Tragic Clown

The Tragic Clown was introduced with The Sims: Livin' Large. Should a Sim have a painting of the Tragic Clown in their house and then look at the painting when they are in a bad mood, the Tragic Clown himself will appear to try and cheer the Sim up. However, it doesn't help that the clown is also feeling miserable, so any tricks he attempts to do will fail, meaning he will probably make your Sims even more unhappy. He wanders around your house, crying and coughing, and although your Sims can interact with him, the only interaction that makes them happier is insulting him. The only way the Tragic Clown can leave is if the Sim cheers up (a hard feat to achieve when the Clown is constantly making matters worse), or if the painting of the clown catches fire; if this happens, the Tragic Clown himself will also go up in flames.

Maxis also offered a download called the Clown Catchers, which, when rung up, would come round and remove the Tragic Clown from the house.

The Sims 3
At the graveyard you can find Tragic Clown's tombstone. His Location of death, or why he was absent in the Sims 2 is unknown, although on his tombstone (which can be found along the east side of the cemetery) there is a bronze plate with a picture, like all the other tombstones stating his cause of death (which happens to be a hand sticking out of water, indicating that he drowned). On some occasions, his ghost will pop out as a blue ghost, wearing a top hat and some plain clothing, thus not looking like the Tragic Clown from The Sims 2. His ghost can usually be spotted around the time when most of the other ghosts are already out. Also, on the milk cartons, a picture of him can be seen.