The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring and Charlton Heston as the circus manager. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his makeup, and Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles.
Sarasota is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Greater Tampa Bay Area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Sarasota is a principal city of the Sarasota metropolitan area. According to the 2020 U.S. census, Sarasota had a population of 54,842.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government by an act of the U.S. Congress, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 29, 1965. It is a sub-agency of the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College trained around 1,400 clowns in the "Ringling style" from its 1968 founding until its 1997 closure.
The National Heritage Fellowship is a lifetime honor presented to master folk and traditional artists by the National Endowment for the Arts. Similar to Japan's Living National Treasure award, the Fellowship is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. It is a one-time only award and fellows must be living citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Each year, fellowships are presented to between nine and fifteen artists or groups at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Janette Carter, daughter of musicians A.P. and Sara Carter, was an American musician involved in the preservation of Appalachian music.
Greg and Karen DeSanto are professional circus clowns who performed as a husband-and-wife duo for three decades. Greg DeSanto is the Executive Director of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Barry Lubin is an American circus performer best known for his Grandma character. His Grandma character was a headline act at the Big Apple Circus in New York City for 25 seasons from 1982 until his 2012 retirement and relocation to Sweden. Lubin's return to the Big Apple Circus in late 2017 was cut short in January 2018 when he admitted to having pressured an underaged, sixteen-year-old circus performer to pose for pornographic pictures in 2004.
Otto Griebling was a German-born circus clown who performed for many years with the Cole Brothers and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circuses. He was one of four clowns given the title Master Clown by Irvin Feld.
Bello Nock, often known simply as Bello, is an American daredevil and circus performer. Nock has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for his highwire walk over a cruise ship. He has performed several stunts in New York City, including rappelling off of Madison Square Garden and hanging from a helicopter over the Statue of Liberty. He has been included in a Time magazine list of "America's Best Artists and Entertainers".
The Epstein Brothers Orchestra was a Jewish musical quartet from the United States who mainly played Klezmer music.
The International Circus Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame which honors important figures in circus history. It is located in Peru, Indiana, on the former grounds of the Wallace Circus and American Circus Corporation Winter Quarters, also known as the Peru Circus Farm and Valley Farms. The property includes rare surviving circus buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was designated a National Historic Landmark for its historical importance.
Elaine Hoffman Watts was a klezmer drummer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
Bettye Kimbrell is a master folk artist for quilting, and one of the charter members of the North Jefferson Quilter's Guild in Mount Olive, Alabama.
Glen Gordon "Frosty" Little was a circus clown who served with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for over 20 years. He was one of only four clowns ever to have been given the title "Master Clown" by the Ringling organization.
Seiichi Tanaka is the first Japan-trained teacher of kumidaiko, or taiko, in the United States and is largely regarded as the father of the art form in North America.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable Burton Ringling and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State University assumed governance of the museum in 2000.
Epifania "Eppie" Archuleta was an American weaver and textile artisan at the annual Spanish Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While the more traditional Chimayo and Rio Grande tapestries used diamonds and stripes in their designs. Archuleta specialized in more contemporary woven designs. Archuleta was a recipient of a 1985 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1997.
Robert L. Boyce was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist born and raised in Como, Mississippi.
Frankie Saluto was an American clown. Standing at just 3'10, he was known as "King of the Midget Clowns". His career spanned 46 years as a professional clown, starting in 1928, although he did not appear in guides until 1931. Saluto spent most of his career with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus. He retired in 1974 and was inducted into the Clown Hall of Fame in 1991.
