The Pantomime Life of Joseph Grimaldi

This biography offers a “vivid portrayal” of the eighteenth-century English entertainer who “invented the figure of the classic clown that we know today” ( The Guardian ). The son of a deranged Italian immigrant, Joseph Grimaldi (1778–1837) was the most celebrated of English clowns. The first to use white-face makeup and wear outrageous colored clothes, he completely transformed the role of the Clown in the pantomime with a look as iconic as Chaplin’s Tramp. One of the first celebrity comedians,