« March 19, 1958 | Main | Matt Weinstock »

Emmett Kelly--Dodger


Emmett kelly
Los Angeles Times file photo

Emmett Kelly, right, in an undated photo, with a mystery guest. The picture was apparently a publicity photo for the Jan. 21, 1962, television program "Project 20," which featured the Clyde Beatty Circus.

By Keith Thursby
Times Staff Writer

It was an unlikely sports story—a clown announcing the end of his connection with the Dodgers.

Emmett_kelly_dodgers02 Emmett Kelly said the Dodgers had failed to renew his contract for the 1958 season. Kelly, a longtime performer with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, was no mere clown act. He had performed on Broadway and in movies and had taken off the 1956 season to serve as the Dodgers’ mascot in Brooklyn. (You can still find Dodger pennants from that era with Kelly’s portrait.)

The Associated Press story noted that Kelly’s "glum face had been a source of laughter to millions of children."

Emmett kelly
Photograph by Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times

Emmett Kelly cleans his plate--in this case home plate--during a Dodgers-Braves game on April 15, 1962, for Senior Citizens Day at Dodger Stadium. 

He blamed the Dodgers’ selection of the Coliseum for the decision. He said the team’s first home in Los Angeles was "too big for one clown."

The story said Kelly was returning to his first love, the circus. He died in 1979.


Emmett kelly
Photograph by Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times

Emmett Kelly jokes with an umpire at Wrigley Field in a photo published June 30, 1957. [No, it wasn't "photoshopped." The print was so big that I had to scan it in two sections and paste it together.--lrh]

Emmett_kelly_1957_0627_file
Los Angeles Times file photo

Emmett Kelly, possibly in Vero Beach, Fla., in a photo dated June 27, 1957.


Comments

Pee Wee Reese

Post a comment
If you are under 13 years of age you may read this message board, but you may not participate.
Here are the full legal terms you agree to by using this comment form.

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until they've been approved.

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In






Our Bloggers
Larry Harnisch

Larry Harnisch. The leading Black Dahlia expert and a collaborator in the 1947project, Harnisch has been a copy editor at The Times since 1988. He has appeared on many TV shows discussing the Dahlia case, notably "James Ellroy's Feast of Death."

Join him for a spin through old Los Angeles in the Mirror's radio car. Keep your eyes open for Mickey Cohen and Tempest Storm. It's quite a ride.

The reporter's badge belonged to Sid Hughes (1908-1958), legendary reporter who worked at nearly every newspaper in Los Angeles.


Keith Thursby. Keith has been an editor at The Times in news, sports and design since 1986. The Rams moved to St. Louis on his first day as assistant sports editor of the paper's Orange County edition. He grew up in Norwalk and lives in Irvine.








Recent Comments

Katy Jurado?...
comment by Elsie

Dolores del Rio ?...
comment by Bill T

Joan Fontaine?...
comment by deb

Pride of the Yankees is a TERRIBLE picture. ...
comment by Native Angeleno

Im going to say Susan Kohner in a still from ...
comment by MichaelRyerson

Maria Montez...
comment by william

Blogs


Blog-O-Rama