List of clowns

Circus-style

• Lulu Adams - early 20th century British female clown
• Albert Alter - American clown
• António Branco – Batatinha, from Portugal
• Arthur Vercoe Pedlar – "Vercoe", an English clown
• Barry Lubin – "Grandma", star clown of the Big Apple Circus
• Bim Bom – clown duo of early 20th Century Russia
• Carequinha – Brazilian clown and actor, born in a circus to a circus family Brazil
• Cepillín – Mexican clown
• Cha-U-Kao - French clown, performer at the Moulin Rouge
• Charlie Bell – American clown, Ringling Bros. circus
• Charlie Cairoli – Italian-born British clown
• Pinto Colvig - American clown who later became famous as the voice of Goofy.
• Daniel Rice – American clown of the 19th century and principal inspiration for Uncle Sam.
• David Shiner – Tony Award-winning American born mime and circus clown who has appeared on Broadway and with several European circuses
• Demetrius Nock – "Bello Nock," star clown in Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus
• Dimitri – Swiss clown and mime
• Emmett Kelly – American tramp clown
• Frankie Saluto – American clown, Ringling Bros. circus
• The Fratellini Family – family of French clowns
• George Carl – American clown who performed mainly in Europe.
• Glen "Frosty" Little – America's last living Master Clown and longtime "Boss Clown" with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus
• Greg and Karen DeSanto – husband and wife clown/comedy team
• Grock – Charles Adrien Wettach, Swiss clown
• Joe Jackson Sr. and Jr. – tramp clown entree with a breakaway bicycle
• Johann Ludwig Jacob Lou Jacobs – American Master Clown. Credited with inventing the clown car gag.
• Josep Andreu i Lasserre – Charlie Rivel European clown
• Jose de Jesus Medrano – Chuchin, Mexican clown and performance star
• José Vega Santana – Remi – "Puerto Rico's Greatest Clown"
• Michael Halvarson – Swedish clown and star pickpocket entertainer who has appeared in Cirque du Soleil Kooza
• Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev – Karandash, Soviet Clown and clowning teacher.
• Nicolai Poliakoff – Coco the Clown longtime star clown of the Bertram Mills Circus
• Oleg Popov, Russian clown, student of Karandash
• Otto Griebling –, American Master Clown with the Cole Bros. and Ringling circuses

• Paul Hunt – gymnast clown
• Pierre Étaix, French clown, comedian and filmmaker
• Pogo the Clown - American serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who volunteered as a clown at hospitals
• Rafael Padilla – Cuban-born clown, performing in France as "Chocolat"
• Roly Bain English priest and clown who preached and performed as Holy Roly. He helped set up the organisation Holy Fools.
• Sergey Pavlov – "Lalala", Russian clown, director and actor
• Skeeter Reece – American clown
• Steve Smith – "T.J. Tatters", longtime director of Ringling Clown College
• Tiririca - Brazilian clown who started his career in the circus, later becoming a singer, gaining fame on TV and becoming a politician
• Vicki Gabereau – Rosie Sunshine, ran as a candidate in the 1974 Toronto mayoral election
• Yuri Nikulin – Russian clown and actor
• Jack Perry and Doug McKenzie – Zig and Zag Australian television clowns

  Rodeo

• Flint Rasmussen – seven-time winner of Man in the Can award.
• Johnny Tatum – American rodeo clown
• Quail Dobbs – American rodeo clown
• Slim Pickens – American rodeo clown and film actor.

  Film

• Abbott and Costello – American comedy duo specializing in the white clown /red clown relationship
• Ben Turpin – cross-eyed comedian, best remembered for his work in silent films
• Buster Keaton – "The Great Stoneface"
• Charlie Chaplin – British born comedian. His principal character was "The Little Tramp"
• Chester Conklin – American comedian and actor
• Harry Langdon – American silent film comedian and mime
• Jacques Tati – French comedian, mime and filmmaker; played the socially inept Monsieur Hulot
• Keystone Cops – incompetent group of policemen created by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917
• Laurel and Hardy – comedy duo in film
• Martin and Lewis – American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis
• The Marx Brothers – team of sibling comedians that appeared in vaudeville, stage plays, film and television
• Peter Sellers – English comedian and actor; played Inspector Clouseu
• Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle – actor, was involved in the "Fatty Arbuckle scandal"
• Shaggy 2 Dope – DJ of the Insane Clown Posse, Detroit-based hip-hop group with a fan army of "schizophrenic wizards" called the juggalos and star of underground film Big Money Hustlaz
• Slim Pickens – rodeo clown and film actor
• Snub Pollard – silent film comedian, popular in the 1920s
• The Three Stooges – slapstick comedians
• W.C. Fields – American comedian and actor
• Violent J – leader of the Insane Clown Posse, a Detroit-based hip-hop group and star of Big Money Hustlaz underground film.
• Jim Varney - Actor of Ernest P. Worrell

