Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
clown
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Joseph Grimaldi as the clown in Harlequin Padmanada; or, The Golden Fish Bozo the Clown Killer Klowns from Outer Space Grock in his dressing room at the Circus Medrano, 1952.
Quizzes
Illustrations of Clowns
Clowning Around
Read Next
Still from the 2017 movie IT, Bill Skarsgard plays Pennywise the clown. Directed by Andy Muschietti
Why Are People Afraid of Clowns?
Still from the 2017 movie IT, Bill Skarsgard plays Pennywise the clown. Directed by Andy Muschietti
10 Famous Clowns: From Comical to Creepy
Discover
Amendments 1-10 to the Constitution of the United States constitute what is known as the Bill of Rights on an American flag.
What Is the Emoluments Clause?
Poker game. Card game. Royal Flush in poker. Hearts suit gambling
Poker Hands Ranked
Portrait of a mountain gorilla at a short distance. gorilla close up portrait.The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
Falling Stars: 10 of the Most Famous Endangered Species
King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)
9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes
Aspirin pills.
7 Drugs that Changed the World
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Berries and leaves of the bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) plant. Poisonous plant
7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants

clown: Related Content

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/facts/clown
Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos

Joseph Grimaldi as the clown in Harlequin Padmanada; or, The Golden Fish
Bozo the Clown
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Grock in his dressing room at the Circus Medrano, 1952.
See All Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Kelly, Emmett
Emmett Kelly
American clown
Red Skelton
American actor
Grock
Grock
Swiss clown
Joseph Grimaldi as the clown in Harlequin Padmanada; or, The Golden Fish
Joseph Grimaldi
English clown and pantomimist
Not in costume
Dan Rice
American clown
Popov, Oleg
Oleg Popov
Russian clown

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Illustrations of Clowns
Clowning Around
List
Still from the 2017 movie IT, Bill Skarsgard plays Pennywise the clown. Directed by Andy Muschietti
10 Famous Clowns: From Comical to Creepy
Demystified
Still from the 2017 movie IT, Bill Skarsgard plays Pennywise the clown. Directed by Andy Muschietti
Why Are People Afraid of Clowns?