Sammy SunshineHe has performed with the great and the good on an international scale, attended charity events raising thousands of pounds and captivated audiences around the world.

Yet for Ringwood-based clown Sammy Sunshine, the most important part of his career has been making millions of children laugh.

Now, at the age of 74, Sam Rowe is putting down his red nose after 44 years, because of poor health.

"I have loved every single moment of Sammy Sunshine's life and it is very sad for me to have to retire," he says.

"The greatest thing I have ever done is made so many children smile.

"Man is never so tall as when he stoops to talk to a child."

It is a widely-held belief that behind every clown's facade lies a past littered with sadness - and Sam certainly had a traumatic childhood.

He was born in 1931, the second youngest of ten. His mother died when he was just five years old and his father was left to bring up ten children alone.

But a trip to Buffalo Bill Cody's Circus at King's Park, in Bournemouth, during Sam's early childhood proved to be a ray of light, which has stayed with him throughout his life.

"We were very poor in those days, what with ten of us to support," says Sam. "The memory of those clowns somehow imprinted on my mind and, despite the hardships we faced and the trauma, which was yet to come, that memory somehow saw me through."

At 11 years old, Sam was sent to the East Coast Royal Naval School, an orphanage for boys, near Ipswich.

Nothing had prepared him for the horrors at the orphanage and his eyes brim with tears as he shares some of his memories with the Journal.

"Boy seamen were bullied and knocked about in those days. We learnt very quickly to cry quietly."

Sam's desire to entertain stood him in good stead in the years at the naval school and the bleak 14 years he spent in the Royal Navy, which he was forced to join at the age of 15.

Enduring the "endless abuse" and hating every moment on board the ships, Sam entertained the troops as a stand-up comedian.

"My sense of humour got me through and it was clear that I was able to exploit my talents," says Sam. "That red nose was always in the back of my mind."

His first big break came on board Lord Mountbatten's flagship in 1953, during the Suez Crisis, when Frankie Howerd arrived on board.

Sam stepped on to the stage and performed with Frankie - dazzling the audience and Frankie with his comic gift.

From then on, Sam became determined to brighten the lives of children.

He left the navy in 1957, a year after marrying Marian, who has spent hundreds of man hours sewing and stitching Sammy Sunshine's wacky outfits.

In the last four decades he has visited orphans all over the world, giving thousands of children more love in one hour than they have ever experienced before.

His greatest moments have been the years he was a member of the Super Sausage Squad, performing with professional clown Kirby Drill.

And, of course, when he was invited to entertain the handicapped children on board the Queen Elizabeth 2, where he came face to face with Princess Diana.

He rushed up to Diana and offered her his collapsible flower on behalf of the RSPCC - the Royal Society for the Protection of Clowns.

"She giggled and laughed and took the flower with her, not letting me have it back," says Sam. "She was wonderful."

Sammy Sunshine is well known locally, performing at many events, including the annual Somerley show, Ringwood Carnival and, most recently, the opening of Toad Corner in Poulner, which was his final performance.

Sam suffered an injury while he was in the navy, which has worsened over the years and now has forced him to retire.

"I am going to miss performing professionally and putting a smile on all those faces," says Sam.