  Television

• Lucille Ball – I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy
• Bassie – clown on the Dutch "Bassie & Adriaan" television series, played by Bas van Toor
• Benny Hill – The Benny Hill Show
• Milton Berle – Texaco Star Theater, Berle's Buick Hour
• Blinky the Clown – played by Russell Scott as the star of "Blinky's Fun Club" in Colorado, Denver.
• Bozo the Clown – franchised character played by many local television performers and on cartoons, based on the character created in 1946 by Alan W. Livingston for Capitol Records' record-reader series
• Bubbles the Clown – clown doll that appears on BBC test cards F, J & W.
• Charlie Chalk – main character of the British children's TV series of the same name.
• Clarabell the Clown – regular character from the Howdy Doody television program, originally played by Bob Keeshan of Captain Kangaroo fame.
• Der Clown - German TV clown
• Doink the Clown – gimmick used by several wrestlers in the 1990s. Doink began as a heel wrestler in the evil clown archetype, but later Doinks portrayed the character as a babyface who loved to entertain the children in the crowd.
• Dink the Clown – midget sidekick of Doink the Clown.
• Flunky the Clown – Character of comedy writer Jeff Martin on Late Night With David Letterman.
• Herman the Clown - main character of Finnish series Pelle Hermanni.
• Homey the Clown – character from the In Living Color television program, whose famous catchphrase was "Homey don't play that ".
• John Michael Howson – 'clown' from Adventure Island.
• Nasse Setä – Character of Finnish comedian Vesa-Matti Loiri
• Loonette the Clown - main character of Canadian series The Big Comfy Couch.
• Mr. Noodle – character created by Bill Irwin for the "Elmo's World" segment of Sesame Street
• Mr Tumble – character on Something Special, played by Justin Fletcher
• Patati Patatá – Brazilian TV
• J.P. Patches – Seattle children's television mainstay for decades.
• Paul Reubens – Pee-wee Herman, Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
• Peppi & Kokki - Two Dutch clowns who starred in their own children's TV series.
• Pinky Lee – The Pinky Lee Show
• Pipo de Clown – main character of the Dutch children's TV series of the same name.
• Piñón Fijo – Argentine TV
• Red Skelton – The Red Skelton Show
• Roberto Gómez Bolaños - Better known as Chespirito, he created and played El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado
• Rowan Atkinson – Mr. Bean
• Jim Allen – Rusty Nails, Pacific Northwest children's television clown, and model for Matt Groening's "Krusty" character on the television program The Simpsons
• Sid Caesar – Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour
• Soupy Sales – The Soupy Sales Show
• Yucko the Clown – The Howard Stern Show, known for rude observations, obscenities and public intoxication
• Os Trapalhões - Didi, Dedé, Mussum and Zacarias, from the TV show of the same name.
• Zig and Zag

  Theatrical

• A. Robins – vaudeville's "The Banana Man" and "One Man Music Shop"
• Alan Clay – international clown teacher and performer; author of Angels Can Fly, a Modern Clown User Guide
• Alex the Jester – "King of Jesters," speaks a contemporary version of the medieval gibberish language Grammelot.
• Andy Kaufman – American comic and practitioner of anti-humor
• Avner Eisenberg – also known as Avner the Eccentric, a "Broadway" clown
• Bill Irwin – Tony Award-winning clown known for his new vaudeville-style performances
• Blue Man Group – trio of silent characters that perform covered in blue paint
• Clark and McCullough – Bobby Clark and Paul McCullough started as circus clowns and progressed to be stars of stage and screen
• Sylvester the Jester – The Human Cartoon
• Dario Fo – Capo Comicio, creator of "Mistero Buffo" and "Accidental Death of an Anarchist"; recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature; uses Arlecchino stage persona, political activist
• Ed Wynn – The Perfect Fool
• Eric Davis – Cirque du Soleil clown and creator of Red Bastard
• Geoff Hoyle – stage clown, started in the Pickle Family Circus with Bill Irwin and Larry Pisoni
• George Carl – longtime star of the Crazy Horse Saloon in Paris
• George Washington Lafayette Fox, American stage clown during the 19th century
• James and Jamesy, Canadian clown duo
• Jango Edwards – American clown and entertainer in the European cabaret tradition
• John Gilkey – Cirque du Soleil clown
• Joseph Grimaldi – credited with being "the first whiteface clown" — in an homage to Grimaldi, circus clowns began referring to themselves and each other as "Joey"s, and the term 'joey' is now a synonym for clown
• Marceline Orbes – performed in Europe and for many years at the New York Hippodrome.
• Morro and Jasp – Canadian clown duo
• Mump and Smoot – Canadian "clowns of horror"
• Olsen and Johnson – stars of Broadway's Hellzapoppin'
• Puddles Pity Party – American traditional popular singer and YouTube celebrity who performs as a whiteface clown. Billed as the "sad clown with the golden voice."
• Richard Pochinko – founder of "Canadian Clowning" style
• Richard Tarlton – actor and clown in the Elizabethan theatre in England
• Richard Usher – 19th-century clown, performed at Astley's Amphitheatre
• Robert Armin – actor and clown in Shakespeare's company
• Sergey Pavlov – Russian clown "LALALA", creator of "LALALA SHOW"
• Slava Polunin – Russian-born clown and creator of "Slava's Snowshow"
• Spike Jones and his City Slickers – American musical act featuring slapstick circus-style comedy
• Thomas Monckton – award-winning physical clown
• Tommy Cooper – British comedy magician
• W. C. Fields – vaudeville comedy star
• Will Kempe – actor dancer and clown who worked with Shakespeare; famously jigged his way from Norwich to London in 1600
• Wolfe Bowart – stage clown touring internationally with his productions LaLaLuna and ''The Shneedles''