1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 2: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracey V. Wilson, 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 2: and I'm Holly Frye. If you have read the graphic 5 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 2: novel Watchman, or if you've seen the two thousand and 6 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 2: nine film adaptation, I don't think this was in the 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 2: TV show, or if you've been on like the memier 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 2: parts of the Internet over the last few years, you 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 2: might be familiar with the one about the man who 10 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 2: goes to the doctor looking for help with his depression, 11 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 2: and the doctor says something like the great clown Pyliacchi 12 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 2: is in town tonight. Go see him and he'll make 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 2: you feel all better. And the man says, but doctor, 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: I am Palliacchi. Uh. Palliacchi is Italian for clowns, probably 15 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 2: pronouncing it not the greatest. 16 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: I totally have Enrico Caruso in my head now. 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. So that name and the punchline probably goes all 18 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 2: the way back to the eighteen teens, but this same 19 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,199 Speaker 2: joke has also circulated with the names of other real 20 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: comedians and clowns, and one going back to at least 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 2: eighteen eighty seven. In this joke format is Grimaldi. So 22 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,479 Speaker 2: the doctor wants him to go see Grimaldi to make 23 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 2: him all better. But doctor, I am Grimaldi. That's Joseph Grimaldi. 24 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 2: He was one of England's most famous Regency era entertainers. 25 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,639 Speaker 2: Sometimes he has described as the first modern clown because 26 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 2: he established a lot of the hallmarks of clowning that 27 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 2: still exist today, specifically in terms of the whiteface clown. 28 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 2: Joseph Grimaldi, known as Joe, was born into a family 29 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 2: of entertainers, dancers and acrobats who are originally from Italy. 30 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 2: His great grandfather had a background in the Italian theatrical 31 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 2: form of comedia de l'arte. His grandfather, Giovanni Battista or 32 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 2: John Baptist Grimaldi, was nicknamed Gamba ti ferro or iron Legs, 33 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 2: and also worked as a dentist when he was not 34 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 2: on stage. I also find that funny, so it's unintentionally hilarious. 35 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 2: John Baptist apparently left the British stage in a criminal flourish, 36 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 2: convincing the manager of the Covent Garden Theater that he 37 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 2: was putting together an incredible new show, one that was 38 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 2: totally unique and would feature dancers wearing horseshoes, but he 39 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 2: vanished along with an advance on his pay before taking 40 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 2: the stage. 41 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: On opening night. 42 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 2: Joe's father, Jsepa Grimaldi, was also kind of a piece 43 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 2: of work. He was a dancer and pantomimest known for 44 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 2: grotesque humor and practical jokes, and he had affairs with 45 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 2: a lot of women, some of whom were his apprentices. 46 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 2: He had children with at least two women, in addition 47 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 2: to his wife, Mary Blagden. One of those women was 48 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 2: Joe's mother, Rebecca Brooker, who was a dancer who had 49 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 2: started as Justepp as a prentice when she was still 50 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 2: a teenager. Rebecca gave birth to Joseph on December eighteenth, 51 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 2: seventeen seventy eight, and then had another son with Giuseppa, 52 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 2: named John Baptist. In addition to his many extramarital affairs, 53 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 2: Jisippa Grimaldy had a reputation for being a tyrant, both 54 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 2: with his theatrical companies and with his family. People called 55 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 2: him the Signor, and in his work as a ballet master, 56 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 2: he was known for beating and otherwise tormenting his dancers, 57 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 2: some of whom were his children. At times, he also 58 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 2: displayed a range of irrational beliefs and behaviors. He seems 59 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 2: to have maybe also used the iron Legs name, which 60 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 2: has made it really hard to figure out which things 61 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 2: are about him and which things are about his father. 62 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 2: Right Joe Grimaldi's autobiography, which was edited by Charles Dickens, 63 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 2: says almost nothing about this side of his father, and 64 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 2: it's not clear whether this was out of a sense 65 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 2: of loyalty or because it just wouldn't have been seen 66 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 2: as appropriate for him to be speaking ill of his 67 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 2: father in like a tell all memoir. But there are 68 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 2: some hints of what Joseeppa Grimaldy was like in this book. 69 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 2: For example, quote we have already remarked that the father 70 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 2: of Grimaldy was an eccentric man. He appears to have 71 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: been particularly eccentric, and rather unpleasantly so in the correction 72 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 2: of his son. The child, being bred up to play 73 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 2: all kinds of fantastic tricks, was as much a clown, 74 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 2: a monkey, or anything else that was droll and ridiculous 75 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 2: off the stage as on it, and being incited there 76 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 2: too by the occupants of the green room used to 77 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 2: skip and tumble about as much for their diversion as 78 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 2: side of the public. All this was carefully concealed from 79 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 2: the father, who, whenever he did happen to observe any 80 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 2: of the child's pranks, always administered the same punishment, a 81 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 2: sound thrashing, terminating in his being lifted up by the 82 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,720 Speaker 2: hair of the head and stuck in a corn. Once 83 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:04,479 Speaker 2: his father, with a severe countenance and awful voice, would 84 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 2: tell him to venture to move at his peril. Most 85 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 2: theatrical productions in England during this era were pantomime, which 86 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 2: was a hugely popular form of entertainment that could also 87 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 2: be seen as kind of lowbrow. This wasn't necessarily entirely silent. 