Skeeter Reece carrying Albert Alter juggling while on unicycle

Albert "Clem" Alter (born ) is an American clown, noted for his work as a hospital clown. He is also a

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

. Alter was raised in

Greeneville, Tennessee Greeneville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Greene County, Tennessee, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 15,479. The town was named in honor of American Revolutionary War, Revol ...

, and graduated from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 1969. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, he was a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, and worked with the

Catholic Relief Services Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. Founded in 1943 by the Bishops of the United States, the agency provides assistance to 130 million people in more than 110 ...

in Vietnam 1971–1973. He worked as a chemical engineer until 1977, saying later that there was more to life than making money for a million-dollar corporation, and in 1981 he graduated from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. Since 1985, he has been teaching with Young Audiences of Oregon, an organization that promotes arts in education. He toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, took part in establishing a clown college in Tokyo, and has performed and taught internationally. In 1994, Alter was the opening act together with Skeeter Reece (as "Alter and Reece") at a Britt Music Festival with the

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers were the American duo of brothers Tom Smothers, Tom and Dick Smothers, who performed folk singer, folk singing, music, and comedy. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on Steel-string guitar, a ...

. Alter and Reece also worked as hospital clowns together, and Alter has performed at hospitals like the

Doernbecher Children's Hospital Doernbecher Children's Hospital is an academic teaching children's hospital associated with Oregon Health & Science University located in Portland, Oregon. Established in 1926, it is the first full-service children's hospital in the Pacific North ...

, the

Floating Hospital for Children Tufts Children's Hospital (formerly Floating Hospital for Children) in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts was a downtown Boston pediatric hospital owned by Tufts Medical Center, occupying the space between Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown and the Bosto ...

and Randall Children's Hospital. In 1991, he said that In the 90s, he was part of the BoZoArtZ musical group, and was the northwest regional vice president of Clowns of America International. As of 2016, he lives in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

References

External links

Featured Artist: Albert Alter
at Young Audiences
Albert Alter – Mind to Mime to Word: How Stories Are Created, Told and Shared
2017 Young Audiences video {{DEFAULTSORT:Alter, Albert Living people American clowns Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus people People from Greeneville, Tennessee University of Notre Dame alumni American conscientious objectors American mimes Artists from Portland, Oregon 1940s births Year of birth uncertain