Grock (born Charles Adrien Wettach; 10 January 1880 – 14 July 1959) was a Swiss

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

. Called "the king of clowns"Pat Cashin
Grock
Clown Alley (blog). (24 August 2006). Retrieved 22 April 2011 and "the greatest of Europe's clowns","Life on the Newsfronts of the World"
Google Books. ''Life'' magazine (15 November 1954). Retrieved 22 April 2011. Grock was once the most highly paid entertainer in Europe.

Biography

Early life

Grock was born in Loveresse, a village in the

Bernese Jura Bernese Jura (, , German: Berner Jura) is the name for the French-speaking area of the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern, and from 2010 one of ten Administrative divisions of Switzerland, administrative divisions of the Cantons of Switzerland, cant ...

in the

Canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

. He started early as a performer, learning musicianship and

acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

ic skills from his father.Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman and Donald McNeill
''Vaudeville, Old & New''
Google Books. Routledge (2007) pp. 462–463. Retrieved 22 April 2011 When a caravan of

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

passed through, he joined them, learning more instruments and gaining confidence with them. In 1894, he debuted with Fiame Wetzel's travelling circus. He became a clown, working first with another performer named Brick in 1903, adopting the name "Grock," and then going on to partner with the famous clown Antonet (Umberto Guillaum). This second act was developed with the aim of making the transition from

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

stages, which were more lucrative. While not initially successful, Antonet and Grock did manage to secure a London engagement in 1911. Refining their performances according to audience response, Grock came to dominate the act, and they eventually split up.

Career and later life

By 1913, Grock's fame had spread, his act having developed into the mixture of pantomime and musical blunders for which he is now remembered. With the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he made Britain his base, remaining there until 1924, when he returned to

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. He performed throughout Europe and in the United States, commanding ever higher fees, and his continuing success enabled him to establish his own circus in 1951, with which he toured until his final performance in Hamburg on 30 October 1954. He retired to the Villa Bianca (now named "Villa Grock"), a 50-room house he had constructed for him in the 1920s in Imperia, Italy, where he died in 1959.

Media

Some of Grock's performances have been preserved on film. He made the 1927 silent movie ''What For?'', and French and German language versions of ''Grock'' in 1931. A

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

, ''Au revoir, M. Grock'' (1950), featured Grock as himself, with Adrien Osperi and Ted Rémy playing Grock as a boy and young man, respectively. In retirement, he made some appearances on Italian television. He also wrote several books, including an autobiography.

Legacy

Grock's career is commemorated with the Grock d'Or, an annual competition for young circus artists which first took place in 2003. This competition has been discontinued since 2008.

Filmography

* ''Grock – son premier film'' (1926) * '' Grock'' (1931), German drama directed by

Carl Boese Carl Eduard Hermann Boese (; 26 August 1887 – 6 July 1958) was a German film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He directed 158 films between 1917 and 1957. Selected filmography * ''Farmer Borchardt'' (1917) * ''Donna Luci ...

** ''Grock (La vie d'un grand artiste)'' (1931), French version of the German film directed by Carl Boese and Joë Hamman, three other language versions have been produced(German) https://www.filmblatt.de/2005/12/02/grock-d-1931-carl-boese/ * A 1939 revue film produced by

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). It is a subsidiary of Matth. Hohner AG. The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg ...

* '' Farewell Mister Grock'' (1950) * ''Grocks letzter Auftritt'' / ''Le dernier spectacle de Grock'' (1954) * ''Fünf Sequenzen aus Grocks Programm'' (1957) * ''Grock – König hinter der Maske'' (1965) * ''Grock – König der Clowns'' (2003)

Books

* ''Grock. Nit mö-ö-ö-glich. Die Memoiren des Königs der Clowns'', autobiography (1956) ; English version: ''Grock, King of Clowns'' (1957)

Notes

Additional references

* *

External links

Grock-News

Association Grockland
*
"Grock - Seltsamer als die Wahrheit"
FilmArts Productions, Zurich (2006)
Museo del Clown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grock 1880 births 1959 deaths People from the Bernese Jura Swiss clowns