Archives of the Blackpool Gazette
The Blackpool Gazette is full of the antics of Charlie and Co, charting his long career and devoting hundreds of column inches to articles and reports. Thanks are due to all the dedicated reporters, photographers, interviewers, and editors who have produced so many fascinating—and often very personal—stories and news items. The Blackpool Gazette have followed Charlie’s life and career closely, documenting countless memorable moments along the way.
From the Gazette Archives
Charlie Not Recognised?
Known to millions, yet in the street hardly ever recognised—such is the double life of Tower Circus clown Charlie Cairoli. The minions think of him only as they have seen him in the ring or on the stage: false nose, thickened eyebrows, a broad black line of greasepaint covering an otherwise elegant moustache, bowler hat, and a variety of baggy suits.
Remove these trappings and reveal the real-life Charlie, and he can walk the busy streets of Blackpool without a single look of recognition shot in his direction.
“That’s quite true,” he said at his Warley Road, North Shore home the other day. “I don’t mind at all. It’s a pleasure for me. I can listen in to conversations about my act and hear things that people really wouldn’t dare say to my face. That can be most helpful.”
Often Charlie slipped into a pub near the Circus to hear the reactions of holidaymakers to the show, and it has never happened that the fit, rather serious-looking man standing unobtrusively to one side has been identified in the crowd. Indeed, he has more than once been drawn into discussions, and still managed—in spite of what he describes as “my eyes”—to remain anonymous.
21st Circus Birthday
To the cheers of a capacity 2,000-strong audience, artists at the Blackpool Tower Circus were presented with end-of-season medals at the final performance on Saturday night. The event was stolen by the incomparable Charlie Cairoli.
As the band struck up “Charlie Is My Darling,” Dr. G. E. Badman, chairman of the company, who presented the medals, handed the famous clown a 35mm camera to mark Charlie’s 21st year with the Circus. It was Charlie’s own choice of present.
“During that time,” said Dr. Badman, “he has given nearly 10,000 performances and has only ever missed a single one. On behalf of the Tower Company, I’m going to give him a 21st birthday present.”
To the roar of the delighted audience, Charlie—in full make-up and wearing a frock coat and bowler hat, both covered with medals he had received in previous years—walked to the microphone in the centre of the ring and said:
“I am very pleased and very proud. I never expected this.”
He convulsed the audience by adding, “I don’t deserve it, but I will take it just the same!”
He went on: “To the public, and especially the children, thank you for being such a wonderful audience.”
He paid tribute to the Tower Company directors—“who have paid me every week”—and to his many friends in the Circus.
“We have had a very happy season this year,” he said. The artists were leaving the following day for all parts of the world, and he wished them well and hoped one day to see them again.
True for Him
A dream has come true for Charlie Cairoli’s new partner, Paul King. From a theatrical family, Paul—aged 47—had never played in a circus ring. He had, however, played the clown in partnership with the late Freddie Schweitzer. Before meeting Charlie, he was on his own. He is married with three sons and a daughter.
Silent Salute to a Master of Magic
Extract from the Blackpool Gazette, 22 February 2008
Magicians from across the world will hold a minute’s silence in memory of popular Blackpool children’s entertainer Ken Robinson.
Ken was best known for entertaining thousands of sick, disabled, and under-privileged children in hospitals, schools, and orphanages over the years as clown Charlie Cairoli—thanks to the late Circus star himself, who allowed Ken to use his exact make-up. Later, Ken became the secretary and official lookalike of the Charlie Cairoli Appreciation Society.
(Ken’s father William was a spearman on the Golden Mile in the 1930s; his sisters were both in variety, and his brother was a stuntman)
PARIS COSTUMES FOR CAIROLI’S NEW PAUL
The new “Paul” of the world-famous Charlie Cairoli and Paul act, Mr. Paul King, will travel to Paris in a fortnight’s time to be fitted for a set of dazzling new costumes for the 1960 Blackpool Tower Circus season.
“They will be brilliantly dazzled costumes,” Mr. Cairoli told a Gazette reporter last night. “They will cost about £100 each. This is something I’ve always wanted.”
Mr. King succeeds Paul Friedman, who leaves the act at the end of the month. The newcomer worked for two years with the celebrated musical clown Freddie Schweitzer, and was selected from among thirty eager applicants.
“I did not hold auditions,” Mr. Cairoli explained. “I wanted the best, and I remembered this fellow. He has played all over the world. He is very good. He can play all instruments — even two at once! He can even play the bagpipes.”
Mr. Cairoli is presently appearing in pantomime at Leeds, marking his final engagement with Mr. Friedman. The traditional Cairoli routine will be retained, and rehearsals for the new partnership will commence in Leeds in a fortnight.
SHOW WORLD GOSSIP
By B. B.
“Viola!” says clown Charlie Cairoli. “The Circus is back in town.”
Mr. Cairoli, without whom a Tower Circus season would be unthinkable, remarked cheerfully, “We are back home again. I am happy.”
CIRCUS ARTISTS ON THE WIRELESS
The Big Top — BBC Home Service
Listeners to the BBC Home Service last night heard two artists from the Blackpool Tower Circus speak of their unusual profession on the programme “The Big Top.”
Charlie Crowley, clown, told how he first trod the sawdust ring at the age of seven under the guidance of his father, a renowned Parisian clown.
“Nowadays circus life is a good life,” he said, “but in the old days, it was very tough.”
Asked whether clowning was easy, he replied:
“It’s very difficult, because you’re never finished. You learn every day.”
On the secret of clowning success, he added:
“To find a happy medium, and do something to please everybody.”
Mr. Harold Holt, equestrian director, spoke on animal welfare.
“There is no cruelty at all to the animals,” he stated. “If there was, they wouldn’t work.”
Sacha Houche, presenter of Lipizzaner horses, and Charley Baumann, tiger trainer, both contributed fascinating insights into the training of their charges.
NORTHERN SHOW TALK
The first of Blackpool’s summer entertainments opens on Thursday next, when the Tower Circus raises its famous ring-curtain for the Easter holidaymakers.The comedy star, as ever, will be Charlie Cairoli. “They gave me a camera last summer to celebrate my 21st anniversary,” he laughed. “After another 21 years, I’ll get the film!”
In that time Charlie and his loyal comedy companions have played 10,000 performances at the Tower Circus — and the inimitable clown boasts he has never missed a single show.
