George L. Fox (clown)

George L. Fox
Library of Congress
Born	(1825-07-03)July 3, 1825 Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Died	October 24, 1877(1877-10-24) (aged 52) Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Occupation	Comedian and Pantomime Artist
Years active	1830 - 1877

George L. Fox (July 3, 1825 – October 24, 1877) was an American actor and dancer who became known for his clown roles and who based the characterisations on his inspiration Joseph Grimaldi.

Fox was born George Washington Lafayette Fox, the first child of George Howe and Emily (née Watt) Fox of Cambridge, Massachusetts. His parents were stock players at Boston’s Tremont Street Theatre, where Laff (his childhood nickname) and his five siblings were often called upon to play juvenile roles. Fox made his debut at the Tremont Street Theatre when he was aged five, though in later years his younger brothers, Charles and James, and his sister Caroline were considered the more talented. James and Caroline became popular in the Boston area as a child act and flourished for a number of years. Fox’s parents decided his future would be better served if he learned a trade and they enrolled him in an apprenticeship with a local merchant.

Fox's brother James continued acting for several years, even while attending Harvard Law School and would later become a successful lawyer and four-term mayor of Cambridge.

His sister Caroline married actor George C. Howard, a union that would leave an important mark on the history of American theater. In 1852 Howard commissioned his wife's cousin George L. Aiken to write a dramatization of the anti-slavery screed Uncle Tom's Cabin. The original production spawned a sequel and then was merged into a six-act play that ran until the 1930s. The play had probably a greater impact than the novel by visually depicting the cruelties of slavery and was a boost to the abolitionist movement.

By the time Fox had reached the age of twenty his apprenticeship had failed, leaving him to return to the family business. He toured for a while with Howard and his sister as L. Fox, playing minor dramatic and comedic roles. He left their company in 1850 to try his hand as a low comedian at the Bowery’s National Theatre on Chatham Street. There he finally found his niche, becoming a popular headliner over the following seven years. For the remainder of his career Fox would play at venues that catered primarily to working-class audiences.