Emmett Kelly

Emmett Leo Kelly (December 9, 1898March 28, 1979) was an American circus performer, who created the clown character "Weary Willie", based on the hobos of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Early life Emmett Leo Kelly was born in Sedan, Kansas on December 9, 1898. His father, Thomas, was a section foreman for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad. While still a child the family moved to Southern Missouri where his father had purchased a farm in Texas County, near the community of Houston. In the summer of 1909, he attended both the Mighty Haag and M.L. Clark and Son's circuses. As a youth, his mother Mollie enrolled him in the Landon School of Cartooning, a correspondence school where he began developing his artistic skill. In 1917, Kelly moved to Kansas City, hoping to get a job as a newspaper cartoonist. It was there that he created a cartoon of a tramp that he originally named "Old Dubey". While in Kansas City, Kelly began working for carnivals and circuses and trained as a trapeze artist.