘Clown’ at the Sadlers Wells Theatre – and in his personal life, his wife Mary had given birth to their only child ‘Joshua Samuel Grimaldi’ – known as JS Grimaldi.

Like father like son – JS joined his dad on stage from the tender age of 18mths.

At around this time the Grimaldi’s went even further upmarket residentially by moving to Fallow Cottage in Finchley which is now Graywood Court in Finchley–London N12 – way outside of central London.

Grimaldi continued to be a big draw and was being offered all different types of theatre roles, not just his famed Clown role.

Out of all Joseph Grimaldi’s many performances – his most popular was said to be the ‘Mother Goose’ Pantomime. Records show that at one time it did a run of 111 performances over a 2 year period grossing a £20k profit – again, massive money for those times.

However – despite its enormous success, Joseph Grimaldi never liked Mother Goose – in fact he considered it to be one of the worst performances of his career – a situation that caused Grimaldi great concern and depression.

It is at this time, the story goes that Grimaldi sought the guidance of a doctor to help him with his worsening bouts of depression – and the doctor, not knowing he was actually talking to THE Joseph Grimaldi – advised his patient to go and watch a Grimaldi performance at the theatre – as that would cure anyone of depression!!!

It is on record, that at the height of his success – the depressed Grimaldi would regularly say to his audiences….. “I make you laugh at night but I’m Grim-all-day”. (with a word play on Grimaldi)

Grimaldi’s son JS Grimaldi started to perform more and more with his dad – mainly playing the role of Scaramouch (you know – as in Queen’s Bo-Rap lyric ‘Scaramouche Scaramouche will you do the Fandango’).

Even though he was earning big money Joseph Grimaldi constantly lived on the verge of bankruptcy – mainly due to his wife’s extravagant spending habits and the school fees he was paying for his son’s private education

To try and recoup his expenditure Grimaldi accepted as many bookings as he could – as far away as Cheltenham / Liverpool / Manchester and even Scotland– he even did a tour of Europe….he was that in demand.

In 1815 Grimaldi played the lead role in Don Juan at Sadlers Wells, with his son JS playing the role of Scaramouch alongside his father.

In 1818, with a plenty of work on the go and a bit more money in his pocket – Grimaldi and Maria moved into a new home nearer central London – a street called ‘Exmouth Market’ that is still in existence today, in Clerkenwell EC1 in the London Borough of Islington.

In 1819 Grimaldi introduced his most famous signature song ‘Hot Codlins’ into his act. It was an audience participation song about a seller of roasted apples who gets drunk on gin while working the streets of London.

FAILING HEALTH

Around this time Grimaldi became a shareholder in the Sadlers Wells Theatre – but he totally underestimated how challenging being involved in the operation of a theatre was – and it totally exhausted him and had a detrimental impact on his already failing health – causing him to suffer stomach troubles and various rheumatic problems, not helped by all the tumbling around and falling about that his act demanded.

In 1821 Grimaldi collapsed on stage – and was diagnosed as having ‘premature old age’!!!

His son JS Grimaldi stepped in to undertake some of his dad’s roles in current productions – but JS was always living in the shadow of his famous father – and that was never going to change.

Eventually – Grimaldi and his son JS had a big falling out, and JS Grimaldi took to drinking and gambling his life away. JS became a massive embarrassment to Joseph Grimaldi and his wife, and although Joseph did his best to support his wayward son, he couldn’t prevent him dying young at the age of 30 in 1832.

With his health deteriorating rapidly – by 1832 Joseph Grimaldi retired from the stage – but all those years of knocking out his Clown act tumbling around here there and everywhere had taking its toll – his joints were completely knackered, and he also began to suffer serious respiratory problems.

He still received a little bit of regular income through his long time associations with the Theatre Royal-Drury Lane and Sadlers Wells – all of which helped kept the wolf from the door financially.

LATER YEARS

When all sources of income dried up – Joseph Grimaldi fell into serious financial difficulties and poverty.

He attempted a few business ventures along with a few cameo appearances on the London stage – plus a few teaching jobs – but his worsening health prevented him undertaking these tasks successfully – as his mobility and breathing were now severely impaired.

Grimaldi and his wife even attempted a suicide pact by taking poison – but even that failed.

DEATH

Grimaldi’s wife Mary died in 1834 at which time poor old Grimaldi had to downsize to a couple of rooms at 33 Southampton Street–Islington N1 – (it is now Calshot Street-Islington N1) – and it is here, on the 31st May 1837  that an impoverished crippled lonely alcoholic  Joseph Grimaldi, the peoples ‘King of Clowns’ – sadly died.

Joseph Grimaldi was buried at St. James Churchyard–Pentonville–London.

Following Grimaldi’s death Charles Dickens was commissioned to write “The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi”. Dickens was happy to do this as he had seen Grimaldi perform when he’d played Rochester–Kent where Dickens used to live.

LEGACY

Today it is globally acknowledged that Joseph Grimaldi transformed the character/role of a ‘Clown’ from a bit part player to a leading role star.

He was easily the most popular English entertainer of his time – and no other Clown has ever achieved his level of fame.

His white-faced make-up – his clothing – his comic timing – his acrobatics – his sad, clumsy persona – self-deprecation – his title of ‘Joey’…..are all styles that are today, portrayed by clowns all over the world.