88 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,679 Speaker 2: There might be songs or catchphrases or bits of verse 89 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 2: here and there. 90 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: While there were theaters which performed plays with actual dialogue, 91 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,800 Speaker 1: these were subject to government censorship, whereas pantomime was not. 92 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: Pantomimests also were not regarded as real actors capable of 93 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: doing scenes with dialogue. So if you're imagining something like 94 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 1: French mime artist Marcel Marceau, when we say the word pantomime, 95 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: this wasn't really that either. British pantomime has roots in 96 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: Italian comedia del arte, and it started to become really 97 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 1: popular as a form of entertainment. During the Georgian era, 98 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: pantomime was particularly popular for Christmas time productions, but eventually 99 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 1: there were multiple theaters with overlapping seasons that were essentially 100 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: performing pantomime year round. I feel like in a lot 101 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: of literature from this era too, you'll see descriptions of 102 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: like families doing pantomimes for each other as entertainment. Like 103 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: that's my first exposure to this concept. The first part 104 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: of the performance was often a rendition of a fairy 105 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: tale or a fantasy or some other kind of well 106 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: known story. Then would come the Harlequinade, which, like Comedia 107 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: de l'arte, used a collection of stock characters that were 108 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: recognizable to the audience. Harlequin and Columbine were usually the 109 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: heroes and were devotedly in love with each other, and 110 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: their antagonist, Pantaloon, schemed to keep them apart. Pantaloon might 111 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: be Columbine's tyrannical father or a malicious rival for Columbine's affections. 112 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: Pantaloon often had some kind of servant or side kick 113 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: who could be known by any number of names, and 114 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: sometimes was just called clown. 115 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,840 Speaker 2: Part of this production usually took place with the performers 116 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 2: wearing these oversized paper mache heads or masks, which would 117 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 2: then be removed at a transitional point in the performance. 118 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 2: The action often included a lot of physical comedy and slapstick, 119 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 2: including literal slapsticks that were primed with gunpowder so they 120 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 2: made a very sharp, cracking noise when they were struck 121 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 2: as part of the action. These were often really high 122 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 2: energy productions, with a lot of acrobatics, dancing, music, and 123 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: various other spectacles. Ji Sepa trained Joe and John Baptist 124 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 2: to be performers in This World from a very early age. 125 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 2: Joe took the stage for the first time on April sixteenth, 126 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 2: seventeen eighty one, for what his father described as his 127 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 2: first bow and tumble. He was not yet three years old. 128 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 2: Soon he was working as a child dancer in pantomime productions. 129 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 2: This can actually be dangerous times. He played the role 130 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 2: of a monkey, with his father holding a chain tied 131 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 2: to his waist and sometimes flinging him around by that chain. 132 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 2: In one performance, the chain broke and Joe was thrown 133 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 2: into the audience. When he was six, Joe fell through 134 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 2: a trapdoor and broke his collar bloom because no one 135 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 2: had cut eye holes in his mask. By coincidence, this 136 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 2: happened during his father's last public performance. He became ill 137 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 2: that night, and Giuseppa never returned to the stage. While 138 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 2: still a child, Joe Grimaldi started working at two London theaters, 139 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 2: Drury Lane and Sadler's Wells, both of which were established 140 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 2: in the seventeenth century. Both theaters performed some similar material, 141 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 2: but dury Lane catered to a somewhat more affluent audience 142 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 2: than Sadler's Wells did. The Jury Lane season went from 143 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 2: September to late spring, and then Sadler's Wells ran from 144 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,000 Speaker 2: mid April to mid October. So during the weeks when 145 00:08:56,040 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 2: these two seasons overlapped, Joe often performed at both theaters 146 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 2: in one night, either taking a Hackney coach or running 147 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 2: from one to the other. He also went to school 148 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 2: for a time at a boarding school in Putney called 149 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 2: Mister Ford's Academy, which was for performers' children. 