Oddlet: Joseph Grimaldi · 1 min read
Jul 5, 2026
The Man Who Was Grimaldi
What does it cost a man to teach the world how to fall down for a living?
Joseph Grimaldi invented the clown. The whiteface, the red triangles on the cheeks, the nickname Joey that every clown since has answered to — all his, sketched onto his own face at Covent Garden on the 29th of December, 1806, in front of a house that would pay twenty thousand pounds to watch him fall down.
The bit was always the same. Hurt yourself. Get up. Do it again.
He shot himself in the foot onstage during Harlequin Benedick, spent five weeks in bed, and went back to it. After every performance he sobbed and convulsed behind the prompter's box, then walked back out for Act Two. By forty-two the doctors had a name for what he was: premature old age. At his farewell in 1828 he could not stand, so he sat in a chair in full paint and told Drury Lane he was worse on his feet than he used to be on his head.
By the end his legs were gone entirely. The landlord of the Marquis of Cornwallis, in Pentonville, carried him to the tavern on his back each night so he could make the regulars laugh, and carried him home again after.
On the 31st of May, 1837, he said: God bless you, my boy. I shall be ready for you tomorrow night.
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- Wikipedia — Joseph Grimaldi — Most comprehensive single biographical article: birth/death dates, parents, debut, theatres, marriages, son, decline, retirement, death, burial.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Joseph Grimaldi — Reputable encyclopaedia entry covering his debut at Sadler's Wells, the 1806 Mother Goose breakthrough at Covent Garden, his invention of the modern Clown character and the 'Joey' nickname, and his decline through 1828.
- London Museum — Joseph Grimaldi: King of the Clowns — Museum article on his whiteface makeup with red cheeks, his physical comedy and acrobatic style, his 1823 retirement due to stiff joints and breathing trouble, 1828 final benefits, the Times notice, and the famous 'I make you laugh at night but am Grim-all-day' quote.
- Public Domain Review — The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi — Scholarly essay covering the 1813 Times account of the abuse his body took on stage, the John Abernethy doctor anecdote, his depression, his 1823 retirement at age 45, and the seated farewell performances.
- Wikipedia — J. S. Grimaldi — Detailed biography of his only son: 1802 birth, 1832 death in Tottenham aged 30, alcoholism, epilepsy, mental illness, estrangement from his parents in 1823, suspicions of poisoning or brawl injuries, and parents' attempted suicide after his death.
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