The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in Technicolor, and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring, and Charlton Heston as the circus manager running the show. James Stewart also stars in a supporting role as a mysterious clown who never removes his make-up, even between shows, while Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles.
Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows was a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a German immigrant, August Frederick Ruengling, who changed his name to Ringling once in America. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alf T., Charles, John and Henry. The Ringling family lived in McGregor, Iowa for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The family then lived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin in 1875. In 1907 Ringling Bros. acquired the Barnum & Bailey Circus, merging them in 1919 to become Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, promoted as The Greatest Show on Earth. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey closed on May 21, 2017 following weakening attendance and high operating costs.
A circus train is a method of conveyance for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1907. In 1872 the P.T. Barnum Circus had grown so large that it was decided that they would only play at large venues, and that they would travel by train. P.T. Barnum had two of his partners, William Cameron Coup and Dan Costello, come up with a system to load the circus wagons on to railroad flat cars. Using a system of inclined planes, called runs, and crossover plates between cars, they developed a system of ropes and pulleys, along with a snubber post to get the wagons on and off of the flat cars. They used horses to pull the wagons up the run and then would hitch a second team to pull it down the run cars (flats). The off-loading was much the same as loading, but a snubber post was used to help brake the wagons' descent down the run. That system, first used in 1872, was used by the RBBBC until its closing, although through more modern methods. When the circus switched to travel by train they began by using flatcars from the Pennsylvania Railroad, which turned out to be hazardous because the Pennsylvania Railroad's cars were in poor shape. In mid-season it was decided that they would buy their own cars, and when the P.T. Barnum Circus left Columbus, Ohio, it traveled on the first circus-owned train. It was made up of 60 cars, including 19-45 flatcars carrying about 100 wagons. Circus trains have proven well-suited for the transportation of heavy equipment and animals, despite tragic accidents over the years. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circuses separately and together grew to dominate live entertainment through their frequent purchases of many other American circuses. In modern times, they traveled in two circus trains, the blue unit and the red unit, following an alternating two-year schedule to bring a new show to each location once a year. The RBBB circus trains were more than one mile (1.6 km) in length, and included living quarters for the performers and animal keepers. There were also special stock cars for the exotic animals and flatcars for the transportation of circus wagons, equipment, and even a bus used for local transportation at performance sites.
Irvin Feld was a business entrepreneur who built a chain of record stores, promoted rock groups, produced concerts involving some of the biggest names in popular music. He was also the head of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and founder of Feld Entertainment. He was a music promoter who is credited with discovering Paul Anka.
Lillian Leitzel was an acrobat and strongwoman for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The inaugural (posthumous) inductee to the International Circus Hall of Fame, Leitzel died in hospital two days after a fall during a live performance.
John Nicholas Ringling is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros World's Greatest Shows to create a virtual monopoly of traveling circuses and helped shape the circus into what it is today. In addition to owning and managing many of the largest circuses in the United States, he was also a rancher, a real estate developer and art collector. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1987.
Johnathan Lee Iverson became the first African-American ringmaster of a major U.S. circus in 1999 at the age of 22 when he won the position at Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
The flying trapeze is a specific form of the trapeze in which a performer jumps from a platform with the trapeze so that gravity makes the trapeze swing.
Circus World was a theme park built north of Haines City, Florida in Polk County, on the east corner of the intersection of US 27 and Interstate 4. It was originally a property of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Combined Shows Inc., and was intended additionally to be the circus's winter headquarters as well as to have the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and its museum located there.
Elvin Bale is a former artist and daredevil with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, among many other international circuses. He is known especially for his single trapeze act, which finished with a heel catch, as well as his “wheel of death,” “human space shuttle,” “mechanical monster,” “motorcycle on the high wire”, and “human cannonball” acts. His career as a performer ended with a technical mishap on 08 Jan 1987, when, performing the human cannonball, he over-shot his landing cushion.
The Ringling brothers were seven American siblings of German and French descent who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of America's largest circuses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alf T., Charles, John and Henry, and the family lived in McGregor for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The Ringling family then moved to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and finally settled in Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1875. They were the children of harness maker Heinrich Friedrich August Ringling (1826–1898) of Hanover, Germany, and Marie Salome Juliar (1833–1907) of Ostheim, in Alsace. They merged their Ringling Brothers Circus with America's other leading circus troupes, ultimately creating the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Howard C. Tibbals is the artist and sculptor who created The Howard Bros. Circus, a 3/4-inch-to-one-foot scale replica of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The replica is now located on the Ringling Estate, in Sarasota, FL.
Wallace Circus and American Circus Corporation Winter Quarters, also known as Peru Circus Farm or Valley Farms, is located in Peru, Indiana. It was associated with the Wallace Circus. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
Feld Entertainment Inc. is a live show production company which owns a number of traveling shows, The company began with the now defunct Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus then expanded into additional live shows, such as theatrical, Disney on Ice!, Disney Live!, Nuclear Cowboyz and motor sports. The company is family owned.
Glen "Frosty" Little was a circus clown who served with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for over 20 years. He was one of only four clowns ever to have been given the title "Master Clown" by the Ringling organization.
Barnum's Kaleidoscape was an American circus staged by Feld Entertainment, the owners of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, at a start-up cost of $10 million. It ran for one season, 1999–2000. Inspired by both European traditions and the contemporary circus movement, it was the first Ringling show to be held under a tent since 1956 and also its first one-ring presentation in more than a century. The tent was carpeted with wood flooring and amenities to create an intimate setting with seating for 1,800 on cushioned seats and sofas and no one further than 50 feet from the circus ring. Besides traditional circus fare like popcorn upscale items such as cappuccino and veggie wraps were offered. The show consisted of 62 performers, 54 crew members, 8 horses and 27 geese, with 50 trucks involved in moving it from site to site.
Lena Jordan was a Russian gymnast, who performed in circuses during the 19th century. In 1897, Jordan was the first recorded person to perform a triple somersault.
Rieffenach Family Equestrian Act
The Great Sebastian may refer to:
