The Millionaire Clown #3
Posted By thecircusblog on March 12, 2012
When I received these photos from Donna Wally Wilbur it put me to thinking that this man could be related to Glen”Bones”Hartzell, who was a well known circus clown and had worked for all the major circuses in the early 1900’s, including Ringling Bros. In order to get a better handle on this I emailed Randall Hartzell, grandson of Glen”Bones”Hartzell and sent him what info I had on George Hartzell. Later Randall got back to me with his research and said that there were two Hartzell clowns working in the business around the same time but he thought they were not family related. So….. what I am hoping for now is more information on the “Millionaire Clown”.
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thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
2 Responses to “The Millionaire Clown #3”
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My late father used to tell me about his uncle George, who was known as “The Millionaire Clown”.
Often recalled this and finally got around to googling “The Millionaire Clown”.
As far as I know, I’d be his last living relative.
Is there anyplace in the Philadelphia, PA area where I could purchase a book or at least check it out.
Thanks
George Hartzell, the Millionaire Clown, is my great-great grandfather. My mom Donna Wilbur (Hartzell is her maiden name) submitted the picture in this article. Commenter Joe may be the last living relative of George’s nephew but by no means is he the last living relative of George Hartzell, who has 7 great grandchildren and a host of great-great grandchildren. We have a wonderful collection of memorabilia from his days in the circus, including many photos and articles, some of which my mom submitted to this blog. We are considering submitting some of what we have to the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center.