150 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty eight, Joe's father died. We also mentioned 151 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: that Jisseppe could be irrational. For years, he had been 152 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: so preoccupied over the idea that he was going to 153 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: die on the first Friday of the month, that he 154 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: spent each first Friday locked alone in a room staring 155 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: at the clock. He was also terrified of being buried 156 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: alive and left instructions to prevent that from happening, including 157 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 1: waiting forty eight hours to bury him after his death 158 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: and applying lit candles to his feet. His will also 159 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: specified that his oldest daughter Mary had to cut off 160 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: his head before he was buried. She paid a surgeon 161 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: to do this and put her hand on the knife 162 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: so that she could say that she had fulfilled this 163 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: order and had done it. Giuseppa's death left Joe, who 164 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,359 Speaker 1: was only nine years old, as the family's primary breadwinner, 165 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,320 Speaker 1: so this is a terrible responsibility for a little boy, 166 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: and then to make things worse without the looming influence 167 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: of his father, who a lot of people were scared of. 168 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: Theater managers he worked for cut his pay. Since Joe 169 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: was making less money, and they also no longer had 170 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: any income from Giuseppa, the family couldn't afford to live 171 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: in their home anymore. They started lodging with a furrier 172 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: in an area that was described as a slum. While 173 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: Giuseppa had been paving the way for both of his 174 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: sons to follow him on stage. Joe's brother, John Baptist, 175 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: decided to go in his own direction. At the age 176 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,319 Speaker 1: of eight, he used a false identity to get a 177 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: job as a cabin boy on a ship, and he 178 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: disappeared from his family's life for the next sixteen years. 179 00:10:51,679 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 2: We'll have more about this after a sponsor break. Joe 180 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 2: Grimaldi spent most of his childhood and teens working, gradually 181 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,960 Speaker 2: being cast in bigger and better roles and learning set 182 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 2: design while he was on the job. In seventeen ninety one, 183 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 2: the dury Lane Theater was demolished and Grimaldy did most 184 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 2: of his performing at the Haymarket Theater instead. When dury 185 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 2: Lane reopened three years later, it was the largest theater 186 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 2: in Europe, but it stopped doing Christmas pantomimes in seventeen 187 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 2: ninety eight, which meant Grimaldy had to find other work 188 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 2: than what he was usually doing. During those months, he 189 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 2: also started expanding his skills as a performer, including doing 190 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 2: more sword play and acrobatics. When he was about seventeen, 191 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 2: Grimaldy met Maria Hughes, daughter of Richard Hughes, who was 192 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 2: one of the proprietors of the Saddlers Wells Theater. Maria 193 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,199 Speaker 2: had become friends with Joe's mother, Rebecca, who was a 194 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 2: dancer at the theater and also spent a lot of 195 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 2: time sewing in the dressing rooms. After a three year courtship, 196 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 2: Joe and Maria got married on May eleventh, seventeen ninety nine. 197 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 2: It's probably possible that she said this Mariah, because a 198 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 2: lot of folks back then did, but we don't really know. 199 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 2: As Grimaldi had progressed in his career, he'd gotten his 200 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 2: share of detractors. Some of this was because of his 201 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 2: father's reputation and some was because of the trajectory of 202 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,080 Speaker 2: his own work. Joe also didn't get along with Jean 203 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 2: Baptiste Dubois, who was a very prominent pantomime performer and 204 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 2: had taken on some of Joseppa Grimaldi's roles after his death. 205 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,200 Speaker 2: Joe had spent some time working with Dubois, and a 206 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 2: lot of people thought that Joe had learned all of 207 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,680 Speaker 2: his techniques from the older performer. That's something Joe seems 208 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 2: to have resented and continually denied. The day after Richard 209 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 2: Hughes gave his permission for his daughter Rebecca to marry Joe. 210 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,079 Speaker 2: Somebody came to the theater to warn him that Joe 211 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 2: Grimaldi had designs on her. Almost twenty years into his career, 212 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 2: Grimaldi made his stage debut in the role of clown 213 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 2: in the spring of eighteen hundred. This was in a 214 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 2: production of Peter Wilkins or Harlequin in the Flying World, 215 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 2: adapted from Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins by Robert Paltock. 216 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,199 Speaker 1: This is a story about a Cornish castaway who winds 217 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: up on an island where people can fly. This staging 218 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,280 Speaker 1: had two actors in each of the harlequinad roles. The 219 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: two clowns were Joe Grimaldi and his rival Jean Baptiste 220 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: du Bois, as Guzzle, the drinking clown and Gobble, the 221 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: eating clown. On stage, they had something of a competition 222 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 1: to see who could drink the most beer or eat 223 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: the most sausages. 