Michael Polakovs, Coco the Clown and creator of fast food character Ronald McDonald, dies in America aged 86

Michael Polakovs's character creation, now more than 40 years old, is probably still the best known piece of corporate branding in the world.

By then already one of the world’s leading clowns, in 1966 he was hired by fast food chain McDonald’s to create Ronald McDonald.

He not only designed the outfit and make-up, but appeared in the first eight television commercials that featured the character.

Michael was born in Riga, Latvia, to the circus artistes Nikolai and Valentina Polakovs. His father was well known as Coco the Clown in Britain, first in the 1930s with Bertram Mills's Circus and then, when that closed, in 1967 with Robert Brothers Circus.

In 1934, Nikolai had come to England with his wife and their six children.

By 17, Michael, the oldest of the children, had made his debut in the ring as the clown, Coconut, alongside his sister, Helen, who was billed as Cocotina.

During the war, the Mills circus closed and Michael dug roads and laid gas pipes before becoming a driver for the Government, until eventually the family found work at Blackpool Tower Circus which stayed open during the war years.

Bertram Mills reopened in 1946 and the Polakovs family rejoined it the following year, touring Britain with Michael’s trademark becoming his stilt walking.

In a bid to escape their father’s shadow, Michael left Mills in 1951, enjoying stints with Billy Smart in Britain and in the US with the world-famous Ringling Brothers' Barnum & Bailey Circus, The Greatest Show on Earth.

There his slapstick acts were given star billing and he became responsible for creating and directing all the clowns' routines.

It was his fame at Barnum & Bailey’s, as Coco the Clown, which led to him being approached by McDonald’s.

Enjoying life in America, and having met his second wife, Hazel, there, he settled in Kentucky. Michael already had four children with his first wife, Lillian, including a son, Graham, who also became a clown.

With Hazel, he had a son and a daughter, all of whom are still living in the States.

Michael Polakovs, clown; born, February 23, 1923, died, December 6, 2009.