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Ringmaster (circus)
A ringmaster or ringmistress, or sometimes a ringleader, is a significant performer in many circuses. Most often seen in traditional circuses, the ringmaster is a master of ceremonies that introduces the circus acts to the audience. In smaller circuses, the ringmaster is often the owner and artistic director of the circus. Duties and functions A ringmaster introduces the various acts in a circus show and guides the audience through the experience, directing their attention to the various areas of the circus arena and helping to link the acts together while equipment is brought into and removed from the circus ring. A ringmaster may interact with some acts, especially the clown acts, to make the various acts part of a seamless circus performance. Ringmasters have become an integral part of the many circus shows and sometimes will be involved in elements of some of the acts performances. It is traditionally the ringmaster's job to use hyperbole whenever possible while introduci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term ''circus'' also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'Penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances developed significantly over the next fifty years, with large-scale theat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympia (London)
Olympia London, sometimes referred to as the Olympia Exhibition Centre, is an exhibition centre, event space and conference centre in West Kensington, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England. A range of international trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and sporting events are staged at the venue. There is an adjacent railway station at Kensington (Olympia) which is both a London Overground station, and a London Underground station. The direct District Line spur to the station only runs on weekends. Background The complex first opened in 1886. The Grand Hall and Pillar Hall were completed in 1885. The National Hall annexe was completed in 1923, and in 1930 the Empire Hall was added. After World War II, the West London exhibition hall was in single ownership with the larger nearby Earls Court Exhibition Centre. The latter was built in the 1930s as a rival to Olympia. In 2008, ownership of the two venues passed from P&O to Capco Plc whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entertainment Occupations
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousands of years specifically for the purpose of keeping an audience's attention. Although people's attention is held by different things because individuals have different preferences, most forms of entertainment are recognisable and familiar. Storytelling, music, drama, dance, and different kinds of performance exist in all cultures and were supported in royal courts and developed into sophisticated forms, over time becoming available to all citizens. The process has been accelerated in modern times by an entertainment industry that records and sells entertainment products. Entertainment evolves and can be adapted to suit any scale, ranging from an individual who chooses a private entertainment from a now enormous array of pre-recorded produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. The brainchild of Sir Hugh Beaver, the book was co-founded by twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter in Fleet Street, London, in August 1955. The first edition topped the best-seller list in the United Kingdom by Christmas 1955. The following year the book was launched internationally, and as of the 2022 edition, it is now in its 67th year of publication, published in 100 countries and 23 languages, and maintains over 53,000 records in its database. The international franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums. The popularity of the franchise has resulted in ''Guinness World Records'' becoming the primary international authority ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Lytton Jr
Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, Henry of Burgundy, Count of Portugal (father of Portugal's first king) ** Prince Henry the Navigator, Infante of Portugal ** Infante Henrique, Duke of Coimbra (born 1949), the sixth in line to Portuguese throne * King of Germany **Henry the Fowler (876–936), first king of Germany * King of Scots (in name, at least) ** Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1545/6–1567), consort of Mary, queen of Scots ** Henry Benedict Stuart, the 'Cardinal Duke of York', brother of Bonnie Prince Charlie, who was hailed by Jacobites as Henry IX * Four kings of Castile: **Henry I of Castile **Henry II of Castile **Henry III of Castile **Henry IV of Castile * Five kings of France, spelt ''Henri'' in Modern French since the Renaissance to italianize the name and to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Anthony Bailey
James Anthony Bailey (July 4, 1847 – April 11, 1906), born James Anthony McGinnis, was an American owner and manager of several 19th-century circuses, including The Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. Early life James Anthony McGinnis was born July 4, 1847 to Edward and Hannora McGinnis in Detroit, Michigan. Edward McGinnis died in October, 1849 of cholera and in 1855, James was orphaned when his mother died. James then went to live with his older sister, Catherine Gordon. Life with Catherine was difficult as she tended to be overbearing and harsh. Sometime between 1859 and 1860, James ran away from Catherine's home and found a job and a place to stay on a farm about 10 miles outside the city of Pontiac, Michigan. Finding life on the farm unrewarding, 13-year old James wandered into Pontiac where he found work at the Hodges House Hotel. After working at the hotel for a time, he was discovered by Colonel Frederic Harrison Bailey, a nephew of circus pioneer Hachaliah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George William Lockhart
