William L. Slout

William L. Slout is a Professor Emeritus at California State University, San Bernardino.

Biography

Having grown up as a family member of a dramatic tent show, he is a former actor and summer theatre producer turned educator. His publications have been mainly in the field of popular amusements. A premier book on tent shows, "Theatre in a Tent" (1972), is still available and continuously used in the research of that area of entertainment. Books compiled and edited by him include "Life Upon the Wicked Stage", "Old Gotham Theatricals", "Popular Amusements in Horse and Buggy America", "Broadway Below the Sidewalk", and "The Theatrical Rambles of Mr. And Mrs. John Greene". His efforts of the last several years have been devoted to research on the early American circus, culminating in "Clowns and Cannons", "Amphitheatres and Circuses", "Ink From a Circus Press Agent", "A Royal Coupling", "A Clown's Log", "Grand Entrée" (with Stuart Thayer), and "Chilly Billy". A work of thirty years, "Olympians of the Sawdust Circle", a biographical dictionary of the 19th century American circus, is currently a major resource for circus historians. Creations for the stage are "The Burial of Alma," a somewhat autobiographical comedy; "The Trial of Dr. Jekyll," an adaptation of the famous short story of Jekyll and Hyde; "Ethel, a Celebration of Ethel Waters," a one-woman musical; and most recently, "Ethel on Record," a sequel of the previous piece (which, at age 82, he is directing for performances in February). He has a B.A. from Michigan State University, an M.A. from Utah State University, and a Ph.D. from UCLA.

Publications

Author

*"Theatre in a Tent: The Development of a Provincial Entertainment" (1972) ISBN 0-87972-028-X
*"Olympians of the Sawdust Circle" ISBN 0-8095-0310-7

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) ISBN 0-89370-463-6
*"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"

External links

* [http://www.circushistory.org/Olympians/OlympiansB1.htm Circus History] Slout is the second down on the right-hand side.