WEST BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Making people happy has been 's life calling for six decades, but now a West Bridgewater man says it's time to hang up his bright yellow size-20 clown shoes.
George Hebert has entertained thousands of kids at parties, parades, and fairs—including the 1965 New York World's Fair.
"Clowning has been my life, it really has," Hebert said. "I truly love being a clown."
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It all began in grammar school.
"The kids all thought of me as the class clown," he said. "One of the teachers asked me if I would dress up in a clown costume and put on clown face."
He started his own business, and spent years making children smile. His signature move is making coins disappear, and re-appear behind kids' ears.
But at age 75, he can't perform the tricks like he used to.
"Over the past two years, my hands have developed arthritis and neuropathy," he said. "The biggest secret of being a good clown is knowing when to quit. Rather than do it and ruin it, I wanted to do it and end on the right side."
Of his long career clowning around, Hebert said he has no regrets.
"If you go to work every day and it's fun, it's not really work," he said. "That's the way my life has been."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports
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