Emmett Kelly was a clown well-known for playing the hobo persona "Weary Willie." Kelly's depressing clown persona gained popularity during the Great Depression because he was able to relate to the many impoverished and oppressed individuals who faced hardships at this trying period. Most clowns were recognized for their humorous antics.
Thomas and Molly Kelly welcomed Emmett Leo Kelly into the world on December 9, 1898, in Sedan, Kansas. The Missouri Pacific Railroad employed Thomas. Emmett stated in his memoirs, "After climbing our fence and running the short distance to the railroad siding, one of my early recollections, no doubt forecasting my wanderlust, is of being hauled out from under a string of freight cars."
Later, the family relocated to a farm close to Houston and Cabool in Texas County, Missouri. Emmett's creative side was revealed there. His mother supported him by getting him enrolled in a cartooning correspondence school. He developed an interest in "chalk talks," a kind of performance that involves doing goofy drawings and caricatures, about the same period.
In 1917, Kelly left his family's farm to seek employment in Kansas City. He wanted to be a cartoonist for one of the city's newspapers, but they didn't require one. Emmett performed a variety of odd jobs while deciding what to do next. He rolled huge milk cans from train carriages for the Meridian Creamery Company and painted signs and kewpie dolls.
Kelly quickly grew interested in carnival and circus work. He worked as a “roustabout” or worker and also drew caricatures of people before training to become a trapeze performer. During this period, he began developing a sad tramp clown cartoon character that would eventually become "Weary Willie."
Emmett Kelly became 80 years old on December 9, 1978, and although becoming obviously weaker over time, he never quit working. Following her appearance on NBC's Today Show in February 1979, Emmett was cast by director Mario Pellegrini with Tony Bennett in a movie.
Production on A Gift of Love was set to start in Sarasota on April 2, 1979; Emmett was not in the film, despite it being dedicated to him later. The man, who had referred to himself as "just a farm boy," and who had become a global celebrity, passed away in his front yard on March 28, 1979, four days before filming was supposed to start.
Following a charity circus show in Los Angeles in 1949, Emmett received a call from an agent for David O. Selznick. Kelly agreed to an exclusive one-year deal on October 8, while Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was in Tucson, Arizona.[
