Grimaldi, Joseph (1778–1837), English actor, the creator of the English
clown, the only character in the
harlequinade not derived from the Italian
commedia dell'arte. In his honour all later clowns were nicknamed Joey. The illegitimate son of Giuseppe Grimaldi, ballet-master at
Drury Lane, he made his first appearance on the stage at
Sadler's Wells at the age of 2½. As a boy he played in
pantomime, and by the time he became a regular member of the Sadler's Wells company in 1792 he was already well trained in acrobatic and pantomimic skills. In 1796 he was at Drury Lane where he played a number of parts besides Clown, being seen as Aminadab in Mrs
Centlivre's A Bold Stroke for a Wife and as Robinson Crusoe and Blue Beard in pantomime. In 1805, on the recommendation of Charles
Dibdin, he was engaged for
Covent Garden, where, with occasional returns to Sadler's Wells, he remained until his retirement. At these theatres his inventive comic genius—making a man out of vegetables, a coach out of four cheeses, a cradle, and a fender—was given full scope. Making Clown a rustic booby on the model of Pantaloon's servant, Grimaldi gave him his traditional costume—baggy breeches, a livery coat with scarlet patches, fantastic wigs, usually a turned-up pigtail, and a white face with scarlet triangles and exaggerated eyebrows. His acrobatics were characterized by dynamic energy which finally wore him out, and in 1823 his place at Covent Garden was taken by his dissolute and sottish son,
Joseph S. (1802–32). He made his last appearance at Sadler's Wells in 1828. He then retired to Pentonville and was burried in the churchyard of St James's Chapel on Pentonville Hill, now a public garden, where his tombstone can still be seen.
