EMMETT KELLY

Emmett Kelly, Sr. was a circus performer and clown from the 1930s to the 1970s. Kelly was an inaugural inductee to the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989. He was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1998, Kelly was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians, and a bronze bust depicting him is on permanent display in the rotunda of the Missouri State Capitol. He passed away in 1979 at the age of 80. His son, Emmett Kelly, Jr., took over his father's "Weary Willie" character four years after his father retired the character, and that caused a major rift between the two, but the son had major success, almost equal to that of his famous dad!