''Clowning Around'' is a 1992 Australian

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

that was shot on location in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It was based on the novel ''Clowning Sim'' by David Martin.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 119 The film was produced by independent film company Barron Entertainment Films in Western Australia and educational film company

WonderWorks ''WonderWorks'' is an anthology series which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the Public Broadcasting Service, the Walt Disney Company purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, was directed by George Whaley. It was distributed by

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. It featured Australian actors such as Clayton Williamson,

Noni Hazelhurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...

Ernie Dingo Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born ...

Rebecca Smart Rebecca Elizabeth Smart (born 30 January 1976) is an Australian actress, who began acting for television at the age of eight. Her first movie role was one year later in ''The Coca-Cola Kid''. She played the lead in the 1988 film '' Celia'' and ...

, and

Jill Perryman Jill Perryman AM, MBE (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian former stage and screen actress and singer. Combining both her stage acting and her singing, she featured in numerous musical theatre roles, over eight decades and spanning 70 years of p ...

, and also featured veteran American actor

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...

along with French actor Jean-Michel Dagory. This series was followed up with a sequel entitled ''Clowning Around 2'', which was released in 1993.

Plot

Simon Gunner, is a star-struck foster kid who aspires to become a circus

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

. With the help of veteran funster Jack Merrick, Simon ultimately fulfills his goal.

Cast

*Clayton Williamson as Simon Gunner *

Annie Byron Annie Byron is an AFI Award-winning Australian film, stage, and television actress best known for ''Wolf Creek 2'', ''Fran'', ''Muriel's Wedding'', and ''Doing Time for Patsy Cline''. Early life Byron was born in Inverell, Australia. She ...

as Una Crealy *Jean-Michel Dagory as Anatole Tolin *

as Jack Merrick *

as Mr. Ranthow *

as Linda Crealy *

Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...

as Sarah Gunner *

as Miss Gabhurst *Steve Jodrell as Skipper Crealy *

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...

as orphan (uncredited)

References

External links

* * 1992 films Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Australian children's television series French children's films Australian children's films Australian independent films PBS original programming Films about orphans 1990s children's films Films about clowns 1990s English-language films 1990s Australian films 1990s French films {{child-film-stub