---
name: "Emmett Kelly"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/emmett-kelly"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "9 December 1898"
died: "28 March 1979"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T02:23:34.725287+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Emmett Kelly

Actor. Born 9 December 1898 in Sedan, Kansas, USA. Died 28 March 1979.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 9 December 1898, Sedan, Kansas, USA
- **Died:** 28 March 1979
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Kelly, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q602329, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446374/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/142439

## Biography

Emmett Kelly was an American circus clown and actor. Born in Sedan, Kansas, he created the character Weary Willie, a mournful tramp clown, which he first performed in the 1920s and developed while working with various circuses, including Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey from 1942 until the late 1950s.

Kelly made his film debut in *The Fat Man* (1951) and appeared as himself in *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1952). He also featured in television series including *General Electric Theater* (1955) and *The Carol Burnett Show* (1967). He wrote the autobiography *Clown* (1954) and died in Sarasota, Florida.

*Sources: britannica.com, imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1952), Fi1m 56, as Emmett Kelly — [page](https://film.one/film/the-greatest-show-on-earth.md)

## Complete filmography (6)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Clown and the Kids* (1967), as The Piper
- *Wind Across the Everglades* (1958), as Bigamy Bob
- *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Willie the Tramp
- *The Greatest Show on Earth* (1952), as Emmett Kelly — Fi1m 56, [page](https://film.one/film/the-greatest-show-on-earth.md)
- *The Fat Man* (1951), as Ed Deets
- *Here Comes the Circus* (1946), as Circus Clown (Archive Footage)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/emmett-kelly