224 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 2: While Grimaldy had occasionally performed clown roles as an understudy 225 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 2: or a stand in before this, this was the first 226 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 2: time that he had actually been cast in the role 227 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 2: of clown, and this production made some departures from the 228 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 2: way clown had been portrayed. Stretching back to the beginning 229 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 2: of British pantomime, clown had usually been kind of an 230 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 2: unsophisticated bumpkin with ruddy makeup and rustic, baggy clothes, but 231 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 2: theater manager Charles Dipden wanted to change things up. Grimaldi 232 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 2: and Dubois were both in dramatically colorful, flamboyant costumes, and 233 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:23,040 Speaker 2: Grimaldy had gone to great links to completely change the 234 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 2: style of his makeup. He tinkered with this a lot 235 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 2: and revised it over time. All the exposed skin on 236 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 2: his face and neck were totally covered in white grease paint, 237 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,840 Speaker 2: and he had a big, bright red smile and a 238 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 2: curving red triangle on each cheek. He also exaggerated his 239 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 2: eyebrows and made his hair really big and bushy, so 240 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 2: basically it was the white face clown makeup that still 241 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 2: exists today. There was a near disaster during this performance 242 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 2: when Divden realized a trapdoor was open on stage and 243 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 2: fell through it while rushing out to close it. O 244 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 2: yere Wise, it was an enormous success, particularly for Joe. 245 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 2: He seemed to embody the idea of clown. He and 246 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 2: Dubois continued to be cast together after this, sometimes playing 247 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 2: off each other as rivals, including Harlequin, Benedict or the 248 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 2: ghost of Mother Shipton. Sadly, Grimaldi's life took a tragic 249 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 2: turn just a few months later. His wife Maria died 250 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 2: giving birth to their daughter on October eighteenth, eighteen hundred, 251 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 2: and the baby died as well. Joe had been at 252 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 2: rehearsal when Maria went into labor, and although somebody was 253 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 2: sent to get him, she had died by the time 254 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 2: he got home. Maria's pregnancy had been difficult, and deaths 255 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 2: during childbirth at this time were just extremely common. She 256 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,840 Speaker 2: had actually left burial instructions and a poem to be 257 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 2: inscribed on her headstone. Her last words were reportedly poor Joe. 258 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 1: Joe was devastated. Although he threw himself into his work 259 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: to distract himself from his grief, he was also prone 260 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: to disappearing, sometimes for days at a time, and people 261 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: would find him wandering inconsolably. During this time, he accidentally 262 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,120 Speaker 1: shot himself in the foot during a performance and had 263 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: to recuperate in bed for five weeks. His mother was 264 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: so concerned about his well being that she hired Mary Bristow, 265 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: who was in the chorus at Drury Lane to look 266 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: after him while he recovered from this injury. They wound 267 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: up falling in love and they got married in eighteen 268 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: oh two. They had a son on November twenty first 269 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: of that year, who they named Joseph Samuel William Grimaldy. 270 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 1: They called him JS. By eighteen oh two, Jean Baptiste 271 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 1: Dubois had left Sadler's Wells Theater and Grimaldy was being 272 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: called King of Clowns. Grimaldi had really established all of 273 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: the hallmarks of his signature clown character, with its slap 274 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,239 Speaker 1: in motley or grease paint makeup and party colored costume. 275 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: He became so associated with the idea of clown that 276 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: soon all Harlequanod clowns were being called Joey. He also 277 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,440 Speaker 1: had a couple of catchphrases, here we are again and 278 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: shall I, which he said with a mischievous or even 279 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: sinister intonation. I have obviously never seen one of his performances, 280 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 1: but I can just imagine this clown and like whiteface 281 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:21,680 Speaker 1: clown makeup going, shall I? 282 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 2: Uh. This was not always what he wore, though. Another 283 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 2: stock character in British pantomime was the so called Noble Savage, 284 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 2: who was usually a black or indigenous character played by 285 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 2: a white actor. Grimaldi's black face performances included Friday and Robinson, 286 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 2: Crusoe and Canto in La Peruse or The Desolate Island. 287 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 2: In eighteen oh two, Grimaldi also joined the Dreary Lane 288 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 2: Theatrical Fund, which actors could pay into in order to 289 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 2: receive a pension when they retired. He was only able 290 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 2: to do this thanks to having done a number of 291 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 2: small speaking roles over the years, because this was not 292 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 2: open to people who only did pantomime. In eighteen oh three, 293 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 2: England declared war on France as the start of the 294 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 2: Napoleonic Wars. Although there have been periods when war just 295 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 2: put an end to theatrical productions, in this case, theater 296 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 2: became even more popular as a relief from the stresses 297 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:25,399 Speaker 2: of wartime. Not long after, Joe Grimaldi very briefly reunited 298 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 2: with his brother, John Baptist after sixteen years. John showed 299 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 2: up by surprise at the theater one night, but then 300 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 2: disappeared when Joe went into his dressing room to get ready. 301 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 2: Joe looked for his brother for about a month, and 302 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 2: it is really not clear what happened to him. By 303 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 2: this point, most people in their lives had thought that 304 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 2: John was dead, so people wondered if Joe had hallucinated 305 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 2: the entire thing. During these same years, Grimaldi moved around 306 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 2: a bit as a performer as Sadler's Wells closed down 307 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 2: for refurbishment, and he also had a falling out with 308 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,920 Speaker 2: management at Jury Lane. He started performing at theaters outside 309 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 2: of London, including going to Ireland. Then in eighteen oh 310 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 2: six he made his debut at Covent Garden Theater, which 311 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,120 Speaker 2: was seen as one of the most prestigious theaters in England. 