Difference between revisions of "Paul Freedman"
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And that is how, in 1948, Paul Freedman became half of ''Charlie Cairoli and Paul'', the perennial star act at the Blackpool Tower Circus. Thanks to Paul’s ability to play a variety of instruments, Charlie could maintain the quality musical act he and his father had made famous. Like Paul, Charlie played a very wide range of instruments, and he was famously known for holding a very long note on the trumpet. Typically, Charlie and Paul would march out of the ring with Paul fingering the keys of the clarinet over his shoulder, while Charlie blew through the instrument's mouthpiece. | And that is how, in 1948, Paul Freedman became half of ''Charlie Cairoli and Paul'', the perennial star act at the Blackpool Tower Circus. Thanks to Paul’s ability to play a variety of instruments, Charlie could maintain the quality musical act he and his father had made famous. Like Paul, Charlie played a very wide range of instruments, and he was famously known for holding a very long note on the trumpet. Typically, Charlie and Paul would march out of the ring with Paul fingering the keys of the clarinet over his shoulder, while Charlie blew through the instrument's mouthpiece. | ||
| − | In 1960, after eleven years of a very successful partnership, Paul Freedman decided to leave the act. He then formed a short-lived musical clown duet with another partner, Rocco. Rocco & Paul appeared at the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] in Paris in 1960-61, in ''Rêve de Clown'', a show built around the legendary auguste [[Charlie Rivel]]. This marked the end of Paul's circus career, and he then resumed a music copying service that he had started previously. He died in 1983, after a long period of ill health. He and his wife, Vera, had had three children—all musical and with an artistic bent: Jules is a musician, composer and music teacher; Lanny is a writer; and Harriet does soft sculptures, and enjoys performing on the stage, singing and dancing. | + | In 1960, after eleven years of a very successful partnership, Paul Freedman decided to leave the act. He then formed a short-lived musical clown duet with another partner, Rocco. Rocco & Paul appeared at the [[Cirque Medrano (Paris)|Cirque Medrano]] in Paris in the winter of 1960-61, in ''Rêve de Clown'', a show built around the legendary auguste [[Charlie Rivel]]. This marked the end of Paul's circus career, and he then resumed a music copying service that he had started previously. He died in 1983, after a long period of ill health. He and his wife, Vera, had had three children—all musical and with an artistic bent: Jules is a musician, composer and music teacher; Lanny is a writer; and Harriet does soft sculptures, and enjoys performing on the stage, singing and dancing. |
==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
Revision as of 15:53, 1 August 2013
Clown
By Harriet Hammel and Dominique Jando
(Editor’s Note: Harriet Hammel, née Freedman, is Paul Freedman’s youngest daughter.)
Paul Freedman (1909-1983) is mostly known in the circus world for his long partnership with Charlie Cairoli at Blackpool’s Tower Circus. He was, however, first and foremost a musician. Born on 26th August, 1909 in Toronto, Canada, to a Lithuanian father and a Romanian mother, Paul was always musical, and something of a boy prodigy on the violin. He also learned a wide range of instruments—including flute, clarinet, and the full saxophone family—and not unexpectedly, he chose to embrace a musical career.
He thus became a professional musician. In the 1930s, he joined Billy Bissett's Canadian Swing Band, one of the very popular hotel orchestras of the period—this one based at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Billy Bisset’s Band came to visit England in 1936, where Paul met Vera Wood, a dancer at the legendary Windmill Theatre in London. They fell in love, got married, and Paul remained in England. He continued to work as a musician, notably with Harry Roy, a well known clarinettist who led one of the most popular dance bands in Great Britain.
Charlie Cairoli & Paul
After WWII, in 1947, Paul Freedman was playing in the orchestra pit of a theatre where "The Cairoli Brothers" (Charlie Cairoli and his father, Jean-Marie Cairoli) were performing. The Cairolis were fine musicians, and music was an important part of their act. Jean-Marie Cairoli, who had decided to retire, spotted the musically versatile Paul and thought he would make a good replacement for himself as Charlie’s partner; he offered him the job, and Paul took it.
And that is how, in 1948, Paul Freedman became half of Charlie Cairoli and Paul, the perennial star act at the Blackpool Tower Circus. Thanks to Paul’s ability to play a variety of instruments, Charlie could maintain the quality musical act he and his father had made famous. Like Paul, Charlie played a very wide range of instruments, and he was famously known for holding a very long note on the trumpet. Typically, Charlie and Paul would march out of the ring with Paul fingering the keys of the clarinet over his shoulder, while Charlie blew through the instrument's mouthpieceSmall apparatus fitting in a performer's mouth, used to hang from another apparatus (see: Iron Jaw)..
In 1960, after eleven years of a very successful partnership, Paul Freedman decided to leave the act. He then formed a short-lived musical clown duet with another partner, Rocco. Rocco & Paul appeared at the Cirque Medrano in Paris in the winter of 1960-61, in Rêve de Clown, a show built around the legendary augusteIn a classic European clown team, the comic, red-nosed character, as opposed to the elegant, whiteface Clown. Charlie Rivel. This marked the end of Paul's circus career, and he then resumed a music copying service that he had started previously. He died in 1983, after a long period of ill health. He and his wife, Vera, had had three children—all musical and with an artistic bent: Jules is a musician, composer and music teacher; Lanny is a writer; and Harriet does soft sculptures, and enjoys performing on the stage, singing and dancing.
See Also
- Biography: Charlie Cairoli
Image Gallery
Alfred Delbosq, Pamela Crozier, Paul Freedman & Charlie Cairoli (1949)
Charlie Cairoli & Paul (1949)
Charlie Cairoli & Paul Freedman (1957)
