Reginald Alexander Montgomery (Sep 15, 1947 – Jan 13, 2002) was an American clown, actor and director. He was best known as the first African-American clown to perform in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, though he spent only a year of his career doing so.
Early life Montgomery was born in 1947 in Tallahassee, Florida, and had two siblings. His parents wanted him to become an English teacher. In high school, he studied acting and played touch football. He went to Florida A&M University and studied drama, graduating in 1968.
Speaking to his childhood experience, he said, "Especially being of color, I am always figuring out a way to survive in the world and in the theater...I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida in the 50s where people were still being lynched".
As a child, Montgomery had a speech impediment, which required surgery. In part to help with his speech impediment, when he was 6 years old he was enrolled in a theater program at Florida A&M University, run by Sheppard Randolph Edmunds, founder of the first Black theater educational program at Dillard University in 1936, and sometimes known as "the dean of Black academic theater". Montgomery stayed in the program for 8 years.
After later attending as an adult and graduating from Florida A&M University in 1968, Montgomery studied at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, the first year of the school's existence. The dean of the school, Mel Miller, saw Montgomery in a local stage production, and invited Montgomery to apply. Of 1,000 applicants, Montgomery was one of 30 accepted.
He studied under Otto Griebling and Emmett Kelley, learning "acrobatic exercises--tumbles, flops and rolls...[and] also studied elements of visual comedy, along with practice work in pantomime." He expressed not liking circus when he had seen it 10 years prior, but "decided to give it a try" after being invited to apply. Drawn to performance, his parents expressed a preference for him to be an English teacher (he did, in fact, work as a substitute English teacher at Florida's Sarasota Junior High while attending Clown College "to earn 'bread-and-butter' money").
He later earned a master's degree in fine arts from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.
Clowning In 1969, he attended the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, founded the year before. He was the only Black man in his classes, and Ringling's first Black clown. During the six weeks of clown college he also worked as a substitute English teacher. He did not want to appear in white face, and with the agreement of the circus managers he applied a more scaled down clown make up.
He stayed with Ringling for a year, saying that
In 1969, after graduating from clown college, he toured as a clown with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, continuing to refuse to do white-face, saying to Ebony magazine in 1969: "My own paint job's good enough."
Acting and directing In the 1970s, Montgomery established the Minority Repertory Theater in Dallas, TX together with actress Irma P. Hall, where he worked with Paul Baker at the Dallas Theater Center. While in Dallas, he portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. He later moved to Los Angeles, CA to further pursue acting. In 1982, he moved to New York.
In 1986, he was part of George C. Wolfe's play The Colored Museum, where he played several characters. His theater work included Suzan-Lori Parks's The America Play and In the Blood, as well as plays by Zora Neale Hurston. Additionally, he worked as a director and acting coach. Montgomery's film and TV roles included Matlock (TV series), Law & Order, Malcolm X, and Joe the King.
In theater, Montgomery staged Spunk (1990), as well as the Broadway production of Mule Bone (1991), Kia Corthron's Digging Eleven, I Ain't Yo Uncle: The New Jack Revisionist Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Colored Museum, and ...Love, Langston at Hartford Stage, where he also served for 2 years as an associate artistic director. Montgomery previously appeared in some of George C. Wolfe's original productions of Back Alley Tales, including the aforementioned Spunk, in which he played a pimp, and The Colored Museum. His roles in The Colored Museum included "a series of satirical sketches about black American history" playing various characters, including "Walter-Lee-Beau-Willy, a purposely stereotypical black man" and "Miss Roj...a transvestite in white go-go boots and orange patio pants". He also performed on Broadway, acting in The Green Bird.
For his performances in Wolfe's plays, he won the Audelco Best Actor Award, at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Upon meeting Montgomery, Wolfe writes in a tribute article memorializing the artist:
In 2001, he portrayed James Baldwin in Wesley Brown's A Prophet Among Them, his final acting credit.
From 1995 to 1999, Montgomery was an associate professor of theater arts at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. While at Trinity, Montgomery wrote and directed many productions including, The Suburban Violence Project, Reggie Montgomery Directs, as well as Up Front and Personal, a collection of stories written by his Trinity Students during Montgomery's multicultural workshop.
In 2000, Montgomery directed Suzzanne Douglas in Lady Day at the Emerson Bar and Grill, at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ. He previously worked with Douglas in an Actors Studio production of The Obeah Man, a musical adaptation of Molière's The Doctor in Spite of Himself.
Montgomery also taught acting at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance and at the American Musical and Dramatic Arts Academy in New York.
Personal life Montgomery was a close friend of fellow actor Tommy Hollis.
Death Montgomery was found dead in his New York City apartment on January 13, 2002. He died of natural causes after "a long illness". He was survived by a brother and a sister. He was buried in Tallahassee, Florida.
His frequent collaborator, George C. Wolfe, said:
Theatrical performances +YearTitleRole1970sBack Alley Tales 1970sThe Caucasian Chalk Circle Azdak1970sA Christmas CarolEbenezer Scrooge1984Short EyesEl Raheem1985Raisin in the SunWalter Lee Younger1985Twelfth NightAntonio1986The TempestStephano1986-87The Colored MuseumModel, Miss Roj, Willy, Kid1988The Colored MuseumModel, Miss Roj, Willy, Kid1989Measure for MeasureLucio1990Spunk: Three Tales by Zora Neale HurstonSykes, Sweetback, Voice, One1991Mule BoneLige Mosley1991Black EaglesBuddy1994The America PlayFoundling Father1994The Merry Wives of WindsorHugh Evans1999In the BloodBaby, Reverend D2001A Prophet Among Them Media file of Reggie Montgomery performing in The Colored Museum. This is one of Montgomery's most notable works, awarding him an Audelco.
Directing +YearTitle1995Spunk: Three Tales by Zora Neale Hurston1995I Ain't Yo' Uncle: The New Jack Revisionist Uncle Tom's Cabin1997The Colored Museum1997Thunder Knocking on the Door1998...Love Langston1999Digging Eleven2000-01The Piano Lesson2001Lady Day at Emerson Grill Shades of Black and Brown
Filmography +YearTitleRole(s)MediumNotes1982They Call Me Bruce?Young Black ManFilm1987WeedsRabble RouserFilm1988MatlockMr. BunabiTelevision1 episode1991Great PerformancesMiss Roj, Walter-Lee-Beau-Willie-JonesTelevision1 episode1991Hangin' with the HomeboysRastaFilm1992Malcolm XDick JonesFilm1993Ghost WriterDarryl ThomasTelevision2 episodes1995New York UndercoverMcNamaraTelevision2 episodes1992-1996Law & OrderLeon Monroe, Dawkins, Francis AweTelevision3 episodes1997OzBlack History TeacherTelevision1 episode1999Joe the KingAndyFilm
Video games +YearTitleRole(s)Notes2001AquaNoxLieutenant Boston Harper, Iwan KingVoice actor
References
Further reading
External links
Reggie Montgomery at AboutTheArtists.com