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Eva Mae |
Eva Kelly Lewis
was born
June 6, 1903
in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father, Benjamin Moore, was
a railroader and professional roller skater from Marietta,
Georgia. Eva’s father, her older brother and sister Robert
and Bertha performed spectacular feats on unicycles and special
roller skates in Vaudeville as Buster Brown, Mary Jane and Happy
Hooligan. |
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Eva
and her younger sister Mitzi, learned a double trapeze act
together. Collectively, they performed as the Moore Family
Acrobats. In 1922, she and her sister went their own way,
joining Gollmer Brothers Circus. “We performed a double trapeze
act in center ring but were hired as general useful and also
trained with horses and bears.” That fall, Gollmer Brothers
Circus moved their winter quarters to Peru, Indiana. It was
there that she met Emmett Kelly. They were married in the
spring of 1923 and joined the John Robinson Circus as the Aerial
Kelly’s, billed as a “lightning fast” double trapeze act.
Their marriage and trapeze act eventually fell victim to the great
depression. |
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Eva Mae the Clown |
Eva
continued performing, but on single trapeze. In 1939, she
married cop clown, Joe Lewis. Together they appeared in Shrine
Circuses and fairs across the country. Eva performed Spanish
Web, Cloud Swing, and Single Trapeze while Joe generally tended
rope and entertained the audience with his humorous antics.
Eva’s trapeze career ended at age fifty when she fell forty
feet, breaking both her ankles. Undaunted, she appeared as a
white-faced clown in a clown troop and later walked in parades,
which she did until the age of eighty-six. She was a unique
individual and character both in and out of make-up. She was
appreciated and respected by her circus peers, and I am proud to
be her grandson. |
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I will have considerably more to say about my grandmother and
her family in my upcoming book, Emmett Kelly, “America’s
Favorite Clown!” If you would like to own an autographed, first
edition printing, replete with a generous amount of photographs
and drawings, please reserve your numbered copy via
joeykelly@joeykelly.com. |
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