Emmett Kelly

E362388

American entertainer circus performer clown human

Emmett Kelly was an American circus performer best known for creating and portraying the iconic sad-faced clown character "Weary Willie."

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Emmett Kelly canonical	4
Emmett Kelly Jr.	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T3495423 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Emmett Kelly
Context triple: [The Cairo Gang, hasLeader, Emmett Kelly]

A. Nat Hickey
Nat Hickey was an early professional basketball player and coach best known for briefly appearing in an NBA game at age 45, making him the oldest player in league history.
B. Tom Canty
Tom Canty is the impoverished London boy who swaps identities with Prince Edward in Mark Twain’s novel "The Prince and the Pauper," highlighting themes of class and social injustice.
C. Frank Heart
Frank Heart was an American computer engineer best known for leading the team that built the first Interface Message Processors, the packet-switching nodes that formed the backbone of the early ARPANET and laid groundwork for the modern internet.
D. Mae Costello
Mae Costello was an American silent film actress active in the early 20th century and the mother of actress Helene Costello.
E. Dean O’Banion
Dean O’Banion was a prominent Irish-American mobster and leader of Chicago’s North Side Gang during the Prohibition era.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Emmett Kelly
Target entity description: Emmett Kelly was an American circus performer best known for creating and portraying the iconic sad-faced clown character "Weary Willie."

A. Nat Hickey
Nat Hickey was an early professional basketball player and coach best known for briefly appearing in an NBA game at age 45, making him the oldest player in league history.
B. Tom Canty
Tom Canty is the impoverished London boy who swaps identities with Prince Edward in Mark Twain’s novel "The Prince and the Pauper," highlighting themes of class and social injustice.
C. Frank Heart
Frank Heart was an American computer engineer best known for leading the team that built the first Interface Message Processors, the packet-switching nodes that formed the backbone of the early ARPANET and laid groundwork for the modern internet.
D. Mae Costello
Mae Costello was an American silent film actress active in the early 20th century and the mother of actress Helene Costello.
E. Dean O’Banion
Dean O’Banion was a prominent Irish-American mobster and leader of Chicago’s North Side Gang during the Prohibition era.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	American entertainer ⓘ circus performer ⓘ clown ⓘ human ⓘ
activeYearsEnd	1970 ⓘ
activeYearsStart	1920 ⓘ
birthDate	1898-12-09 ⓘ
birthPlace	Sedalia, Missouri ⓘ surface form: Sedalia, Missouri, United States
burialPlace	Restlawn Memorial Gardens, Port Charlotte, Florida, United States ⓘ
child	Emmett Kelly self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Emmett Kelly Jr.
clownCharacterType	tramp clown ⓘ
countryOfCitizenship	United States of America ⓘ
creatorOf	Weary Willie ⓘ
deathDate	1979-03-28 ⓘ
deathPlace	Sarasota, Florida ⓘ surface form: Sarasota, Florida, United States
employer	Clyde Beatty–Cole Bros. Circus ⓘ Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ⓘ
ethnicGroup	Irish American ⓘ
familyName	Kelly ⓘ
genre	slapstick comedy ⓘ
givenName	Emmett ⓘ
hasLegacy	iconic symbol of the American hobo clown ⓘ inspiration for clown imagery in popular culture ⓘ
hasNotableScene	sweeping up the spotlight in the circus ring ⓘ
hasSignatureLook	painted sad face ⓘ tattered clothes and battered hat ⓘ
influenced	Emmett Kelly self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Emmett Kelly Jr. later generations of circus clowns ⓘ
knownFor	popularizing the tramp clown image in American circus ⓘ portraying the sad-faced clown Weary Willie ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
mediaAppearance	film appearances as a clown ⓘ television appearances as Weary Willie ⓘ
name	Emmett Kelly self-link ⓘ
notableWork	Weary Willie ⓘ
occupation	acrobat ⓘ cartoonist ⓘ circus clown ⓘ
performedIn	Madison Square Garden ⓘ circus tent shows across the United States ⓘ
portrayedCharacter	Weary Willie ⓘ
residence	United States state of Missouri ⓘ surface form: Missouri, United States Sarasota, Florida ⓘ surface form: Sarasota, Florida, United States
spouse	Eva Moore ⓘ
style	melancholic comedy ⓘ
subjectOf	biographical books ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Cairo Gang → hasLeader → Emmett Kelly ⓘ

The Cairo Gang → hasMember → Emmett Kelly ⓘ

The Cairo Gang → primarySongwriter → Emmett Kelly ⓘ

Emmett Kelly → name → Emmett Kelly self-link ⓘ

Emmett Kelly → child → Emmett Kelly self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Emmett Kelly Jr.

Emmett Kelly → influenced → Emmett Kelly self-linksurface differs ⓘ