Entertainer. The inscription on his grave read "Joseph Grimaldi was three years old when he first went on the stage at Sadlers Wells Theatre with his father, and worked there for 43 years as performer and part-proprietor. From his debut in 1806 at Covent Garden in "Mother Goose" he was adored by all and could fill a theatre anywhere. The name 'Joey' has passed into our language to mean a clown. He lived all his life among the people of Clerkenwell and died at 33 Southampton Street, now called Calcott Street. Islington Council has called the park in which he lies buried the Joseph Grimaldi Park to commemorate a great artist and a great man." The church in which he was buried is now deconsecrated and turned into offices. Before that, it was the venue for the annual Clowns' Service, held every February and which now takes place at the Holy Trinity Church in Beechwood Road, Dalston, whence the statue of Grimaldi, formerly in St. James's, has been removed. In 1838 Joseph Grimaldi's memoirs were edited by Charles Dickens.
Entertainer. The inscription on his grave read "Joseph Grimaldi was three years old when he first went on the stage at Sadlers Wells Theatre with his father, and worked there for 43 years as performer and part-proprietor. From his debut in 1806 at Covent Garden in "Mother Goose" he was adored by all and could fill a theatre anywhere. The name 'Joey' has passed into our language to mean a clown. He lived all his life among the people of Clerkenwell and died at 33 Southampton Street, now called Calcott Street. Islington Council has called the park in which he lies buried the Joseph Grimaldi Park to commemorate a great artist and a great man." The church in which he was buried is now deconsecrated and turned into offices. Before that, it was the venue for the annual Clowns' Service, held every February and which now takes place at the Holy Trinity Church in Beechwood Road, Dalston, whence the statue of Grimaldi, formerly in St. James's, has been removed. In 1838 Joseph Grimaldi's memoirs were edited by Charles Dickens.
Bio by: Iain MacFarlaine
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See more Grimaldi memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
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England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
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England, Select Marriages, 1538-1973
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Westminster, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935
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Dictionary of National Biography, Volumes 1-22
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London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1938
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