Tony, the Atomic Clown, Is a Richland Favorite

By Mina P. Miller

There’s the tantalizing smell of hot, buttery popcorn…the piping of an off-key steam calliope…and a grin on a sad-faced clown. These things about “circus” to fans of the big-topped show of shows.

The heart of the circus will always beat in unison with the heart of Tony, the Atomic Clown, of Richland, Wash. Tony Prince has left the circus to work for General Electric at Hanford Works, where the nuclear fuel, plutonium, is made. But clowning is in his blood and he continues to charm the little children and bring a chuckle to the grownups.

“When I get grumpy, and tired of working, I know that it’s time to get out my baggy pants and false nose,” Tony says, “because when others laugh, I smile inside.”

Tony, who believes clowns are born that way, was born that way himself. His father was a clown with Ringling Brothers circus, and his mother was an aerial artist and bareback rider with Barnum and Bailey circus. Tony, himself, put on his first grease paint–a clown’s trade-mark–when he was barely 6 years old. At 8, he performed in his first independent act.

He took a flyer at becoming an aerial artist but gave it up abruptly at the age of 12, after he fell through the net following a midair collision. At that moment Tony banished all thought of becoming the man on the flying trapese and began to devote all of his time to clowning.

During his training years with the circus, Tony worked with such famous clowns as Charlie Bell, head of Lester-Bell-Griffith trio; Sam Bennett, and Albert Gaston, the oldest known clown; Artie Adair, and George Hannaford of the famous Hannaford family. He trained with the Riding Rooneys, the Flying Fishers (until he fell through the net) and the famous Slats Beason, world’s most renowned slack-wire and tight-wire artist, with Ringing Brothers and Barnum and Bailey circus.

Tony traveled with Ringling Brothers, Clyde Beatty, Cole Brothers, just to name a few. But big names in Tony’s career take a back seat when he recalls the days with the Frank J. Walters circus for underprivileged children.

They traveled throughout Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, part of the time sponsored by the Coca-Cola company. They performed at hospitals and children’s homes and raised funds for PTAs and other groups to be used for underprivileged children. The clowns were their funniest and most lovable, Tony says, for the boys and girls whose beds and wheelchairs were rolled from ambulances into the grandstands for afternoon performances.

Elsie the Cow was one of Tony’s favorite traveling companions at one time. Elsie had a $7000 bedroom suite including a beautiful mahogany bed with the springs removed to make room for her hay, and a chest of drawers to hold her hats and leis.

The circus is so much a part of Tony’s life that he has created his own circus. Built on a scale of one inch per foot, the circus has 22 performing acts. Betty Boop flies on her high trapeze, Mickey Mouse and his family have an aerial act, Donald Duck, Popeye and Olive Oil all have their place in Tony’s big show. The bear that keeps time, the white elephant and the shaggy camel are all featured in his menagerie tent.

The circus is complete with colorful wagons, tents and trappings. No detail is left out. There are cook tents with tiny stoves that heat, power wagons providing electricity for the show, and the utility wagons that hold circus equipment, such as tent poles, portable bleachers, etc.

This very circus enjoyed a two-week stand in Richland a year ago. Tony trained members of Richland’s “Triple Teen” club, who set up the entire circus and conducted two shows each day. They acted as barkers, guides and ticket agents for the show that raised money for their activities.

Wherever there are children, you’ll find Tony. He contributes generously of his time and talent thwn funds are being raised to help the kids.

P. T. Barnum once said, “You cannot have a circus unless you have an elephant and clowns.” In Richland you can’t have a parade or a show for the kids unless you have Tony. Because kids never give the stamp of approval until Tony and his “Brassy Band” march by.

Burton Pierard, who will attend Chief Joseph junior high in Richland next year, has known Tony since he was a wide-eyed 3-year-old. Many times, Burton’s father, who also works for G. E., would be master of ceremonies in the same shows with Tony. Burton tagged along and soon he and Tony became well acquainted.

The friendship that got its start back in 1944 now has grown to a full-fledged partnership. Tony has trained Burton as a clown in his own right with membership in the Circus Clown’s Club of America.

Burton was 10 when he first received his card, the youngest registered clown in the international club.

Tony, the circus performer, no longer plays under the big top, but Tony, the Atomic Clown, still reigns with his red wig and his size 42 shoes. Not only can he find time to charm the kids, but he can find time to teach others to make the world laugh, so that they too can “smile inside.”

THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW September 20, 1953.

Source: News article scanned by Burt Pierard