J. S. Grimaldi

Joseph Samuel William Grimaldi (21 November 1802 – 10 December 1832), better known as J. S. Grimaldi or JS Grimaldi, was an English stage actor, comedian and dancer, who frequently played the role of Clown in the harlequinades that accompanied nineteenth-century pantomimes. He was the son of Joseph Grimaldi, who popularised the role of Clown in the early 1800s.

The young Grimaldi began his career in 1814 playing in a version of Don Juan, and in other roles, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and the Sadler's Wells and Covent Garden theatres. Throughout his teenage years, he was a successful performer, starring in Harlequin and Fortunio; or, Shing-Moo and Thun-Ton (1815), The Fates; or, Harlequin's Holy Day (1818), and Harlequin and Friar Bacon (1820), but he grew to resent the often unfavourable comparisons made between him and his famous father.

Grimaldi turned increasingly to alcohol over the years, becoming unreliable, abusive and ultimately unemployable. He was mostly unemployed throughout his 20s, making his final appearance in a revival of Don Juan in 1832. He died later that year, at the age of 30.

Grimaldi was born in Clerkenwell, London, to the actor Joseph Grimaldi and his dancer wife Mary Bristow. Grimaldi's father popularised the role of Clown in the harlequinade of the early 1800s and invented the modern conception of whiteface clown. His father introduced Grimaldi to the eccentric atmosphere at both Drury Lane and Sadler's Wells from the age of 18 months. Although eager to have Joseph Samuel follow him onto the stage, his father felt that it was important for the boy to have an education, and so he enrolled him at Mr Ford's Academy, a boarding-school in Putney, which taught the children of theatrical performers. JS excelled at school and became fluent in French. After Ford's Academy, he attended a private school in Pentonville.

Young Grimaldi made his professional debut, shortly before his 12th birthday, on 10 October 1814, as Friday in a pantomime version of Robinson Crusoe at the Sadler's Wells Theatre opposite his father, who played the title character. Although his father was initially against the idea of his young son becoming a performer, he saw the boy's promise when he starred alongside him in the piece. He became known professionally as JS Grimaldi. Later in 1814, Grimaldi made his second professional appearance, playing the part of Scaramouche in a hugely profitable pantomime of Don Juan at the Sadler's Wells Theatre, while his father played the title role. The success of the piece confirmed, in his father's mind, that Grimaldi was more than capable of sustaining his own career.

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