# Cinematic clowning around **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057 "2020-06-04T16:42:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/21 "2020-06-04T19:13:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Of course, there is also _King Lear’s_ Fool, who is the most loyal and probably the wisest character in the play, and who appears in movie and TV adaptations. (There are of course many other Shakespearean fools, who are usually sympathetic, but not all of them are literal jesters or clowns.) See post #5 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/22 "2020-06-04T19:33:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > See post #5 Lear’s Fool appears in a lot more adaptations than the ones you mentioned, including movies and TV productions of the play itself. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/23 "2020-06-04T22:03:44Z")
An episode in the final season of “Barney Miller” features Bingo the Clown, mugging victim. He wants nothing more than to spread joy. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/24 "2020-06-04T22:27:30Z")
[The Heckler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler_(comics)). He looks s bit like a clown and his main power is heckling the villains. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/25 "2020-06-05T01:43:25Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Red Skelton’s [Freddie the Freeloader](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZBXuHoW1LM) was one of his most popular characters on his TV show. Skelton also starred in[_The Clown_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clown_(1953_film)) (1953) as Dodo the Clown, who is sympathetic if tragic. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/26 "2020-06-05T02:36:06Z")
Danny Kaye, The Court Jester. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/27 "2020-06-05T02:42:08Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Bill Murray is dressed as a clown in the film [Quick Change](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_Change). Even though he’s technically a bad guy (he robs a bank at the beginning of the movie), he is a sympathetic character. Should we include [Shakes the Clown](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102898/)? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/28 "2020-06-05T03:31:54Z")
In the TV show _Circus Boy_ (1956-1958), Noah Beery Jr. played the title character’s foster father, “Uncle” [Joey the Clown.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxSLww4mw6w) (The boy was played by Mickey Dolenz, later drummer for _The Monkees_). ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/29 "2020-06-05T04:08:49Z")
On “Modern Family,” Cam has appeared several times as Fizbo the Clown, sometimes in a way that is heroic. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/30 "2020-06-05T07:55:43Z")
Bozo the Clown was always the protagonist in the cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/31 "2020-06-05T08:51:18Z")
Kikuchiyo in _Seven Samurai_. He ends up heroically killing the bandit leader before dying himself. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/32 "2020-06-05T12:50:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Lear’s Fool appears in a lot more adaptations than the ones you mentioned, including movies and TV productions of the play itself. Yes, he does. But it’s the same character. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/33 "2020-06-05T13:10:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > On “Modern Family,” Cam has appeared several times as Fizbo the Clown, sometimes in a way that is heroic. Darn you, ' **brows** , you stole mine!So I’ll offer Chuckles the Clown from _The Mary Tyler Moore show._ _A little song, a little dance A little seltzer in your pants_ ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/34 "2020-06-05T13:16:15Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > On “Modern Family,” Cam has appeared several times as Fizbo the Clown, sometimes in a way that is heroic. Darn you, ' **brows** , you stole mine!So I’ll offer Chuckles the Clown from _The Mary Tyler Moore show._ _A little song, a little dance A little seltzer in your pants_ ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/35 "2020-06-05T13:23:56Z")
> **[The French Film Critic Who Saw Jerry Lewis’s Infamous Holocaust Movie—and...](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/jerry-lewis-day-the-clown-cried-holocaust-movie-review)** > > Only a handful of people have laid eyes upon The Day the Clown Cried, which has been the butt of jokes for decades. The Day The Clown Cried, Jerry Lewis lost and infamous movie where he plays a clown who tries to cheer children as he leads them to the gas chamber. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/36 "2020-06-05T14:35:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > In Fellini’s[_La Strada_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Strada), Il Matto (The Fool) is a sympathetic character. And Gelsomina herself is a clown. Great choice! I’ve loved that one ever since I was a kid. Here’s another one. It was panned by critics, but I loved it. _Gigot_ starring Jackie Gleason. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/37 "2020-06-05T14:48:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yes, he does. But it’s the same character. But not an example of the character appearing in movies or TV, which is what the thread is about. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/38 "2020-06-05T14:54:00Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Kikuchiyo in _Seven Samurai_. Kikuchiyo is sometimes clownish, but he is not a clown by any normal definition. If you’re going to include comic-relief characters who are also heroic at times you might as well include Gimli from the Lord of the Rings movies. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/39 "2020-06-05T15:18:56Z")
The Fool, from Terry Pratchett’s _Wyrd Sisters_. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057/40 "2020-06-05T15:45:25Z")
1. By “clown” I mean an actual face-painted clown-clothed clown, not just someone who acts silly. 2. Some of you really need to tighten up on your definition of “good guy/heroic”. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cinematic-clowning-around/855057.md?page=3)