312 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 2: He was cast as orson the wild Man in Valentine 313 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,040 Speaker 2: and orson a role that had previously been associated with 314 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 2: his old sort of nemesis, Jean Baptiste Dubois. The role 315 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 2: of Valentine was played by Charles Farley, who had also 316 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,679 Speaker 2: played Valentine opposite Dubois. Farley knew that Grimaldi would be 317 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,400 Speaker 2: apprehensive about stepping into Dubois's shoes in this role, given 318 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 2: their history, but he also thought Grimaldi had the potential 319 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 2: to turn it into something really incredible, and he did. 320 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,680 Speaker 2: In this play, Valentine meets the wild Man while he's 321 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 2: out hunting for meat and attacks him, and then the 322 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,479 Speaker 2: wild man fights back in just an astoundingly vigorous series 323 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 2: of leaps. He's also throwing rocks and swinging a club. 324 00:19:55,720 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 2: This role involved so much just explosive physicality, and Grimaldy 325 00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 2: played it with such intensity that he was continually pushing 326 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 2: his own limits, and he repeatedly hurt himself. People described 327 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 2: him sobbing in a small room backstage in between his 328 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 2: on stage performances. Grimaldy's best known performance started in eighteen 329 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 2: oh six with Harlequin and Mother Goose or the Golden Egg. 330 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 2: This was a Christmas pantomime by Thomas Dibden that ran 331 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 2: for ninety six performances, and it was extremely successful and 332 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 2: well reviewed. In eighteen oh seven, The Monthly Mirror wrote, quote, 333 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 2: Grimaldy is the principal cause of crowded lobbies and scarcely 334 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 2: standing room. Many of our second and third rate tragedians 335 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 2: would give their ears to meet with half the plaudits 336 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 2: which are every night conferred on Grimaldi for his inimitable exertions. 337 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 2: His clown has not been equalled. We never expect to 338 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 2: see it surpassed. He has arrived at an acme of 339 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:01,760 Speaker 2: all clownery, but Grimaldy. Apparently he hated his own performance 340 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,919 Speaker 2: in Mother Goose and experienced a lot of depression and 341 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,439 Speaker 2: self doubt about it. A series of disasters struck the 342 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 2: London theater world around this time. On October fifteenth, eighteen 343 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,160 Speaker 2: oh seven, eighteen people died in a stampede at Sadler's Wells, 344 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 2: apparently after somebody yelled fight and people mistook it for 345 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 2: someone shouting fire. Grimaldi had performed earlier in the night 346 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 2: and had already gone home. Sadler's Wells had to close 347 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 2: for the season, and since alcohol had played a part 348 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 2: in this panic, it was allowed to reopen the following year, 349 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:40,600 Speaker 2: only under the condition that it no longer sell wine. 350 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: On September twentieth, eighteen oh eight, the Covent Garden Theater 351 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: caught fire, possibly due to a spark from a stage 352 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,720 Speaker 1: firearm that had smoldered in a wall without anyone noticing. 353 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: Twenty three people died, including several firefighters who were killed 354 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: when the ceiling collapsed. The theater and all of its 355 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: contents and scenery were destroyed, including an organ belonging to 356 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: George Frederick Handel. And then on February twenty fourth, eighteen 357 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: oh nine, the Dreary Lane Theater also burned. There was 358 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 1: no performance that night, and the fire was believed to 359 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: have spread from a fireplace in an unattended room. 360 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 2: These theaters did eventually reopen, which we'll get to you 361 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 2: after a sponsor break. When the Covent Garden Theater reopened 362 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 2: in eighteen oh nine, it staged a revival of its 363 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 2: previously successful Mother Goose, but it also raised its prices 364 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:45,800 Speaker 2: to help cover the cost of rebuilding. This price hike 365 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,120 Speaker 2: did not go over well. It led to more than 366 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 2: two months of fighting and rioting as audiences called for 367 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 2: op or old prices. As each of the theaters rebuilt and reopened, 368 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 2: they he increasingly competed with one another and tried out 369 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 2: new styles of productions. Grimaldy's performances started to become more satirical. 370 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 2: He was nicknamed Hogarth in action. He also started performing 371 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,399 Speaker 2: a lot more songs, many of them written by Thomas 372 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 2: Dibden and featuring nonsensical lyrics, and he was famous and 373 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,679 Speaker 2: became friends with people like George Gordon Lord Byron. In 374 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,919 Speaker 2: Byron's words, he had quote great and unbounded satisfaction in 375 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 2: becoming acquainted with a man of such rare and profound talents. 376 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 2: Byron left England in the late eighteen teens, though, and 377 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 2: that left a hole in Grimaldy's off stage life. Grimaldy 378 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 2: was also really starting to struggle, both physically and financially. 