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Annie Fratellini was one of the few women to find success in the male-dominated world of circus clowns. She occasionally appeared in feature films, notably Le Grand Amour, Federico Fellini's The Clowns (1970), and Henry and June (1990). Born in French Algiers to a famed circus family, Fratellini launched her career with the Medrano and Pinder circuses when she was 14. Much later in her career, Fratellini would found one of Europe's first circus schools. On June 30, 1997, she died of cancer at age 64. Fratellini is survived by her husband, filmmaker Pierre Etaix.