William Lawrence Slout

William Lawrence Slout (July 17, 1923 – February 4, 2017) was a professor of theater at California State University, San Bernardino. He wrote Olympians of the Sawdust Circle and other reference books on circus history.

He was born on July 17, 1923. He served in World War II and received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1947 and an M.A. from Utah State University in 1953. He received a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Slout passed away on February 4, 2017 at the age of 93.

Author

• Theatre in a Tent: The Development of a Provincial Entertainment (1972) ISBN 0-87972-028-X
• Olympians of the Sawdust Circle (1998) ISBN 0-8095-0310-7

Editor

• Life upon the Wicked Stage: A Visit to the American Theatre of the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s As Seen in the Pages of the New York Clipper (Clipper Studies in the Theatre, No. 14, 1996) ISBN 0-89370-463-6
• Old Gotham Theatricals ISBN 978-0-89370-462-9
• Popular Amusements in Horse and Buggy America ISBN 978-0-89370-461-2
• Broadway Below the Sidewalk ISBN 978-0-8095-1301-7
• The Theatrical Rambles of Mr. And Mrs. John Greene ISBN 978-0-8095-0306-3
• Clowns and Cannons ISBN 978-0-8095-1304-8
• Amphitheatres and Circuses ISBN 978-0-913960-33-2
• Ink From a Circus Press Agent ISBN 978-0-8095-1302-4
• A Royal Coupling ISBN 978-0-89370-013-3
• A Clown's Log ISBN 978-0-8095-1307-9
• Grand Entrée (with Stuart Thayer) ISBN 978-0-8095-1309-3
• Chilly Billy ISBN 978-0-89370-012-6