Person:Paul Yung (1)

Dayton’s circus clown tragedy: Paul Jung rose to national fame before his murder in New York by Greg Lynch. article and photographs

Dayton's circus clown tragedy: Paul Jung rose to national fame before his murder in New York
March 17, 2023 | Dayton Daily News (OH)
Author/Byline: Greg Lynch | Section: Local

Florida, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1823-1982
Detail Source
Name Elsie I Lenoir
Gender Female
Age 24
Birth Date abt 1914
Marriage Date 11 Jan 1938
Marriage Place Pinellas, Florida, USA
Spouse
Paul Jung

View1900 United States Federal Census
Name Paul O Jung
Age 3/12
Birth Date Mar 1900
Birthplace Ohio, USA
Home in 1900 Dayton Ward 2, Montgomery, Ohio
Ward of City Second A
Street Wayne Avenue
House Number 222
Sheet Number 8
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation 135
Family Number 176
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Son
Marital Status Single
Father's Name Carl Jung
Father's Birthplace Germany
Mother's Name Mary Jung
Mother's Birthplace Ohio, USA
Neighbors View others on page
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Carl Jung
41 Head
Mary Jung
37 Wife
Walter ?? Jung
15 Son
Bertha A Jung
11 Daughter
Cathie M Jung
17 Daughter
Augusta H Jung
7 Daughter
Paul O Jung 3/12 Son
John W Sullivan
28 Boarder
Emma Sullivan
21 Wife
Mary Catherine Sullivan
11/12 Daughte

1910 United States Federal Census
Detail Source Discover
Name Paul O Young
[Paul D Young]
Age in 1910 10
Birth Date 1900
[1900]
Birthplace Ohio
Home in 1910 Cincinnati Ward 18, Hamilton, Ohio, USA
Sheet Number 4b
Street George Street
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Son
Marital Status Single
Father's Birthplace Ohio
Mother's Birthplace Ohio
Native Tongue English
Attended School N
Able to read Y
Able to Write Y
Enumeration District Number 0207
Enumerated Year 1910
Neighbors View others on page
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Mary A Young
46
Head
Walter E Young
24
Son
Bertha Young
21
Daughter
Augusta H Young
14
Daughter
Paul O Young 10 Son

1920 United States Federal Census

View1920 United States Federal Census
Detail Source Discover
Name Paul Jung
Age 19
Birth Year abt 1901
Birthplace Ohio
Home in 1920 West Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida
Street Main Street
Residence Date 1920
Race White
Gender Male
Relation to Head of House Brother-in-law
Marital Status Single
Father's Birthplace Germany
Mother's Birthplace Ohio
Able to Speak English Yes
Occupation Vaudeville
Industry Theater
Employment Field Wage or Salary
Attended School No
Able to read Yes
Able to Write Yes
Neighbors View others on page
Household Members (Name) Age Relationship
Henry Merkle
29
Head
Katherine Merkle
27
Wife
Marie Merkle
9
Daughter
Charles Merkle
7
Son
Roy Merkle
3
Son
Mary Jung
52
Mother-in-law
Walter Jung
35
Brother-in-law
Ethel Jung
28
Sister-in-law
Paul Jung 19 Brother-in-law

U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947

ViewU.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
Detail Source
Name Paul Otto Jung
Race White
Age 41
Relationship to Draftee Self (Head)
Birth Date 6 Mar 1900
Birth Place Dayton, Ohio, USA
Residence Place Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, USA
Registration Date 14 Feb 1942
Registration Place Tampa, Hillsborough, Florida, USA
Employer Ringling Bros Circus
Height 5 7
Weight 135
Complexion Light
Hair Color Gray
Eye Color Blue
Next of Kin Harry Merkle
Household Members (Name) Relationship
Paul Otto Jung Self (Head)

Paul Otto Jung
Birth: 6 Mar 1900 Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, USA
Death: 21 Apr 1965 (aged 65) Manhattan, New York County, New York, USA
Burial: Cremated

Memorial #: 221082743
Bio: Paul Otto Jung was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1900. Paul's mother and father did an acrobatic act in vaudeville, by age eight Paul, along with his brother Walter were performing in the family act.

In 1917 at age 16, Jung joined the Ringling Bros Circus as an acrobat. He left in 1924 to work again in vaudeville and then returned to the circus in 1934, which had become the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Jung continued to work as an acrobat until 1935 when he first put on that now famous clown makeup.

In 1938 while working on Ringling's Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus , Paul met his future wife Elsie who was performing as an aerialist and equestrian on the show.

In winter months Paul along with his brother and Elisie operated the "Laugh Factory" in Tampa, FL., where they manufactured clown props and costumes.

Paul began clowning with Ringling's circuses as and apprentice clown, by the 1950s he had worked his way up to "producing clown". As producing clown Jung developed new gags, designed and built props and oversaw all aspects of clown alley.