379 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 2: His clown performances were just so athletic and vigorous, and 380 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 2: beyond the ongoing demands on his body, he experienced the 381 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 2: number of injuries. As one newspaper described it in eighteen thirteen, 382 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 2: quote is absolutely surprised that any human head or hide 383 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 2: can resist the rough trials which he volunteers. Serious tumbles 384 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 2: from serious heights, innumerable kicks, and incessant beatings come on 385 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:15,760 Speaker 2: him as matters of common occurrence, and leave him every night, 386 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:20,720 Speaker 2: fresh and free for the next night's flagellation. Over time, 387 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,399 Speaker 2: he did start taking some parts that leaned more toward 388 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,639 Speaker 2: acting than clowning, But while he was still working steadily, 389 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 2: including in some well paying roles, his wife Mary seems 390 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:33,919 Speaker 2: to have had some really expensive tastes, and he also 391 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 2: lost some money to unscrupulous managers. In eighteen twelve, he 392 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 2: almost went bankrupt. Although Grimaldi had been performing in multiple 393 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 2: venues for most of his career, sometimes simultaneously. This seems 394 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,919 Speaker 2: to have become an issue for some of the theater managers. 395 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,120 Speaker 2: In the eighteen teens, he fell out with longtime collaborator 396 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,120 Speaker 2: Charles Dibden after Dibden denied his request for time off 397 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 2: to perform at another Grimaldi had also become chief judge 398 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 2: and treasurer of the Saddler's Wells Court of Rectitude, which 399 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 2: enforced the theatre's code of conduct for its performers. Apparently, 400 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 2: Dipden thought Grimaldy was way too lenient in this role. 401 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 2: This all came to a head with a salary dispute 402 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 2: in eighteen sixteen, and Grimaldy left the theater and went 403 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:27,160 Speaker 2: on tour. About two years later, Richard Hughes's widow, Lucy, 404 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 2: who had become majority shareholder in the theater after Richard's death, 405 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 2: convinced Grimaldi to return, and Grimaldy actually bought a small 406 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 2: stake in the theater as part of that deal. This 407 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 2: was after he had finished a tour of Scotland, Manchester 408 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 2: and Liverpool, during which he had repeatedly been injured, including 409 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 2: one injury that temporarily left him unable to walk. 410 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: His first appearance back at Sadler's Wells was not a success. Though. 411 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: He played grimalda cat in an Easter pantomime called Marquis 412 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: de Carabas or Puss in Boots, and he wound up 413 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: being booed off the stage. This may have been in 414 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,199 Speaker 1: part due to an extemporaneous gag in which he ate 415 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 1: a prop mouse, which the audience did not like at all. 416 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,120 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty, he played the wife of Baron Pompazini 417 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,160 Speaker 1: in Harlequin and Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper. At 418 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,639 Speaker 1: this point, the pantomime dame or drag pantomime performance was 419 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: still fairly new. The first recorded example was in the 420 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: eighteen oh six Mother Goose at Covent Garden. 421 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 2: That might not sound like it was that new, because 422 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 2: like fourteen years passed between eighteen oh six and eighteen twenty, 423 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 2: but like these seasons ran for a long time, so 424 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 2: there had not been that many people performing a role 425 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 2: in drag by that point. Uh that same year, though, 426 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 2: Grimaldi once again left Sadler's Wells, this time after a 427 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 2: dispute with management and his years as a performer were 428 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 2: just really really affecting him physically. He started having to 429 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 2: cut his rehearsal periods or even runs of shows short 430 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 2: because he just wasn't well enough to continue. In May 431 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 2: of eighteen twenty one, he collapsed after a performance and 432 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 2: a doctor told him he was suffering from premature old age. 433 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 2: In eighteen twenty two, he wound up handing over one 434 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 2: of his roles to his son JS when he couldn't 435 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 2: complete the run himself. Most sources cite his years of 436 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 2: performing as the cause of his illnesses and disabilities, but 437 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 2: it also just seems like there might have been some 438 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 2: kind of progressive muscular or skeletal condition involved, possibly a 439 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 2: digestive disorder as well. 440 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,920 Speaker 1: Grimaldy mostly retired from the stage in eighteen twenty three 441 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:43,120 Speaker 1: and started overseeing the pantomimes and clowns at Covent Garden. 442 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,479 Speaker 1: He occasionally did cameos on stage, and his last public 443 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: performance was at Drury Lane in June of eighteen twenty five. 444 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: Joe and Mary Grimaldy lived mostly on charity starting in 445 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty eight, and on June twenty seventh of that year, 446 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,720 Speaker 1: a benefit performance was held in Grimaldi's honor. Although he 447 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 1: didn't do any clowning during that he did give a 448 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 1: speech written by journalist Thomas Hood, in which he said, quote, 449 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: I can no longer wear the motley. Four years ago 450 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: I jumped my last jumped, filched my last custard, and 451 00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,679 Speaker 1: ate my last sausage. I cannot describe the pleasure I 452 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: felt on once more assuming my cap and bells tonight, 453 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,840 Speaker 1: that dress in which I have so often been made 454 