Paul Jerome - Revision history

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2025-07-11T02:17:13Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Epilogue */

2025-07-11T02:16:15Z

‎Epilogue

Djando: /* Epilogue */

2025-07-11T02:15:38Z

‎Epilogue

Djando: /* Clown */

2025-07-11T02:13:00Z

‎Clown

Djando at 02:12, 11 July 2025

2025-07-11T02:12:34Z

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2025-07-11T02:09:22Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Image Gallery */

2025-07-11T02:02:53Z

‎Image Gallery

Djando: /* Joining Clown Alley */

2025-06-23T05:39:53Z

‎Joining Clown Alley

Djando: /* Clown */

2025-06-23T05:38:08Z

‎Clown

Djando: /* Joining Clown Alley */

2025-06-23T05:37:01Z

‎Joining Clown Alley

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 File:Paul_Jerome_-_Golf.jpg|Paul Jerome in whiteface (1960)
 File:Paul_Jerome_1960.jpg|Paul Jerome in whiteface (1960)
-File:Felix_Adler_book_cover.jpg| Paul Jerome with Felix Adler, Emmett Kelly, and Frosty Little (1961)
+File:Felix_Adler_book_cover.jpg| Paul Jerome with Felix Adler, Emmett Kelly, and Frosty Little (c.1960)
 File:Paul_Jerome_statuette.jpg|Paul Jerome statuette (1985)
 </Gallery>
 [[Category:Artists and Acts|Jerome, Paul]] [[Category:Clowns|Jerome, Paul]]

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ===Epilogue===
-Jerome retired in Sarasota, Florida, home to Ringling (and other circuses) performers since [[The Ringling Brothers|John and Charles Ringling]] chose the city for the winter quarters of their circus (and participated actively in developing the town). On November 15, 1951, at age sixty-two, he had married Rose Bridgett Defliese; for an old bachelor, it was perhaps too late to make it work and they divorced four years later. Paul Jerome passed away on November 7, 1960, in Sarasota. He was seventy-one years old. As a Navy veteran, he was buried two weeks later with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia (Grave 4675 Section 12); sadly, only three persons attended the ceremony&mdash;all members of the Circus Fans Association of America&mdash;and the only flowers were a wrath of roses sent by Emmett Kelly.
+Jerome retired in Sarasota, Florida, home to Ringling (and other circuses) performers since [[The Ringling Brothers|John and Charles Ringling]] chose the city for the winter quarters of their circus and participated actively in developing the town. On November 15, 1951, at age sixty-two, he had married Rose Bridgett Defliese; for an old bachelor, it was perhaps too late to make it work and they divorced four years later. Paul Jerome passed away on November 7, 1960, in Sarasota. He was seventy-one years old. As a Navy veteran, he was buried two weeks later with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia (Grave 4675 Section 12); sadly, only three persons attended the ceremony&mdash;all members of the Circus Fans Association of America&mdash;and the only flowers were a wrath of roses sent by Emmett Kelly.
 ==Image Gallery==

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 ===Epilogue===
-Jerome retired in Sarasota, Florida, home of Ringling (and other circuses) performers since [[The Ringling Brothers|John and Charles Ringling]] chose the city for the winter quarters of their circus (and participated actively in developing the town). On November 15, 1951, at age sixty-two, he had married Rose Bridgett Defliese; for an old bachelor, it was perhaps too late to make it work and they divorced four years later. Paul Jerome passed away on November 7, 1960, in Sarasota. He was seventy-one years old. As a Navy veteran, he was buried two weeks later with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia (Grave 4675 Section 12); sadly, only three persons attended the ceremony&mdash;all members of the Circus Fans Association of America&mdash;and the only flowers were a wrath of roses sent by Emmett Kelly.
+Jerome retired in Sarasota, Florida, home to Ringling (and other circuses) performers since [[The Ringling Brothers|John and Charles Ringling]] chose the city for the winter quarters of their circus (and participated actively in developing the town). On November 15, 1951, at age sixty-two, he had married Rose Bridgett Defliese; for an old bachelor, it was perhaps too late to make it work and they divorced four years later. Paul Jerome passed away on November 7, 1960, in Sarasota. He was seventy-one years old. As a Navy veteran, he was buried two weeks later with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia (Grave 4675 Section 12); sadly, only three persons attended the ceremony&mdash;all members of the Circus Fans Association of America&mdash;and the only flowers were a wrath of roses sent by Emmett Kelly.
 ==Image Gallery==

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 Paul Jerome James was born on September 30, 1889, in New York, New York, according to his military records, to Paul Jerome James senior and his wife Lula, née Ragsdale, of St. Joseph, Missouri. Unfortunately, still very little is known of Paul Jerome's family background at the time of this writing: We don't know if his parents were, or not, in show business, and it seems that he had no siblings (his funeral arrangement papers mention that he had "no relatives"). Neither do we know what he did before WWI. Jerome never wrote his memoirs, and although his likeness often appeared in advertisings and in souvenirs such as porcelain statuettes and plate illustrations, he didn't seek the spotlight.
-In May 1917, soon after the United States had entered World War I, Paul Jerome was drafted in the U.S. Navy, where he served as an able seaman. The war ended on November 11, 1918, and in December, after one year and seven months of service, Paul Jerome was officially discharged. He then went to work as a ''burlesque'' comedian. American burlesque was then a popular form of variety show appealing principally to male audiences and built around a chorus line of sexy female dancers, strip-tease performers, and low-brow comedians. The latter used a rich, time-honored repertoire (which they shared in part with European clown teams), and a few of them even reached stardom and converted to vaudeville, silent and talking movies, or early television. Burlesque was indeed, like American vaudeville (variety), a very good school for comedians.
+In May 1917, soon after the United States had entered World War I, Paul Jerome was drafted in the U.S. Navy, where he served as an able seaman. The war ended on November 11, 1918, and in December, after one year and seven months of service, Paul Jerome was officially discharged. He then went to work as a ''burlesque'' comedian. American burlesque was then a popular form of variety show appealing principally to male audiences and built around a chorus line of sexy female dancers, strip-tease performers, and low-brow comedians. The latter used a rich, time-honored repertoire (which they shared in part with European clown teams), and a few of them even reached stardom and converted silent and talking movies, or early television. Burlesque was indeed, like American vaudeville (variety), a very good school for comedians.
 ===Joining Clown Alley===

