Glen Little, Better Known as Frosty the Clown, Dies at 84
Matthew Kruk
November 4, 2010
Glen Little, Better Known as Frosty the Clown, Dies at 84
By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK
Glen Little, better known as Frosty the Clown, who performed at the
White House and was a teacher and mentor to a generation of clowns with
the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, died on Oct. 26 in
Kimberly, Idaho, near his home in Burley. He was 84.
His wife, Patricia, confirmed his death.
Mr. Little was the last of four Ringling Brothers clowns to earn the
circus's "master clown" designation, and the last surviving member of
that select group.
Peggy Williams, one of Mr. Little's protégés, described him as "kind of
a drill sergeant, but in a comedic way."
"He insisted that you always look your best, even on a Saturday after
three shows, that you never looked disheveled in front of the audience
or ruin a kid's fantasy of a clown," Ms. Williams said.
Mr. Little was the circus's executive director of clowns in 1986 when an
About New York column in The New York Times described him meticulously
inspecting his charges before a performance while wearing "full clown
regalia."
After scolding lackadaisical and inappropriately attired clowns, Mr.
Little, perched on a tiger cage, said, "Sometimes it's tough to get them
to take me seriously."
Glen Gordon Little was born on Dec. 5, 1925, to Elsie and Glen Little in
Genoa, Neb. He was given the nickname Frosty because he loved playing in
the snow as a child.
After high school he joined the Navy in 1944. An injury in 1945 led to
the removal of part of his right lung and an honorable discharge.
Mr. Little married Shirley Moss in 1950; they divorced in 1970.
He began his capering career with the Joe King Circus in Colorado in
1956 and opened his own clown business in 1962.
Mr. Little's persona combined two styles of clown: the whiteface, more
dignified and usually the boss or straight man in a gag; and the
auguste, prone to wearing garish, oversize clothing and more often the
butt of physical jokes.
In 1968 he spied an opportunity for the big time: Ringling Brothers' new
Clown College in Venice, Fla. He graduated with the inaugural class in
1968 and landed a coveted job with the circus at the age of 44.
In 1970 he was promoted to boss clown, a job he held for the next
decade.
He met his second wife, Patricia, in 1971 while the circus was in
California, and they married three weeks later in Chicago.
Mr. Little became executive director of clowns in 198o and held the job
until he retired in 1991, the year he was inducted into the
International Clown Hall of Fame. He taught at Clown College during most
of his career.
In 1983 Irvin and Kenneth Feld, the owners of Ringling Brothers,
designated Mr. Little a master clown. Only Otto Griebling, Bobby Kay and
Lou Jacobs had received the honor before him. Mr. Little also performed
repeatedly at the White House, where he met Presidents Richard M. Nixon,
Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Little is survived by a brother, Dixon
Little, of Northport, Fla.; a daughter from his first marriage, Tawnya
Wiseman, of Greeley, Colo.; and a daughter from his second, Roxanne
Webster, of San Diego.
BobF
Previously on alt.obituaries Thu, 4 Nov 2010 23:36:37 -0600 to be
exact, "Matthew Kruk" <nob...@home.com> wrote thusly:
>After scolding lackadaisical and inappropriately attired clowns, Mr.
>Little, perched on a tiger cage, said, "Sometimes it's tough to get them
>to take me seriously."
Priceless ...
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
R H Draney
>
>Mr. Little was the circus's executive director of clowns in 1986 when an
>About New York column in The New York Times described him meticulously
>inspecting his charges before a performance while wearing "full clown
>regalia."
How many more companies have an executive director of clowns but don't use that
as his title?...r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
Bill Schenley
part of 'Greatest Show on Earth'
Photo:
http://i53.tinypic.com/2ic8vwj.jpg
FROM: The Times-News ~
By Laurie Welch, Writer
BURLEY
Reactions to the recent passing of
a famous circus performer just prove
the saying that everyone loves a clown.
Former Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey clown Glen “Frosty” Little, 84,
died Tuesday in Kimberly.
“I already miss him like crazy,” said Little’s
wife, Pat Little, who described the man
under the Ringling Boss Clown makeup
as extremely kind and loved by people
around the world.
Fans’ love for her husband kept Pat’s phone
ringing Wednesday with calls from around
the world as the news of his death spread.
The Littles settled in Burley after Glen’s
retirement from “The Greatest Show on Earth”
19 years ago. But he didn’t exactly hang up
his nose — instead, he settled in teaching
another generation of clowns how to make
people chuckle.
Clown Tricia “Priscilla Mooseburger” Manuel,
who lives in Maple Lake, Minn., worked under
Glen for several years at the Ringling circus.
“Frosty was a great clown, but more
importantly he taught us all to be great clowns,”
Manuel said. “His purpose was to take young
clowns and to push them to the front of the
spotlight.”
Manuel said many of the old-time circus greats
learned from Glen, who was inducted into the
Clown Hall of Fame in 1991.
He received his Master Clown title from
Ringling while Manuel performed with him
in the 1980s. Manuel worked with him again
when she opened Mooseburger Clown Arts
Camp.
“He was the first person I called,” Manuel
said. “I was so proud to have him be a part
of my staff.”
Glen was tough, she said — after all,
clowning around was his life’s work.
“He made sure we toed the line,” Manuel said.
“... Most of all he wanted us to have respect for
the show and to know our place in it. The show
always came first. That was important.”
Manuel said Glen was able to make a successful
transition from a circus clown performing in front
of thousands of people to a hometown clown
performing in someone’s living room.
Bruce “Abernathy D’ Clown” Chenoweth of
New Plymouth worked with Glen writing gags
for his clown partner, Ann “Twinkles”
Chenoweth.
Ann Chenoweth remembers Glen as an
old-school clown and “a very nice man.”
Glen passed along gags to the Chenoweths,
including one tricking the audience to think
they’re about to get doused with a water
bucket really filled with confetti.
“His basic clown skills that he taught were
tremendously valuable and his makeup was
magnificent,” Bruce Chenoweth said.
Pat Little, who enjoyed a 41-year marriage with
her husband, said that he above all loved to joke
with people.
“I lived to make him happy and he lived to
make me happy,” she said. “After he retired
he’d play tricks on me and then I’d get him back.
There will never be another one like him.”
Red Skelton never forgot him at Christmas,
Pat said, and actor Iron Eyes Cody adored him.
“He was so well loved,” Pat said. “I don’t know
anybody who didn’t like Frosty.”
La N
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/arts/05little.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
>
> November 4, 2010
> Glen Little, Better Known as Frosty the Clown, Dies at 84
> By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK
>
< snip >
Clowns are dropping likes flies lately, it seems, and it doesn't break my
heart one bit.
- nilita, bona fide certified coulrophobic
Mark Mathu
There are so many great lines in this obituary.
Mark Mathu
These obituaries are killing me.
no...@nowhere.com
Now I can't get the image of eighteen clowns stepping out of a
polka-dot hearse out of my mind.