George Ganjou
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The Ganjou Brothers and Juanita were a popular
variety act Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compà ...
based in Britain between 1930 and the 1950s. They performed an
adagio Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to: Music * Adagio, a Tempo#Basic tempo markings, tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner * Adagio (band), a French progressive m ...
act, with the three men throwing and catching the woman in a graceful and acrobatic manner, and were regarded as the pre-eminent act of their type.


Origins

The three Ganjou brothers were born in the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, the sons of Dimitri Ganzulewicz. George Ganjou (1901–1988) was born Georgi Ganzulewicz in Chernigov (Chernihiv), now in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
. Bob Ganjou (1902–1972) was born Bogdan Ganzulewicz in Chernigov. Serge Ganjou (1904–1998) was born Sergiusz Ganzulewicz in
Siedlce Siedlce [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated b ...
, now in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. Their surname is often given as Ganjoulevitch.Richard Anthony Baker, ''Old Time Variety: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2011, , pp.207-208 The family moved around in eastern Europe and took various menial jobs. They moved from Warsaw to Moscow at the start of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and then to southern Russia during the
1917 Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
. Denis Gifford, Obituary: Serge Ganjou, ''The Independent'', 22 October 2011
Retrieved 23 February 2021
The eldest brother, Georgi, joined the Polish Army before performing as an orchestral
flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
, and then emigrated to Canada and on to the United States as a musician. Bogdan - who became known as Bob - went from Russia to
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, and then to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. Sergiusz - later Serge - remained in Warsaw for some time as a student, and then as a performer of gypsy music in cafés and concert parties.Roger Wilmut, ''Kindly Leave the Stage: The Story of Variety 1919-1960'', Methuen, 1985, , pp.92-94 In New York in the 1920s, Bob started performing a traditional adagio act with Russian ballerina Natacha Nattova, and another man. When Nattova married Nicholas Daks, her husband joined the act, and it became the first act in which three men threw the woman performer, achieving greater heights than its predecessors in which there had only been one thrower and one catcher. Billed as Natasha Nattova and Company, the act created a sensation, and appeared in the
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
film ''
The Hollywood Revue of 1929 ''The Hollywood Revue of 1929'', or simply ''The Hollywood Revue'', is a 1929 American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest ...
''. Soon afterwards, Nattova decided to resume her earlier solo career. Bob Ganjou then formed a similar act with George, and a Danish acrobat, William Hendricks, initially calling themselves "Pantus, Coatus and Vestus".


Formation and success

When Hendricks left in 1931, they were joined by brother Serge, and by a female
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
-trained
artist's model An art model poses, often nude, for visual artists as part of the creative process, providing a reference for the human body in a work of art. As an occupation, modeling requires the often strenuous ' physical work' of holding poses for the requ ...
,
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-born Juanita Richards.Handkerchief, ''V&A''
Retrieved 23 February 2021
Billed as the Ganjou Brothers and Juanita, they travelled to England in 1933, and appeared at that year's
Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...
, when they were supplemented by two opera singers, Aline Fournier and Vittorio Toso. Denis Gifford, Obituary: Serge Ganjou, ''The Independent'', 22 October 2011
Retrieved 23 February 2021
They all dressed in the style of
Dresden china Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and ...
figures, and were billed as ''A Romance in Porcelain''. They toured theatres in Britain, achieving considerable popularity, but in 1934 Juanita left to marry an English man she had met in
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. Her replacement – who retained the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
of Juanita – was London-born Joy Marlowe (1912–1992), who had studied at the Italia Conti Stage School and joined the brothers onstage after two weeks training. They continued to tour and became successful internationally, being "one of the very few speciality acrobatic acts ever to top a bill", and, in the 1940s, "one of the highest paid acts" on the
variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
circuit. They toured America, Australia and New Zealand, and gave a ten-minute performance in the 1943 film '' Variety Jubilee''. In the film, they appeared on a set made to look like a mantelpiece with an ornate clock, on which "Juanita" formed the
pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...
.
She then comes out of the clock, and the team begin their routine; after some simple dance movements they begin the complicated and dangerous-looking acrobatic routines; and Joy Marlowe smiles bravely as two of the men spin her round or throw her, spinning rapidly, into the air for the remaining man to catch. She poses while the three men hold her aloft; two of the men hold her by a wrist and ankle each and swing her in an arc which increases to a full circle; then one man at a time, holding her by one wrist and ankle, spins round, passing her in mid-air to another man who continues the arc from her other side. All this is performed elegantly and fitted in closely with the music, in this case '' The Blue Danube''.
George's wife Adele was the group's
musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...
.Roy Hudd and Philip Hindin, ''Roy Hudd's Cavalcade of Variety Acts'', Robson Books, 1998, , p.67 They continued to perform the act through the early 1950s, appearing regularly on television, before retiring in 1957. Joy Marlowe and Serge Ganjou married in
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during their farewell tour.


Later activities

George Ganjou became a
theatrical agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sport ...
in London. In 1958, he spotted young singer
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
singing at a matinee show in
Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...
, and arranged for him to record his first demo record, which won him a record deal with Norrie Paramor at the
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
record label. George Ganjou died in 1988. Bob Ganjou devised and managed a new adagio act, the Dior Dancers, comprising three younger male performers and a young woman, Merian Morris. They were immediately successful, and appeared in the Royal Variety Performance in 1958 and 1959, before splitting up in 1963. Bob Ganjou married Merian Morris in 1962, and died in 1972. Serge Ganjou ran a Polish restaurant in London, and a small electronics factory. He was an active member of the Variety Artistes' Federation, and of the
Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership a ...
(GOWR) show business charity; his wife Joy became "Queen Ratling" of its sister organisation, the Grand Order of Lady Ratlings, in 1961. Joy died in 1992, and Serge in 1998. Memorial to the Ganjou Brothers and Juanita, Streatham Park Cemetery, ''Geograph.org.uk''
Retrieved 23 February 2021
There is a memorial to the Ganjou Brothers and Juanita, "The World's Greatest Variety Act", at
Streatham Park Cemetery South London Crematorium and Streatham Park Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium on Rowan Road in Streatham Vale. It has always been privately owned and managed and is now part of the Dignity plc group . The South London Crematorium is situ ...
in London.


References

{{Reflist


External links


"Ganjou Brothers and Juanita", ''Palace of Variety''

1943 film performance plus later interview
Acrobats British dance groups