Arthur Vercoe Pedlar

Who is Arthur Vercoe Pedlar?

Arthur Vercoe Pedlar is a British clown.

Arthur Pedlar was born into a Congregational family and lives in Southport. He was educated at Leighton Park School in Reading, Berkshire, England, a Quaker school. He first became interested in clowns when he visited Bertram Mills Circus in 1938. At school he discovered that he could communicate silently with an audience as a tramp clown and thus developed "Vercoe" the clown.

He learnt to unicycle at school and also to play various musical instruments. After undertaking National Service, and before joining the family business, he worked in a troupe of clowns as part of the Cirque Medrano in Paris. He also worked for three weeks with Buster Keaton. During his career, Pedlar has performed his clown act in Australia, Israel, Japan, Russia, and throughout Europe and Scandinavia.

Pedlar is an ordained Elder of the United Reformed Church, a combination of the Congregational and the Presbyterian churches. He is also a member of the "Holy Fools", an inter-denominational group of clowns who work in hospitals, prisons, schools, etc.

He has been President of the World Clown Association. In 1998, he was awarded a place in the International Clown Hall of Fame.