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Twilight of Twitter the clown

From a mud clown to a barrel act to a European acrobat, George "Twitter" Johnston had a remarkable career in vaudeville theatres and circus tents across North America. Born in Pictou, N.S. in 1889, he started clowning as a teenager and became a nimble tumbler who wowed audiences for over 50 years. In this 1962 CBC Radio interview, Johnston uses colourful circus lingo to describe the dives he slept in, the nascent celebrities he encountered and the stunts he pulled off. 
• According to the Pictou Historical Photograph Society, George "Twitter" Johnston's path was set when he saw a Wild West show in Pictou, N.S. at age five. He learned tumbling and as a teenager formed a vaudeville trio - Twitter, Twinkle and Twilight - and began performing professionally. By 18 he had joined the Cole Bros. Circus and later toured as a "comic leaper." Small but athletic, he got his name Twitter due to his quick movements.
  • In 1912 Johnston met and later married fellow Nova Scotian Hazel Grace Bickerton, with whom he had three children. They travelled with him throughout the Maritimes and in Florida from 1927 to 1931. He ran a lunch counter and antiques store in Pictou during the winter months and performed in the summer.

• Johnston died less than three months after this interview, on April 29, 1962. His gravestone is adorned with a clown.

• Nova Scotia musician Dave Gunning was inspired to write Twitter's Song as a tribute after seeing Johnston's gravestone in his hometown cemetery. Gunning performed the song live on television at the 2005 East Coast Music Awards. 

Medium: Radio
Program: Assignment
Broadcast Date: Feb. 8, 1962
Guest(s): George (Twitter) Johnston
Host: Maria Barrett, Bill McNeil
Reporter: Roland Sherwood
Duration: 6:42 Photo: Pictou Historical Photograph Society

Last updated: February 10, 2012

Page consulted on March 22, 2013

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