Grock

Karl Adrien Wettach, one of the most famous clowns of the first half of the 20th century, was born on Jan 10, 1880 in Reconvilier in the Swiss Canton of Bern. His watchmaker father was an amateur musician and acrobat, and he taught the young Karl the basics of music and tumbling. Karl became hooked on performing, and he worked up a variety show with his sister Jeanne that appeared in hotels and clubs. As an amateur, during the summer months, Karl appeared with the circus as a tumbler and then later as a musician. Subsequently, he joined up with a caravan of gypsies, in whose company he learned his craft and gained experience with a broad variety of musical instruments. He became fluent in a many languages, and mastered fourteen musical instruments, including a miniature violin. At the age of 14, he made his professional debut in Fiame Wetzel's circus. He partnered with a clown named "Brick," and they made the rounds of the international circuit, appearing in France, Africa and South America.

In 1903, Wettach took the stage name "Grock," under which he became one of the most famous clowns in Europe. "My birth name doesn't mean anything. I am Grock. The first is the name of the dark years," he said. As a clown, his life became a quest for perfecting the synthesis of the man, with his hidden human face, and the clown, the mask occluding the man beneath the greasepaint. This synthesis was "Grock," a figure intended to entertain while remaining forever mysterious, a beloved figure who never could be fully understood by the audience, hidden as he was by his mask, hidden as the man Karl was by the mask Grock. After Brick married, Grock left him and hooked up with Umberto Guillaume, a famous clown known as Antonet. Making the move from circus arenas to the music hall, their act initially failed, but eventually, they mastered stage technique.

When they hit the boards in London in 1911, they had a major success. The duo became the toast of the public wherever they played. Grock would make England his home for the next 13 years.

By 1913, Grock had polished his most famous and endearing act, appearing as a Simpleton among a plethora of musical instruments, fumbling with the instruments as if he knew nothing about them, instruments that the "real" Karl Wettach had mastered. But the clown Grock would absentmindedly flip a fiddle over, then try to play it, wondering where the strings went. It was an act that helped develop his reputation as King of Clowns. Soon, Grock was performing before European royalty. A composer of popular ditties, Wettach became a music publisher and achieved success in the music business with his own songs.

Wettach departed England in 1924 for the Continent, which remained his home for the rest of his life. He settled in Imperia, situated on the western Liguria Riviera, with Ines Ospiri, his Italian wife.

In 1927, he began constructing a great 50-room mansion facing the sea in the Cascine hills that would be called the Villa Bianca, named after his daughter. During the turbulent years of fascist Italy and World War II, Grock never let his mask slip, never overtly dabbled in politics. Though he attracted the admiration of leading Italian fascists, the King of Italy, European royalty and even Hitler, all of whom claimed to be a friend of his, he never publicly confirmed those bonds. The man behind the mask of Grock never declared any allegiance to anyone or anything but his art.

Monotype's art deco font Grock, designed in 1935, is named after him.

Grock established his own traveling circus in 1951. Initially, he struggled due to the large initial layouts of capital, but he soon achieved financial success as the circus performed shows all over Europe.

His last performance was in Hamburg, Germany, on October 30, 1954, in front of a crowd that included scores of reporters from all over the world.

He then retired to the Villa Bianca, through with performing, except for several appearances on television he made in 1956.

In addition to being a clown, a composer, and a music publisher, Wettach was also a writer, penning several books, including his 1956 autobiography, "Die Memoiren des Königs der Clowns" ("Grock, King of Clowns"). "The genius of clowning is transforming the little, everyday annoyances, not only overcoming, but actually transforming them into something strange and terrific," Grock said. "It is the power to extract mirth for millions out of nothing and less than nothing.

"Grock died in Imperia, Italy, on July 14, 1959.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 197-198. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387