A tragic end to a brilliant career:

In 1965 Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. opened it's season at New York's Madison Square Garden as it had done for many years. During the month long engagement, Paul was staying at the Forrest Hotel which was located near Madison Square Garden.

On April 21, the circus was scheduled for a morning performance. By showtime Paul had not shown up for the performance. Concerned, fellow performers called the hotel, a Bell Boy was sent to check on his well-being. When the bell boy entered the room he found Jung lying dead on the floor in blood soaked pajamas.

Paul's hands were tied behind his back and he had been beaten severely. The room was blood-spattered, there was no forced entry, nor was the room ransacked.

Two people, Allen Jones and his girlfriend, Marian De Berry were later arrested for the murder. Jones was convicted of first degree murder, he was and sentenced to life imprisonment. De Berry pled guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for testifying against Jones.

Elsie continued to operate the Laugh Factory in Tampa for many years after Paul's death.

In 1992 Paul Jung was inducted into the The International Clown Hall of Fame.

Paul Jung (1900-1965) is perhaps one of the world's most recognizable clowns (albeit as an anonymous face), coming second only after his famous Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey colleague, Lou Jacobs. During and after Jung's lifetime, his distinctive, happy clown persona appeared on many commercial ads—most notably on the boxes of Kellogg's Sugar Smacks—and has been often used on European circus posters as a generic clown image.
Paul Jung was born March 18, 1900 in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Paul and Mary Young, who were already in show business. Young Paul debuted on stage at age eight, performing an acrobatic dancing act with his brother on the vaudeville circuit. He joined the Ringling Bros. Circus in 1917, when he was seveteen years old, working there as an acrobat, and he remained with the show when the Ringling brothers combined it with the Ringling-owned Barnum & Bailey Circus the following year. He would be working for the Ringling organization, with The Greatest Show On Earth and other Ringling-owned circuses, for nearly half a century.

It has been said that Paul Jung began performing as a clown in 1935, but his draft card, issued in 1918, gives his occupation as "Clown" and his employer as Barnum & Bailey Circus. So he actually started clowning at eighteen, a very young age, but he had good role models in The Greatest Show On Earth's Clown Alley, and in time would work alongside Lou Jacobs and Felix Adler, whose faces and silhouettes were already becoming icons of American clowning. Lou Jacobs may have inspired the highly imaginative Paul Jung with creating props and accessories—which would eventually lead him to becoming producing clown for the Ringling show.

Jung met his wife, Elsie, an equestrian and aerialist, while working with the Ringling-owned Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus in 1943. When not on the road, Paul and Elsie settled in Tampa, Florida, where Jung established his "Laugh Factory," in which he built props for the Ringling productions and for other circuses and ice shows. Some of the clown gags and props he imagined and built in his "factory" became classics of American clowning—such as The Adam Smasher (a machine that transformed a giant clown into several identical midget clowns…), the steam roller that flattens clowns, and Fireman, Save My Baby!, immortalized by Walt Disney in his animated feature, Dumbo.

A tragic Ending
Toward the end of his career, Paul Jung spent more time backstage than in the ring, supervising the clowns and preparing for them his sometimes-gigantic props. He was a very discreet person, highly regarded and well loved in the circus community. Yet his life ended in tragedy. On April 21, 1965, during Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's engagement at Madison Square Garden in New York, Paul Jung was found murdered in his hotel room, his hands tied behind his back. There was no apparent motive for the murder, which puzzled his circus colleagues as much as it saddened them. A few weeks later, the Police arrested a suspect, a drug addict who was eventually convicted of the murder.

Sadly, this was the only time Paul Jung made the newspapers' headlines; if his face was familiar to millions, his name, like that of most of the American clowns of the period, was by and large unknown. He is nonetheless well remembered by circus folks and circus enthusiasts, and his clown image has inspired many artists, even long after his death. His widow, Elsie, kept the "Laugh Factory" alive well into the 1970s, renting its vast collection of props to various shows. In 1992, Paul Jung was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in Baraboo, Wisconsin—which is fittingly located in the vicinity of the old Ringling Bros. Circus's winter quarters (today the Circus World museum), where Paul began his circus career.
Family Members
Parents
Karl Jung 1859-1941
Mary A Kosch Jung 1862-1939
Created by: Lizzie (47370782)
Added: 2021-01-14T17:56:01.000Z
URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/221082743/paul_otto-jung
Citation: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/221082743/paul_otto-jung: accessed April 23, 2025), memorial page for Paul Otto Jung (6 Mar 1900–21 Apr 1965), Find a Grave Memorial ID 221082743; Cremated; Maintained by Lizzie (contributor 47370782).


Includes photographs

The Tampa Tribune
Fri, May 06, 1927 ·Page 14 Paul was in Nashville at the time of his brother's,Walter's, death