Norman Barrett is a veteran British

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 unicyclist ...

ringmaster who made many appearances on television, notably with

Charlie Cairoli Hubert Jean Charles CairoliCharlie Cairoli
by Dominique Jando, at Circopedia; retrieved 9 July 2014

in the children's television series ''Right Charlie''. He is well-known for his act with performing

budgerigar The budgerigar ( ; ''Melopsittacus undulatus''), also known as the common parakeet or shell parakeet, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot usually nicknamed the budgie ( ), or in American English, the parakeet. Budgies are the only spe ...

s. 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 Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

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 Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', ''Give Us a Clue'', '' This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''Antiques Ro ...

at the Tower Circus in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. 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 News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' was a British comedy and topical news television show which was broadcast on BBC Three between 2009 and 2014, and on BBC Two between 2014 and 2015. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, it offered his commentary on ...

, series 8 episode 6. Barrett, with his budgies, appeared as a guest on

Sunday Night at the Palladium ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End theatre, West End. Originally produced by Associated Television, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network ...

in May 2015.

External links

Circopedia BiographyBBC article
*

References

Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Ringmasters Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-tv-bio-stub