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 Paul Jerome James was born on September 30, 1889, in New York, New York, according to his military records, to Paul Jerome James senior and his wife Lula, née Ragsdale, of St. Joseph, Missouri. Unfortunately, still very little is known of Paul Jerome's family background at the time of this writing: We don't know if his parents were, or not, in show business, and it seems that he had no siblings (his funeral arrangement papers mention that he had "no relatives"). Neither do we know what he did before WWI. Jerome never wrote his memoirs, and although his likeness often appeared in advertisings and in souvenirs such as porcelain statuettes and plate illustrations, he didn't seek the spotlight.
-In May 1917, soon after the United States had entered World War I, Paul Jerome was drafted in the U.S. Navy, where he served as an able seaman. The war ended on November 11, 1918, and in December, after one year and seven months of service, Paul Jerome was officially discharged. He then went to work as a ''burlesque'' comedian. American burlesque was then a popular form of variety show appealing principally to male audiences and built around a chorus line of sexy female dancers, strip-tease performers, and low-brow comedians. The latter used a rich, time-honored repertoire (which they shared in part with European clown teams), and a few of them even reached stardom and converted to silent and talking movies, or early television. Burlesque was indeed, like American vaudeville (variety), a very good school for comedians.
+In May 1917, soon after the United States had entered World War I, Paul Jerome was drafted in the U.S. Navy, where he served as an able seaman. The war ended on November 11, 1918, and in December, after one year and seven months of service, Paul Jerome was officially discharged. He then went to work as a ''burlesque'' comedian. American burlesque was then a popular form of variety show appealing principally to male audiences and built around a chorus line of sexy female dancers, strip-tease performers, and low-brow comedians. The latter used a rich, time-honored repertoire (which they shared in part with European clown teams), and a few of them even reached stardom and converted to vaudeville, silent and talking movies, or early television. Burlesque was indeed, like American vaudeville (variety), a very good school for comedians.
 ===Joining Clown Alley===

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 File:Paul_Jerome_-_Bosco.png|Ad featuring Paul Jerome (c.1960)
 File:Paul_Jerome_-_Steinmetz.jpg|Paul Jerome in hobo character (1960)
 File:Paul_Jerome_1960.jpg|Paul Jerome in whiteface (1960)
 File:Felix_Adler_book_cover.jpg| Paul Jerome with Felix Adler, Emmett Kelly, and Frosty Little (1961)

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 File:Paul_Jerome_1943.png|Paul Jerome in whiteface (c.1943)
 File:Paul_Jerome_and_Felix_Adler.jpg|Paul Jeromne, Felix Adler, and Beatrice Dante (1949)
 File:Paul_Jerome_-_magazine.jpg|Magazine cover featuring Paul Jerome (1955)
 File:Paul_Jerome_-_Bosco.png|Ad featuring Paul Jerome (c.1960)

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 [[File:Paul_Jerome_1937.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Paul Jerome in tramp character (1937)]]Whether Jerome didn't have enough success to make a decent living in burlesque, or he didn't like its atmosphere, which could be seedy in some places, he eventually decided to convert to circus life and become a clown. Circus was still one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America then (albeit on the wane) and provided good performers with regular employment in a friendly environment. In 1933, Paul Jerome (who had dropped his family name, James) joined the Clown Alley of [[Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus]], which belonged to the Ringling organization. There, he formed a life-long friendship with another member of Clown Alley, [[Emmett Kelly]]. Then, in 1933, he was transferred to [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey]], where he spent practically all the rest of his clown career.
-Around 1937, Paul Jerome created his new "tramp" character. He was then nicknamed the "neon clown" for the neon heart on his costume that lit up each time he saw a pretty girl&mdash;as well as for the small light bulb that was at the tip of his nose. (As a whiteface clown, Jerome used sometimes a similar neon contraption in the form of glasses, and his dog also wore a glowing light at the tip of his tail.) However, Jerome is not remembered as a "production clown" (the clowns who create new gags or routines for their colleagues), or as having an exceptional talent, but he was popular and recognizable enough to appear on magazine ads and in various pieces of merchandising.
+Around 1937, Paul Jerome created his new "tramp" or "hobo" character. He was then nicknamed the "neon clown" for the neon heart on his costume that lit up each time he saw a pretty girl&mdash;as well as for the small light bulb that was at the tip of his nose. (As a whiteface clown, Jerome used sometimes a similar neon contraption in the form of glasses, and his dog also wore a glowing light at the tip of his tail.) However, Jerome is not remembered as a "production clown" (the clowns who create new gags or routines for their colleagues), or as having an exceptional talent, but he was popular and recognizable enough to appear on magazine ads and in various pieces of merchandising.
 During his time with Ringling, Paul Jerome often went back and forth between his whiteface and his tramp characters; unlike Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelly whose characters, which were strong and well defined, stayed unchanged, it seems that Paul Jerome's tramp character was a little too superficial to leave a truly strong mark. Nonetheless, he remained a well-liked fixture of ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' until his retirement after a last performance on the season's opening engagement at New York's Madison Square Garden in April 1957. He was sixty-eight.