1. Skeeter Reece became a clown after serving in the Vietnam War.
12 Facts About Skeeter Reece
1. 2.
Skeeter Reece's parents were Amos, a construction worker, and Ella Mae, who worked in the public school system.
3.
Skeeter Reece's grandmother nicknamed him "Skeeter" since he was small as newborn.
4.
Skeeter Reece went to Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx, played basketball and ran track.
5.
Skeeter Reece later found the athletic experience useful in clowning.
6.
In Florida, he had a chance meeting with a cousin who was a member of the King Charles Troupe, and Skeeter Reece, who was familiar with the troupe from New York, was invited to join.
7.
In 1975, Skeeter Reece joined some clowns in an improvised performance at a Thanksgiving dinner.
8.
The clowns had put makeup on him, and Skeeter Reece felt that this was what he wanted to do.
9.
Comedian Rain Pryor tells in her memoir that Skeeter Reece was her mother's boyfriend when Pryor was about nine years old.
10.
Pryor wanted Skeeter Reece to come to school with her and prove her point, but he was traveling with the circus.
11.
Skeeter Reece performed with the Ringling in venues like Madison Square Garden, the Spectrum, the Blue Cross Arena and the Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno.
12.
In 1994, Skeeter Reece was the opening act together with Albert Alter at a Britt Music Festival with the Smothers Brothers.