George William Lockhart (real name Locker, 1849 – 24 January 1904) was a Victorian era elephant trainer. His original group of three elephants, Boney (pronounced Bonnie), Molly and Waddy, toured Great Britain's music hall scene, as well as Europe, and is reported to have appeared "500 times" at Proctor's Pleasure Palace in New York City in 1895. He is also known for his death in an elephant stampede that made two of his new elephants, Salt and Sauce, infamous until their deaths in 1952 and 1960, respectively. He was the brother of the elephant trainer, Sam Lockhart, and the father of George Claude Lockhart, who was the first ringmaster to wear the "pink" tails and top hat in circus.The Victorian Arena: The Performers, Volumes 1 and 2, John Turner, Lingdale's Press, 1995 and 2000, respectively. Early career He was born George William Locker in 1849. He was the eldest of three brothers and one sister. His parents were Sam Locker, Sr., a stilt-walking clown, and Hannah Pinder, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnathan Lee Iverson
Johnathan Lee Iverson (born January 30, 1976) is an American ringmaster best known for his association with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, where he was the first African-American ringmaster of a major U.S. circus. Biography Johnathan Lee Iverson began his career with the Boys Choir of Harlem. As a performing member of the group, Iverson circled the globe and crisscrossed the United States. In addition to performing before world leaders and dignitaries, including United States Presidents, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, Iverson has shared the stage with such artist as Lou Rawls, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Betty Buckley, Roberta Flack, Perry Cuomo, Geoffrey Holder, Kathleen Battle, Shirley Verett, Tony Bennett, and Lena Horne, all before the age of eighteen. As a graduate of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art & Performing A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Hanlon Jr
Tommy Hanlon Jr. (14 August 1923 – 9 October 2003) was an American-born actor, comedian, television host and circus ringmaster, notable for his career in Australia after emigrating there in 1959, where he became a Gold Logie-award-winning media personality, in 1962. Hanlon was notable for his early television appearances on daytime television and as host of the Australian version of United States game show ''It Could Be You''. Biography Early life He was born Tommy Gene Thomason in Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1923, to vaudeville performers Homer Emmons Thomason (whose stage name was "Tommy Hanlon") and Ruth Dorothy Manning. He appeared in his parents' act at the age of four, and later took the stage name Tommy Hanlon Jr. after his father's stage name. Professional career Hanlon first appeared on his own as a magician as a teenager and was an entertainer for the rest of his life. After two years with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in Los Angeles in the 1940s, and appearin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Barrett (ringmaster)
Norman Barrett is a veteran British circus ringmaster who made many appearances on television, notably with Charlie Cairoli in the children's television series ''Right Charlie''. He is well-known for his act with performing budgerigars. As a younger man, he was a bareback rider, famous for his Ben-Hur act where he would stand astride two horses while others ran in the opposite direction between his legs. He was awarded the MBE in the 2010 New Year honours list. Barrett worked with all the world's great circuses and spent 25 years at Blackpool Tower Circus. He was also the ringmaster of the Belle Vue Christmas Circus in Manchester in the 1970s and early 1980s. Barrett was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1990 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at the Tower Circus in Blackpool. Barrett has spent the last 16 years as ringmaster for the well-known Zippo's Circus touring England and Scotland. In 2013, Barrett appeared as the Mystery Guest on Russell Howard's Good Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolph Althoff
Adolf Althoff (, 25 June 1913 in Sonsbeck – 14 October 1998 in Stolberg (Rhineland) was a German circus owner, animal tamer and performer who saved several people from the Holocaust by having them work and travel in his circus. A member of a 300-year-old circus family, Althoff and his story are featured in a book about Germans who saved Jews from the Holocaust (''Other Germans Under Hitler'' by Herbert Straeten). The events of his rescue during World War II are also dramatized in a 1998 Showtime TV-movie entitled ''Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Families''. Althoff warned the people he rescued with the code ''Go Fishing.'' In 1995 he and his wife Maria were named Righteous Among the Nations, an Israeli honor. He was born into the family in Sonsbeck, Germany. At age 17 he became publicity director for his families of the circus. In his twenties Althoff and his sister formed their own circus, of which he was the ringmaster for 30 years. In 1940, Althoff began five years work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bertram Mills
Bertram Wagstaff Mills (August 1873 – 16 April 1938) was a British circus owner originally from Paddington, London, who ran the Bertram Mills Circus. His circus became famous in the UK for its Christmas shows at Olympia in West London televised in 1938, 1946 and 1947. His troupe was the last to perform with live animals on the Drury Lane Theatre stage. Early life Born in August 1873, Bertram was the son of Halford Mills of Paddington, London, an undertaker and the owner of the Reformed Funeral Company, a coach-building works, and the ''Undertakers Journal''. Halford Mills was described as a "pioneer of embalming". Bertram was brought up on two small farms at Chalfont St. Giles (which his father owned for the purpose of sending his horses there to rest), where he developed his passion for horseback riding. He left school aged 15 and started washing down the coaches for the family business, which was started by his grandfather (who used to be an evangelical preacher). Within a ye ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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