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: happy in your applause. And as I stripped them off, 455 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:31,199 Speaker 1: I fancied that they seemed to cleave to me. 456 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,439 Speaker 2: I am not so rich a man as I was 457 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 2: when I was basking in your favor formerly. For then 458 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 2: I had always a foul in one pocket and a 459 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 2: sauce for it in the other. I thank you for 460 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 2: the benevolence which has brought you here to assist your 461 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,840 Speaker 2: old and faithful servant in his premature decline. Eight and 462 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 2: forty years have not yet passed over my head, and 463 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 2: I am sinking fast. I now stand worse on my 464 00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 2: legs than I used to do on my head. But 465 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 2: I suppose I am paying the penalty of the course 466 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 2: I pursued all my life. My desire and anxiety to 467 00:29:05,840 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 2: merit your favor has excited me to more exertion than 468 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 2: my constitution could bear, and like vaulting ambition, I have 469 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 2: overleaped myself. 470 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,840 Speaker 1: Joe seemed dazed by the applause that he got after 471 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: he finished this speech, and a crowd followed his coach 472 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: all the way back to his home. Once he got out, 473 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: he bowed to that crowd from the steps. Grimaldi's son 474 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: JS died on December eleventh, eighteen thirty two, in what 475 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 1: was described as a sudden illness. This was likely alcohol related. 476 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: Joe had really been trying to train JS as his 477 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: theatrical successor, including having started doing father and son performances 478 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,480 Speaker 1: in the eighteen teens, but over time JAS had become 479 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: increasingly estranged from his parents. It really can't have been 480 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: an easy position for him to have been in. Joe 481 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: was really encouraging JS toward a career on stage, but 482 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,240 Speaker 1: JS could just never really get out of his father's shadow. 483 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 1: Joe's wife, Mary had a stroke not long before the 484 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: death of their son, and sometime after that she and 485 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: Joe both attempted suicide, which they both survived. Mary died 486 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty four. 487 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 2: Joseph Grimaldi died on May thirty first, eighteen thirty seven. 488 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 2: The coroner described his cause of death as died by 489 00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 2: the visitation of God. By this point, theatrical tastes had 490 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 2: really started changing, and Grimaldi's style of pantomime and clowning 491 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 2: was falling out of fashion. Some of the obituaries were 492 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 2: dismissive or even insulting, like his death notice in Figaro 493 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 2: read in part quote, he certainly could cram more sausages 494 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 2: down his throat and make uglier faces than any man alive. 495 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,440 Speaker 2: But as he had for so long rendered himself unfit 496 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 2: to do anything of this kind in public, we cannot 497 00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 2: look upon his death as a national calamity harsh In 498 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 2: the last years of his life, Grimaldy had been working 499 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 2: on an autobiography. It was mostly a collection of notes 500 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 2: when he took it to Thomas Edgerton Wilkes to try 501 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 2: to get help shaping it into an actual book, but 502 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:16,920 Speaker 2: Grimaldy died before Wilkes could finish the project. Wilkes sold 503 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 2: the manuscript to publisher Richard Bentley, who asked Charles Dickens 504 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 2: to edit it. Dickens had seen some of Grimaldy's performances 505 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 2: when he was a child. Really, a lot of people had. 506 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 2: He was an incredibly popular performer. Dickens sketches by Boss, 507 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 2: had this to say about pantomimes in general. Quote, before 508 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 2: we plunge headlong into this paper, let us at once 509 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 2: confess to a fondness for pantomimes, to a gentle sympathy 510 00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 2: with clowns and pantaloons, to an unqualified admiration of harlequins 511 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 2: and columbines, to a chaste delight in every action of 512 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:54,080 Speaker 2: their brief existence, varied in many colored as those actions 513 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 2: are and inconsistent that they occasionally be with those rigid 514 00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 2: and formal rules of propriety which regulate the proceedings of 515 00:32:02,240 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 2: meaner and less comprehensive minds. But passages that specifically mentioned 516 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 2: Garibaldi are not as flattering, and Dickens wasn't impressed with 517 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 2: the manuscript at all. After reading it, he said to Bentley, quote, 518 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 2: I have thought the matter over and looked it over too. 519 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 2: It is very badly done, and so redolent of twaddle 520 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:26,479 Speaker 2: that I fear I cannot take it up on any conditions. 521 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 2: But he did take it up. Dickens rewrote Grimaldi's first 522 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 2: person notes as a third person narrative that really reads 523 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 2: a lot more like a Charles Dickens novel than any 524 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 2: autobiography or memoir. The original notes seem to be lost 525 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,120 Speaker 2: at this point, so we don't really know how they 526 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 2: compare to Dickens's finished product. Dickens also did this work 527 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 2: very quickly, dictating it to his father John. It was 528 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,240 Speaker 2: published in eighteen thirty eight as Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldy, 529 00:32:55,320 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 2: with illustrations by George Crookshank. Something this book really select 530 00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 2: is the idea that Grimaldy was full of energy and 531 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,479 Speaker 2: made people laugh endlessly with his clowning and comedy, but 532 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,880 Speaker 2: that inwardly he was depressed and had a life full 533 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 2: of tragedy. This was something that Grimaldy himself had alluded to. 534 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 2: He liked to say, quote, I make you laugh at night, 535 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 2: but I am grim all day. Some people had also 536 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 2: called his father grim all day, but for somewhat different reasons. 