Alfredo Codona
Encyclopedia
Alfredo Codona was an Italian American
trapeze artist
Codona was born in Sonora
, Mexico
to a circus trapeze family that became famous in the Ringling Brothers Circus
. His father owned the circus and his mother, Hortense Buislay, was from a great family of trapeze performers. He began appearing in the circus at 7½ months when his father, a flyer, balanced him on his hand for the opening act. By 1913 Edward had formed a family act that included Alfredo, his brother Abelardo (known as Lalo), and his sister Victoria.
Alfredo married his first wife, Clara Curtin (also an aerialist) in 1917 after she left her husband. They were divorced in 1927. In 1928 Codona married aerialist Lillian Leitzel
, who died in 1931, aged 39, in Copenhagen, Denmark when one of her hand rings snapped and she fell to a concrete floor. Both were temptuous, star performers whose personalities were well matched. Alfredo was famed for his triple somersault, which he regularly incorporated in his act.
Codona later married a member of their trapeze act, Vera Bruce, in 1932. He was featured in the 1932 film Swing High, and was stunt double for Johnny Weissmuller
in the 1934 film Tarzan and His Mate
. Alfredo continued to incorporate extremely dangerous stunts into his act and in 1933, he suffered an injury that prevented high aerial acts in the circus and retired from the trapeze in 1934.
Codona's distress about his second wife's death and inability to perform lead to the deterioration of his third marriage. He committed suicide
by gunshot in Long Beach, California
, after shooting Vera Bruce during a division of their property in front of her horrified mother (newspaper accounts of the day incorrectly stated that Vera was his second wife). She died the next day. Codona was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery
at Leitzel's grave at his request.
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
trapeze artist
Codona was born in Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to a circus trapeze family that became famous in the Ringling Brothers Circus
Ringling Brothers Circus
The Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers: Albert , August , Otto , Alfred T. , Charles , John , and Henry...
. His father owned the circus and his mother, Hortense Buislay, was from a great family of trapeze performers. He began appearing in the circus at 7½ months when his father, a flyer, balanced him on his hand for the opening act. By 1913 Edward had formed a family act that included Alfredo, his brother Abelardo (known as Lalo), and his sister Victoria.
Alfredo married his first wife, Clara Curtin (also an aerialist) in 1917 after she left her husband. They were divorced in 1927. In 1928 Codona married aerialist Lillian Leitzel
Lillian Leitzel
Lillian Leitzel was an acrobat and strongwoman for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.-Early life:...
, who died in 1931, aged 39, in Copenhagen, Denmark when one of her hand rings snapped and she fell to a concrete floor. Both were temptuous, star performers whose personalities were well matched. Alfredo was famed for his triple somersault, which he regularly incorporated in his act.
Codona later married a member of their trapeze act, Vera Bruce, in 1932. He was featured in the 1932 film Swing High, and was stunt double for Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
in the 1934 film Tarzan and His Mate
Tarzan and His Mate
Tarzan and His Mate is a Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the second in the Tarzan film series to star Johnny Weissmuller....
. Alfredo continued to incorporate extremely dangerous stunts into his act and in 1933, he suffered an injury that prevented high aerial acts in the circus and retired from the trapeze in 1934.
Codona's distress about his second wife's death and inability to perform lead to the deterioration of his third marriage. He committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by gunshot in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, after shooting Vera Bruce during a division of their property in front of her horrified mother (newspaper accounts of the day incorrectly stated that Vera was his second wife). She died the next day. Codona was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery
Inglewood Park Cemetery was founded in 1905 in Inglewood, California. A number of notable people, including entertainment and sports personalities, have been interred or entombed here.-List of notable and celebrity interments at Inglewood Park:...
at Leitzel's grave at his request.