Charlie Keith

Charlie Keith (May 2, 1836 – March 16, 1895) was a British clown and circus manager.

Early life Charles Henry Keith was born in Clerkenwell, London, on May 2, 1836. His father, George John Keith, worked as a pastry cook and confectioner in London before his death in 1856.

Circus life In the early 1850s, Charlie Keith entered show business at the Royal Strand Theatre, appearing as a sprite in a pantomime featuring Julia Craven and Willie Edouin. Keith fulfilled his first engagement as a tumbler at Abbott's Theatre in 1852. He also performed as a tumbler at Lord Rodney's Head in Whitechapel in 1855.

Clown He developed his performance into a clowning act and started touring the UK's music hall theatres as his popularity grew. Soon after, Keith joined Howes & Cushing's Great United States Circus at the Alhambra Theatre in London. He toured the continent with Woolschlager's Circus and spent about three years abroad. Upon returning to England, he reappeared at the Alhambra with Franconi's Circus and later toured Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, and Russia. He performed before royalty, including the Prussian royal family, the King and Queen of the Belgians, the Russian Czar and Czarina, Napoleon III, and the Prince Imperial.

After returning to England in 1866, Charlie Keith started working independently.

By 1868, Keith had become a successful performer and established his own permanent circus, The Grand Cirque Imperial, in Exeter. The show combined equestrian displays with juggling, gymnastics, and clown acts. Following the devastating fire that destroyed his circus and horses in Derby, Charlie Keith received widespread support from the local community. With assistance from the Markets Committee, he erected a new permanent structure—Charlie Keith's New Grand Circus—on the Holmes in Derby. The new venue, built by Mr. Daykin to Keith's own design, opened on April 12, 1879, and featured a pit, promenade, spacious gallery, reserved seating, private boxes, and a waterproof roof manufactured by Sullivan of Manchester.

Afterwards, he established his own traveling circus. Keith submitted a patent for a traveling circus building in 1882. He led his circus troupe on international tours, using his own patented designs to build temporary circus structures and performing for Europe's nobility and royal courts.

Charlie Keith, already touring with his portable circus in 1882, brought William Tudor into the company that year. In 1888, now a well-known clown, manager, and tent designer, Keith co-founded Keith & Tudor's Circus at Butt's Green, Midsummer Common, Cambridge. That year, the pair did a production of Cinderella.

Keith entered a partnership to establish Keith & Palmyra's Circus in 1890. After arriving in Derby on October 6, 1890, they opened a new circus building on October 26. The permanent circus structure stood in St. Peter's Churchyard before the County Court took over the location. In 1894, he oversaw the building of his sixty-third structure in Coventry.

In 1874, the Hanlon-Lees said, "Charlie Keith is one of the best Clowns on the Continent of Europe."

While in Derby, he wrote a 100-page book titled "Circus Life and Amusements (Equestrian, Dramatic, & Musical), in All Nations," published in 1879 by Bewley & Roe of the Gazette. The account traced his circus life from boyhood to the Derby fire incident.