I have to say, from a personal perspective – this particular blog topic really enthused me, because the more I researched the life and times of the late great Joseph Grimaldi, the more I discovered little hidden gems of physical historic references to him, that I never knew existed. For example…..

GRIMALDI’s GRAVESTONE

On the corner of Collier Street and Cummings Street–Islington–London N1 – there stands a small plot of land that’s a public garden, and it’s called ‘Joseph Grimaldi Park’.

This area of land was once the graveyard of the very same St. James Church-Pentonville where Joseph Grimaldi was buried – and tucked away within this garden is Joseph Grimaldi’s gravestone – standing all on its own within its own fenced-off little plot, and a commemorative plaque on display – reminding people just how influential and important the deceased was during his lifetime.

ANNUAL CLOWN CHURCH SERVICE

Whilst I was at Grimaldi’s graveside – some random stranger approached me and asked if I’d visited the ‘Clown Church’ yet??

It turns out that there is a special church service held on the first Sunday in February every year – where clowns from all over England and the World, come to remember Joseph Grimaldi and give praise and thanks for what he did for ‘clowning’ and to also remember all deceased clowns…..how good is that!!!

So – armed with this information, I set off to track down this ‘Clown Church’.

It turns out that there are in fact 2 churches inked to this annual church service – the ‘Holy Trinity Church’ in Dalston-and also the “All Saints Church” in Haggerston – both churches are in the London Borough of Hackney area of London E8 – and as an aside – I was once manager of Barclays Bank-Hackney branch and also Barclays Bank-Kingsland Road-Dalston branch -so I know these areas very well.

The Holy Trinity Church in Dalston started hosting the ‘Clown International Service’ in 1959 – and clowns from all over the world, dressed up in all their clown gear, would attend.

However – the service became so popular the Holy Trinity couldn’t accommodate the increasing number of clowns that were turning up each year – and so for the past 15 or so years this historic annual memorial service has been held in the nearby ‘All Saints Church’ just down the road in Haggerston.

At the Holy Trinity Church, the original venue for the ‘Clown Service’ – there is a magnificent ‘Joseph Grimaldi’ stained glass window – that was designed and constructed by artist ‘Susan M Cook’ back in the 1980’s . Susan M Cook designed and built the window herself by using traditional stained glass window construction methods – ensuring that the window will last for many many years.

‘All Saints Church’ is the ideal new venue for the annual ‘Clown International Service’ as it has a gallery of seating surrounding the nave of the church – where the clown congregation can cram into.

Apparently, it’s a happy affair – the sort of service where bubbles fill the room and clowns are riding mini-cycles up and down the aisles and are busy making balloon animals whilst delivering a reading from the pulpit…….

The Holy Trinity Church in Dalston, where the annual service was held up until 15 yrs ago – is now occupied by the ‘London School of Architecture’. The students/staff working there were really kind to me when I visited the building, because they allowed me access to the main part of the old church building, so that I could take a few photos- and lo & behold, what did I find – a stained glass window dedicated to Joseph Grimaldi and clowns in general……yet another hidden gem in this Grimaldi story.

GRIMALDI RELATED – LIQUID REFRESHMENTS

There were a couple of occasions, when out-on-the-road,  where liquid refreshment was most definitely needed – and the 2 pubs visited, were carefully selected – as they both have a link (albeit tenuous) to the life of the legendary Joseph Grimaldi.

The first pub visited was the ‘Coach & Horses’ deep in the heart of London’s ‘Theatreland’ district – right close to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where Grimaldi (& his father before him) performed many times.

The Coach & Horses is located in Wellington Street WC2 in London’s Covent Garden district.

There’s been a pub on the site since 1753 – when King George II was on the throne – and there were far more theatres surrounding it than there are today.

At that time and throughout the next century – the area surrounding the pub was a den of vice and crime – records show that there were also shops/trades surrounding the pub, such as a theatrical hosier, a solicitor, a barber, a corn-dealer and a pencil-maker.

One of the very few ‘one-room’ pubs in London, the Coach & Horses pub is steeped in history, and you can feel it’s vibe as soon as you step inside – lots of memorabilia on display – well worth a visit.

The other pub visited was a little closer to the subject matter – namely the ‘Exmouth Arms’ in the very same Exmouth Market street where Joseph Grimaldi lived for around 10yrs – and where his one-time home now has a commemorative blue plaque on its external wall.

The Exmouth Arms pub has been in existence since 1871 (after Joseph Grimaldi popped his clogs). It’s had quite a few revamps over the years – and in today’s world I believe it’s referred to as a ‘boutique pub’. It appears to be a very popular place – with seating outside, so that you can watch the world go by in Exmouth Market.

Again – most definitely worth a visit if up in the Clerkenwell district of London.

SUMMARY

So – what started out as just a simple bit of research by me to establish who this Grimaldi fella was – I found myself spending 2 days on-the-road travelling all over the ‘Smoke’ seeking out, and gathering up all the visual content required for this blog article – not to mention the days spent at home on the old laptop, drafting and putting the Grimaldi story together – it’s now ready to publish.

“Joseph Grimaldi–the ‘King of Clowns’–from the Cradle to the Grave”……a lengthy article I know, but a story that I feel is worth telling and sharing.

It was a challenging exercise – but one in which I learnt a lot, and that I thoroughly enjoyed putting together – and I hope that you find it an enjoyable read.

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