537 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:31,400 Speaker 2: But the memoir really emphasizes this dichotomy, continually pairing Grimaldy's 538 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 2: success with his tragedies and the joy that he brought 539 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 2: audiences with his own depression and melancholy. So, for example, 540 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,600 Speaker 2: after describing how Grimaldy was badly injured when a platform 541 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 2: fell on him, on the very same day that he 542 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,840 Speaker 2: met his first wife, Maria Hughes. The autobiography reads quote, 543 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 2: it is singular enough that throughout the whole of Grimaldy's existence, 544 00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 2: which was a checkered one, enough, even at those years 545 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,320 Speaker 2: when other chills and are kept in the cradle or 546 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 2: the nursery, there always seems some odd connection between his 547 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:10,359 Speaker 2: good and bad fortune. No great pleasure appeared to come 548 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:15,040 Speaker 2: to him unaccompanied by some accident or mischance. He mentions 549 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 2: the fact more than once and lays great stress upon it. 550 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:23,080 Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty nine, a blue plaque historical marker was 551 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,600 Speaker 2: installed at the site where Grimaldy lived from eighteen eighteen 552 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 2: to eighteen twenty eight, and his burial site, at what 553 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 2: was formerly the burial ground of Saint James's is now 554 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,600 Speaker 2: Joseph Grimaldi Park. His grave is still there in a 555 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 2: little fence decorated with a comedy tragedy theatrical masks. There 556 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,919 Speaker 2: is also a clown church service honoring Grimaldi every year 557 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,760 Speaker 2: the first Sunday in February at Holy Trinity in Dalston, London. 558 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:53,400 Speaker 2: This was originally held at the church where Grimaldi was buried, 559 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 2: but it was later moved and that church has since 560 00:34:56,200 --> 00:35:04,759 Speaker 2: been demolished. At it's Joseph Grimaldy have a little bit 561 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:05,759 Speaker 2: of listener mail. 562 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:06,799 Speaker 1: Fantastic. 563 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,560 Speaker 2: This is from Samantha and it's about an episode. This 564 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:15,080 Speaker 2: has been out for a while, our Packard versus Packard episode. 565 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:16,840 Speaker 2: I don't actually I should have looked up when that 566 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:20,240 Speaker 2: came out. I did not, so, Samantha, says Hollia Tracy. Hello, 567 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:23,040 Speaker 2: just wanted to give you an update on previous podcast 568 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:27,279 Speaker 2: subject Elizabeth Packard. There was a mental health facility here 569 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 2: in Springfield, Illinois that was named after the doctor who 570 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:34,520 Speaker 2: abused her, doctor McFarland. There was a strong push to 571 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:37,720 Speaker 2: rename it and that finally happened. It is now named 572 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 2: after Elizabeth in recognition of her being the true hero 573 00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,879 Speaker 2: for mental health with her activism following her release. I'd 574 00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,120 Speaker 2: also suggest maybe throwing in the nineteen oh eight Springfield 575 00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:51,520 Speaker 2: Race Riot as maybe an impossible episode edition, as it 576 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,359 Speaker 2: had direct ties to Lincoln and also directly led to 577 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,160 Speaker 2: the founding of the NAACP. I'm also attaching photos of 578 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 2: my pets. Mike Cat's name is Midna and my dog's 579 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 2: name is Navi. Yes, we are a legend of Zelda 580 00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:08,320 Speaker 2: fans haha, appreciate all you and your team do. Samantha, 581 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:12,560 Speaker 2: Thank you Samantha for these pictures. I, as also a 582 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 2: fan of Zelda, did not need the pronunciation notes that 583 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,480 Speaker 2: you very helpfully included about how to say their names. 584 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:24,000 Speaker 2: I'm not knocking the like, I'm always happy to see 585 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,920 Speaker 2: the pronunciation notes, but I immediately was like, Midna, yea, 586 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:31,919 Speaker 2: these are so cute. Oh my goodness, a kitty cat, 587 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 2: a black kitty cat, lion in front of a in 588 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:40,160 Speaker 2: front of a lap, and a puppy dog. Thank you 589 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 2: so much for this note. I had I had not 590 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:48,840 Speaker 2: heard anything about this renaming of this mental health facility, 591 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:52,520 Speaker 2: so thank you so much. If you would like to 592 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,360 Speaker 2: send us a note, we're a history podcast at iHeartRadio 593 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,759 Speaker 2: dot com. We're also on social media had Missed in 594 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 2: History Us, where you'll find our Facebook and our Pinterest 595 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,040 Speaker 2: and our Instagram and that thing that used to be 596 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:09,120 Speaker 2: Twitter that is now called x I guess. You can 597 00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 2: also subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio app and 598 00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:19,040 Speaker 2: wherever else you like to get your podcasts. Stuff you 599 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 2: Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For 600 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 2: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, 601 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,920 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.