Joy of Jingles remembered

Friday, Jan. 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

When William Tischler was not logging 35,000 hours as a pilot for United Airlines, he brought joy to thousands of ailing children in hospitals around the world.

Tischler, who 34 years ago created the character of Jingles the Clown, long engaged in Shriners clown activities in Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas eight years ago where he continued his charity work.

"My father loved flying as much as he enjoyed performing as Jingles (a whiteface-style clown)," said Eric Tischler of Las Vegas. "He traveled to places like Russia and South America (he spoke fluent Spanish) to entertain.

"Dad was real emphatic about keeping things moving during his act, and he loved to hear children's laughter."

William Fred Tischler, who held the record for most miles logged by a United Airlines pilot -- 16 1/2 million -- before hanging up his wings 13 years ago, died of cancer Jan. 5 in Las Vegas. He was 73.

His alter ego was appropriately billed as "The World's Most Traveled Clown."

Services for Tischler will be 2 p.m. Sunday at the Masonic Memorial Temple, 2200 W. Mesquite Ave. Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

The local professional clown community on Thursday remembered Jingles as an amateur clown "with a heart of gold," who loved bringing smiles to the faces of disabled children.

"Jingles did a lot of charity work and performed for the pure love of clowning," said Charlie the Clown, a professional auguste-style (makeup that emphasizes outer-facial features) clown.

"Often amateur clowns who do charity work get very little recognition for the valuable job they do."

Charlie The Clown, who in reality is Charlie Stron, a former teacher at the Ringling Bros. Clown College in Florida, said he worked with Jingles only a couple of times several years ago.

Las Vegans Dandy the Clown (Daniel Casolaro) and Willie the Clown (Bill Witter) never worked with Jingles but said they admire the type of work done by volunteer clowns like him.

"To see an older guy work as a clown entertaining children is wonderful," said Dandy, a 37-year-old auguste-style clown. "He (Jingles) had a heart of gold to entertain children who were hurting and scared and make them feel a lot better."

Willie, also an auguste-style clown, noted: "Shriner clowns do their job with no anticipation of payment other than the smiles on the children's faces."

There are three types of clowns -- "whiteface," "auguste" and "tramp."

Eric recalled that, throughout his father's career, he preferred the whiteface style in the tradition of Bozo. Jingles' trademarks included a hat with his name in glitter on the brim and a spot of glitter on the tip of his red nose.

Among Tischler's other popular characters that were not done in the whiteface style but rather with a minimum amount of makeup were Cowboy Santa and Jingo the Indian Medicine Man. Tischler made his own elaborate costumes, Eric said.

Texas-born Tischler stood 6 feet 2 in his prime and, as a young man, was a football player and Golden Gloves regional middleweight champion.

He developed a love of flight at age 15 and by 18 had earned his pilot's and instructor's licenses. Too young to serve as a fighter pilot in World War II, Tischler was hired by the Army Reserves to train Women's Air Service Pilots.

After the war, Tischler went to work for Pennsylvania Central Airlines, which later became Capital Airlines. In 1946, he was the company's youngest captain at age 23. At age 40, when Capital merged with United, Tischler became United's youngest captain.

During a 44-year career in commercial flight, he flew DC-8s and Boeing 727s and 747s, among other types of planes, and earned the title "senior captain."

In 1969, Jingles received the key to the city of New Orleans for his work on the Toys for Tots drive. In the early 1970s, he flew to the Arctic Circle to entertain Eskimos.

Tischler, a longtime advocate of the Shriners' free treatment of disabled children, said his dual careers were not as divergent as they may appear.

"When I start the engines on a jet, it requires total concentration from then on," he said in a 1972 interview for United's magazine, The Mainliner. "And when I'm doing the clown bit, everything is concentration, too."

In Southern California, Tischler was clown coordinator for the Shrine Circus. He came to Las Vegas in 1988 and performed up to last summer when he became ill. Tischler was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last November.

In addition to his son, Tischler is survived by another son, John Tischler of Los Angeles; a daughter, Laurie Lynn Scanlon of Williamsburg, Mass.; two brothers, John Tischler and Lindy Tischler, both of Tyler, Texas; two sisters, Viola Johnson and Olive Matthews, both of Tyler, Texas; and three grandchildren.

DONATIONS: In Tischler's or Jingles' memory to the Shriners Hospital, 2900 Rockey Point Drive, Tampa, FL., 33607-1460.