Francesco Caroli

Francesco Caroli (born September 28, 1922 in Italy , † May 18, 2004 in Châlons-en-Champagne / France ) was an Italian artist and clown .

Caroli, who comes from a family of artists who were known for their horse dressage , performed in all major arenas in Europe with his brothers Ernesto and Enrico before the war . According to Carolis, the big turning point came for him at the age of 17 when he had to replace the fancy white clown in the Magdeburg Circus Blumenfeld . He took a liking to his new role and learned the "high art of Commedia dell'Arte in facial expressions and gestures".

In addition to engagements in the major circus arenas of Knie , Krone , Busch , Sarrasani and - for the last 12 years - Roncalli , he played in the film with Gina Lollobrigida and Burt Lancaster .

Caroli once described the self-image of his profession as follows: "The white clown is the person to be respected, the intelligent one who shows off the stupid August. The clown must never put himself in the foreground, otherwise he will kill the stupid August."

Caroli, who was friends with Charlie Chaplin , was a versatile artist. In addition to the saxophone , he played the clarinet , trumpet , guitar and piano . He was also fluent in Italian, German, French, English and Russian.

In 1990 Bernhard Paul brought him to Roncalli for the Roncalli Circus. There the circus family only called him "Uncle". Those who had worries went to Francesco. He was proud of that. "It's a job with a heart," he said. "It wouldn't fit if someone was a bad person and a white clown." He showed that to his audience every evening. During his time at Roncalli, his greeting, "Come in, leave your worries outside. Be a child again" became his trademark.

Until a year before his death, at the age of 81, Caroli had stood in the ring with Roncalli director Bernhard Paul . In 2003 he entered the ring for the last time, exactly on his 80th birthday, after 75 years of circus life, 63 of them as a white clown. At this farewell performance in Munich, spectators, artists and Francesco himself cried.

He spent his last months in his apartment 120 kilometers from Paris at the side of his wife Odette, a former French horse rider. Francesco Caroli is considered the "most famous white clown in the world".

Web links

• Obituary in the Handelsblatt on May 19, 2004

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.maerkischeallgemeine.de/mazarchiv/detail.php?article_id=256361  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.