Fratellini Annie

French clown, the granddaughter of Paul Fratellini who carried on the tradition of the famous Fratellini brothers, adapting their routines to her impish feminine character. Each year, on her birthday, her father gave her a different musical instrument, a concertina, vibraphone, violin, clarinet, piano, etc. She learned to play them all and used them in her clowning. In 1974, she co-founded, with her husband, the Fratellini Circus School, and was its artistic director. A unique feature of her school is that it offers artistic and technical training. Annie directed her own circus, the École Nationale du Cirque in Paris, France. She has influenced the creators of the Big Apple Circus and Cirque du Soleil (Québec, Canada). She married on 4/17/1953 and divorced 5/22/1959. She made a second marriage on 1/27/1960 and divorced on 1 2/21/1966; one daughter. Her third marriage, to Pierre Etaix, was on 6/02/1969. Fratellini died of cancer on 7/01/1997, Neuilly sur Seine, France. Link to Wikipedia biography Read less