William Lawrence Slout (July 17, 1923 – February 4, 2017) was an American professor of

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

California State University, San Bernardino California State University, San Bernardino (Cal State San Bernardino or CSUSB) is a public research university in San Bernardino, California. Founded in 1965, it is one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. The m ...

. He wrote ''Olympians of the Sawdust Circle'' and other reference books on circus history.

Biography

Slout was born on July 17, 1923 in

Charlotte, Michigan Charlotte ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,074. It is the county seat of Eaton County. Charlotte is in the central portion of the county, on the boundary between Eaton Township and C ...

. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Michigan State University in 1947 and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

in 1953. He received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

. Slout died in Redlands, California on February 4, 2017, at the age of 93.

Publications

Author

*''Theatre in a Tent: The Development of a Provincial Entertainment'' (1972) *''Olympians of the Sawdust Circle'' (1998)

Editor

*''Life upon the Wicked Stage: A Visit to the American Theatre of the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s As Seen in the Pages of the New York Clipper (Clipper Studies in the Theatre, No. 14, 1996) *''Old Gotham Theatricals'' *''Popular Amusements in Horse and Buggy America'' *''Broadway Below the Sidewalk'' *''The Theatrical Rambles of Mr. And Mrs. John Greene'' *''Clowns and Cannons'' *''Amphitheatres and Circuses'' *''Ink From a Circus Press Agent'' *''A Royal Coupling'' *''A Clown's Log'' *''Grand Entrée'' (with Stuart Thayer) *''Chilly Billy''

References

External links

Circus History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slout, William L. 1923 births 2017 deaths California State University, San Bernardino faculty Michigan State University alumni Utah State University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni People from Charlotte, Michigan