Charlie Cairoli - Background and Career

Background and Career

Born in Affori, Milan, Italy to a travelling circus family of French origin, he began his performing career at the age of seven. He met Violetta Fratellini, who was also from a circus family, in 1934 when they were both working at the Cirque Medrano at Montmartre: he was with his father in a clown act, and she was in a knockabout acrobatic act, "The Tomboys Girls". While she watched him perform he spotted her, and serenaded her on his clarinet. By Christmas that same year they were married.

In early 1939 the Cairolis appeared at the Circus Krone in Munich, in a special performance attended by Adolf Hitler, who afterward presented Cairoli with a watch. In September, when World War II broke out, Cairoli was performing at the Blackpool Tower Circus for the first time; in response to the news of war, he walked to the end of North Pier in Blackpool and threw the watch into the Irish Sea. He chose to stay in the town, where he lived for the rest of his life.

In 1943 he appeared in Happidrome a film based on the radio series of the same name. In 1952 he appeared in the crime drama film, The Secret People. On 11 and 25 November 1962 he performed his clown act on the American television variety show, The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS. On 1 January 1966 he appeared on David Nixon's Comedy Bandbox. He also appeared on the American television variety show on ABC The Hollywood Palace twice in 1966, first on 8 January, performing as Charles Cairoli and Company then on 7 May when he was introduced as a "British Comic Pantomimist".

Cairoli was distinguished in his act by wearing a red nose and a Charlie Chaplin-style bowler hat, eyebrows, and costume, and a moustache slightly larger than Chaplin's. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom in the 1970s owing to his frequent television appearances, not least on his long-running children's show Right Charlie!. He was possibly the best-known clown on British television at one time, and had a career that spanned well over forty years. He was the subject of This is Your Life, where on 25 February 1970, he was introduced as the "king of clowns".

He performed at Blackpool Tower Circus every summer season for forty years, a world record for the most performances at a single venue. Out of season he also performed on stage in variety shows and pantomime, including the Grand Theatre in Leeds and Alhambra in Bradford. His appearance in Jack and the Beanstalk in 1972 was the most successful pantomime at Leeds City Varieties and later that year he brought Christmas shopping to a standstill as he led hundreds of youngsters through the streets of Leeds and herded them to the City Varieties where he gave a special show to 600 invited children.

In June 1979, ill health forced his withdrawal from the Tower Circus ring and he was admitted to hospital suffering from exhaustion. He finally announced his retirement in November of that year; he was 69.