Famous Circus Entertainers
Circus performers have been delighting American audiences since the late 1700s, though the historical roots of many circus-type performances date back even further. Traditional performances seen in America’s circuses have almost always included clown acts, acrobatic feats, exotic animals, and human oddities. While there were numerous famous circus entertainers throughout the years, some names and their circus acts were legendary.
- Perhaps one of the most famous circus performers in history was not human. Jumbo the Elephant made his first appearance in 1882 at Madison Square Garden in New York City with the infamous PT Barnum. Jumbo weighed more than 6 tons and was long referred to as the greatest circus attraction in American circus history.
- General Tom Thumb became world famous in the mid-1880s. His actual name was Charles Stratton and was born with dwarfism. At less than 3-feet-tall, he toured with the circus doing impersonations, as well as performing in skits. It is interesting to note that he acquired international fame and even once enjoyed dinner, along with his wife, at the White House with President and Mrs. Lincoln.
- Harry Houdini, legendary magician and escape artist, was a circus performer prior to becoming a well-known entertainer. He and his wife danced and sang, along with performing a unique magic act, with the Welsh Brothers Circus in 1895.
- Another famous non-human circus entertainer was Gargantua the Great, a large gorilla showcased by the Ringling Brothers Circus in the late 1930s. He was billed as “the world’s most terrifying living creature.
- The “Marvelous Mable Stark” gained fame as the greatest female tiger trainer in history. Her act was one of the most popular circus animal shows for a number of years beginning in the 1920s. More than once, she was very seriously injured in savage tiger attacks.
- The Flying Wallendas were a foursome of aerialists who debuted in America in 1928. Their death-defying acts were huge crowd-pleasers for many years. Wallenda family members have carried on the tradition of entertaining on the high wire, and they still perform amazing daredevil acts today.