THE BALLOON MAN

Clown
from--Martins Ferry, Ohio Times Leader
October 4, 2011

 

THE FAMOUS whiteface clown Charlie Bell (Charles D. Chase), a former resident of Barnesville, was born in 1886. Charlie ran away and joined a medicine show and performed as a acrobat at the age of 7. He adopted the owner's last name "Bell" and was know thereafter as Charlie Bell. He performed as an acrobat and circus clown for 63 years, prior to his death in 1964 in Sarasota, Fla. He spent 35 years with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey before he retired in 1956. In 1969, Charlie was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame. It has became a family affair with his daughter Charlotte Bell Kora (deceased) and current performers granddaughter, Tosca Kora Fornasari and great-granddaughter, Nicolette Fornasari. Picture is shown with granddaughter Mary Ann O'Grady Rinehart of Toledo, Ohio. Submitted by Christina Renshaw DeBeni.