Portage County Historical Society

Parley Baer

"Parley Baer was the The Ringmaster at Caesars' Lake Tahoe with Emmett Kelly's circus. He was a very special friend, and a great lover of the Circus. He was married to Ernestina Clarke (no relation), who was a famous lady Bareback Ballerina Rider with the riding act "The Clarkonians" during the 1920's & 30's. She was also a member of flying trapeze act, "The Clarkonians". Parley, in the late 1930's was a Press Agent for Al G. Barnes Circus."

"Both have a long history around the Circus. He was in a lot of movies abd voice-over commercials. You may remember seeing him as the Mayor of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith TV show. Also, he was the voice of the Head Elf in the Keebler Cookie Commercials. He was a very nice person, and we enjoyed working with him. All the comments and announcements about us were HIS. No coaching or "notes" from us!"