Joy The Clown, a lifelong entertainer, died Tuesday of natural causes.

For Clown, clowning wasn't an act, it was his life. And his name was no joke.

"He loved showing people his driver's license," said Jeff McClure, a magician and friend of Clown's. "No one believed it was his real name."

Clown claimed April Fool's Day as his birthday, and though he was born in 1943, he always said he was "9-years-old forever," his daughter Tiffany de Bruyn said.

Clown literally tripped into a lifetime of entertaining when he stumbled onto the stage of a live clown show while visiting a TV station in his hometown of Wichita, Kan., at the age of 6. He caused so much laughter that he was invited back.

By the 1960s, Clown was living in New York City and had developed a character named Sonny Whetson. He performed in parks and theaters and was an official city entertainer under Mayor John Lindsay.

In the 1970s, he came to Gainesville where he met his future wife, Betty. Clown had already legally changed his name, and in 1979, Betty became Mrs. Clown. In 1983, the couple had Tiffany Clown.

Now married as Tiffany de Bruyn, Joy's daughter admitted Friday that being "Tiffany Clown" in school was embarrassing. But when she joined her dad in starting a kids variety show on channel 34 in Athens, things changed.

"When we got the TV show I became the cool kid in school," she said.

The show, "Joy's Club House," aired more than 60 episodes in its two years. McClure helped with the show by painting, building sets and working as a cameraman.

"We had a great time - he really loved that show," McClure said.

For the last 12 years of his life, Joy served ice cream at the Corner Drugstore on Thompson Bridge Road in Gainesville. When students from Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy walked down to get ice cream with their class, Joy would don his bowler hat, barber shop quartet jacket, white pants and makeup.

"I just know he's going to be missed by a lot of people," drugstore owner Cleve Brown said. "He's been a fixture here for so long."

Brown has a book out for visitors to record their memories of Joy. He said he plans to present the book to Joy's family during a memorial service scheduled for May 21. A location and time have not been set.

Though he was entertaining as a performer, Joy also was patient, caring and considerate, family and friends said.

He was "always willing to give you the shirt off his back," Betty said.

Still, Tiffany, now 27 and living in New York City, said she will always remember her father's ability to tell a funny story.

"He could make a pun about anything, a joke about everything," she said. "I'll miss that."