Even in their obituary, some people go dancing off the page.
Such was the case for Kenneth and Audrey Austin, the Grimaldis, husband and wife stars of vaudeville and variety from the 1930s and 40s, whose star shine never dimmed, even over 60 long years.
Killed in a car crash in mid-July, their pet poodle "Lucky" survived the carnage.
Little boys and girls dream of running away to join the circus. It is in Sarasota, Florida where many circus performers live. In Sarasota, where the fat lady, the dwarf and the stilt walker buy their milk at the corner store, life will never be quite the same. The Grimaldis, aged 87 and 81 respectively on the day of their death, and long admired veterans of the heyday of the British circus and variety theatre, are never coming back.
The death of the Grimaldis marks the end of an era, the days when people put their talents to work in order to land a steady job.
The Grimaldis dedicated a lifetime to polishing up their act. Between the two of them, they could play a total of 15 instruments proficiently. They needed versatility if they were to keep up with changing times in order to book regular appearances in pantomimes and stage circuses.
Their time of reckoning hit 30 years into their career. Back in the 1960s when circus and variety theatre were viewed as old-fashioned, acts were being replaced by country and western singers, the Grimaldis refused to give up. Instead they worked on developing a stronger circus act with a clever poodle named "Twinkle". The success they forged allowed them to continue performing--even as octogenarians. Twinkle, of course, was predecessor to a long line of pets, including the Lucky who survived the car crash that was to one day claim their lives.
When the Grimaldis were taking curtain calls, few people saw housing as a right or claimed the busiest street corner for a career in panhandling.
Back in the days when the British circus and variety theatre were still packing them in, Kenneth and Audrey Austin joined up as a musical double act routine. This was in February, 1939, just before their marriage, after which they soon became familiar figures on the variety circuit.When the Second World War came along, the "Clowning Couple" known as the Grimaldis were visiting hospitals, giving shows for the troops. When peace replaced war, they pasted another first in their scrapbook. They were the first British act to perform abroad, appearing first in Dublin and then afterward in Amsterdam.
That chapter written, they next spent several years touring the world with their novelty musical-clown set, appearing in faraway exotic places such as Manila and Karachi, before deciding to emigrate to America in the late 1950s.
The last appearance for the Grimaldis in England was at Surrey's Chessington Zoo in 1954. By this time bright British lights had Audrey Austin billed as "The Queen of Versatility" and her husband, Kenneth as "The King of the Clowns".
The King of the Clowns got his start in showbiz at the tender age of 14 when he played the part of Dick Whittington's cat in pantomime. Born in Leeds in 1911, he first went under the name of Ken Ashton, and partnered with his sister Dorrie in revue and variety, entertaining audiences as eccentric dancers and banjo players.
With little time for reading books under elm trees, the brother and sister routine were soon touring in their own show, The Music Makers and in 1931, Ken Austin produced a comedy act that appeared in circuses and on the radio.
In future chapters, brother left sister to join up with the Four Brownie Boys, going on to appear at many leading theatres of the day. Then in 1939 at a party at the London Palladium, came a lifetime of romance when he met the lady who was to have the most influence on his life, his wife Audrey Grimaldi.
Audrey, who had the sparkle of the wind-up music box ballerina, always went by the name Vesta. Like the glitter of her sequins, she had an air of glamour and claimed descent from Joseph Grimaldi, the great English pantomime clown of the 18th century.
Like her husband, Vesta Grimaldi trained in music and dance from a tender age. Only 12 when she left school to join a semi-professional variety show, at 16 she left the revue to appear solo in her own xylophone music and dance act, finally making her debut at the West Pier, Brighton, in August of 1928.
By the time she met her husband, Vesta had already had parts in films and a number of radio broadcasts popular in their day.
The packed trunk played a big role in the couple's life. In 1955, they toured South America before coming to the United States to find home in Sarasota. They appeared consistently in Canada and America at state fairs, in cabaret and at the circuses of the Polack Brothers and the Rudy Brothers.
The Grimaldis also performed often on television, notably on The Ed Sullivan Show and on What's My Line. In fact, Vesta was one of the few people to appear on both the British and American editions of the latter.
This summer, the Grimaldis were killed instantly in a collision with a truck a few days before they were due to receive American citizenship. Their ever present toy poodle, Lucky, was rescued from the ensuing fire only lightly singed.
For certain, it was a heartbreaking end for the couple, who had, with their own spunk and ingenuity climbed all the way to the top rung of the entertainment industry's ladder of success. For those left lonely without them, there must be some emotional sustenance in the fact that they stuck through life together, finally meeting death on the same day.
In all the endearing touches of their life story, the waft of vaudeville paint boxes lingered over their obit, as did the imaginary tinkle of an old music box tune.
All those who knew them must have seen how the Grimaldis went dancing off the newspaper page even in death.
God rest their souls, and a lifetime of soup bones for a tiny toy poodle answering to the name "Lucky", somewhere in bittersweet circus town Sarasota.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Privacy Statement