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For other uses of Pierrot, see Pierrot (disambiguation)

Pierrot is a stock character of mime and Commedia dell'Arte, a French variant of the Italian Pedrolino. His character is that of the sad clown, pining for love of Columbine, who inevitably breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin. He is usually depicted wearing a loose, white tunic. The noticeable feature of Pierrot's behaviour is his naïveté, he is seen as a fool, always the butt of pranks, yet nonetheless trusting. Pierrot is also portrayed as moonstruck, distant and oblivious to reality.

One may be said to be Pierroting if one is behaving like Pierrot.

The French character was purportedly first created by Jean-Gaspard Deburau. He is the protagonist of the famous French folk song, Au Clair de la Lune.

Spelled "Pjerrot", the character is a fixture at Bakken, the world's oldest amusement park in Denmark. According to Bakken publicity, the character is more than 4,000 years old, and originated in Turkey. It is also claimed that in ancient times, the broad red mouth of the character was created by physically cutting the mouth to make it larger.

20th century Russian cabaret singer Alexander Vertinsky was famous for his portrayal of Pierrot, for which he wore a black costume and powdered his face.

Contents 1 Pierrot in poetry 2 Pierrot in classical music 3 Pierrot in popular culture 4 See also

And lo, in that dawn he was pierroting over,

Swinging in spirals round the fresh breasts of day.

From the posthumously published poem "The Moth That God Made Blind" by Hart Crane.

• Langston Hughes authored short poems entitled Pierrot and A Black Pierrot.

• The second part of the piano composition Carneval written by R. Schumann

• Pierrot Lunaire ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the moonlight") is an important work of Arnold Schoenberg, a setting of Albert Giraud's work of French poems of the same name (translated into German by Erich Otto von Hartleben) to music.

• Die tote Stadt, an opera by Erich Korngold includes the aria Pierrot's Tanzlied (Mein Sehnen, mein wähnen) sung by the character Fritz.

• Pierrot le Fou is a film by Jean-Luc Godard, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina.

• The evil Digimon Piemon, called Piedmon in America

• American filmmaker Kenneth Anger features Pierrot in his film "Rabbit's Moon".

• David Bowie wore a Pierrot costume in the photo shoot for the sleeve of his album "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)".

• Leo Sayer dressed as Pierrot on tour following the release of his first album "Silverbird"

• The Japanese pop band Berryz Koubou's song Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba features the lyric "I am Pierrot" in reference to a girl who has just confessed her love and, having not yet received an answer, imagines the worse.

• Novembre, a progressive metal band from Italy, has a song called "Comme Pierrot" ("Like Pierrot") on the Novembrine Waltz album.

• Los Hermanos, a rock band from Brazil, has a song called "Pierrot" on the debut album, Los Hermanos.

'Pierrot' is a song by Lee Hyun Do and is featured in the rhythm video game Pump It Up.

• Brindis por Pierrot (Cheers for Pierrot) is an album of the Uruguayan songwriter/singer Jaime Ross.

• The song "The Carnival Is Over" by Australian band The Seekers features the lines "But the joys of love are fleeting / For Pierrot and Columbine."

• Indie rock band Placebo's album "Meds" contains a track called "Pierrot the Clown", including the lyrics "I'll be wallowing in sorrow/Wearing a frown, like Pierrot the clown".

• The video game series Magical Drop features "Black Pierrot" as a secret character, an opponent only the best players would get to face.

• In the anime series, Cowboy Bebop, there is an episode titled "Pierrot Le Fou." The episode features a genetically-altered madman with a perpetual smile. He is dressed to resemble Pierrot and hunts down anyone who happens to see him.

• In the anime series, Yakitate!! Japan, there is a judge called Pierrot, who judges breads in the Monaco Cup arc of the storyline. He was originally the son of the King of Monaco, but his mother died whilst giving birth. After eating the bread of Azuma Kazuma, he went back in time to meet his father and mother, and ultimately ended up saving her life, hence earning the name Pierrot (after himself).

• In the manga series D.Gray-man, the Millennium Earl and Allen Walker (and his Innocence) are described as 'Two Pierrots, dancing in a dream with two different endings'. Furthermore, Allen's Innocence is said to resemble 'the white clown that chases after Auginiste'.

• Rintaro's segment of the anime triptych Neo-Tokyo ("Labyrinth") features a somewhat sinister clown who resembles some representations of Pierrot.

• In the little magazine The Savoy from the 1890's, a Beardsley drawing was often printed on the back cover featuring a mischievous pierrot in place of the traditional hero Bellerophon on the back of the winged horse Pegasus.

• Neil Gaiman's short story, "Harlequin Valentine", features a Pierrot or "Petey" character.

• Pierrot (band) was a Japanese rock band active from 1994-2006.

• Japanese musician Közi often wore a pierrot costume while a member of the visual rock band MALICE MIZER

• Pedrolino
• Commedia dell'arte
• Jerry Cornelius
• Harlequin