The Flying Wallendas
Encyclopedia
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
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Karl Wallenda
Karl Wallenda
Karl Wallenda was the founder of The Flying Wallendas, an internationally known daredevil circus act famous for performing death-defying stunts without a safety net.-Personal life:...
was born in Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1905 to an old circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
family, and began performing at the age of 6. While still in his teens he answered an ad for a hand balancer with courage. His employer, Louis Weitzman, taught him the trade. In 1922, Karl put together his own act with his brother Herman, Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl, Helen Kreis, who eventually became his wife.
The act toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for several years, performing some amazing stunts. When John Ringling
John Ringling
John Nicholas Ringling now is the most well-known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Brothers Circus to create a virtual monopoly of traveling circuses and helped shape the circus into what it is today.-Early circus life:John was...
saw them perform in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, he quickly hired them to perform at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1928, they debuted at the Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.
It was at a performance in Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
that the group all fell off the wire, but were unhurt. The next day, a reporter who witnessed the accident was quoted in the newspaper: "The Wallendas fell so gracefully that it seemed as if they were flying" -- thus coining the name "The Flying Wallendas".
In 1944, while the Wallendas were performing in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, a fire broke out, killing over 168 people
Hartford Circus Fire
The Hartford Circus Fire, which occurred on July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, was one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States...
. None of the Wallendas were hurt.
In the following years, Karl developed some of the most amazing acts like the seven-person chair pyramid. They continued performing those acts until 1962. That year, while performing at the Shrine Circus
Shrine Circus
The Shrine Circus is a circus founded in the United States in 1906. It travels to roughly 120 cities per year in the United States and a separate unit travels to about 40 in Canada. It is affiliated with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a.k.a. Shriners.-History:The first...
at Detroit's
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
State Fair Coliseum
Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum
Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum is a 5,600-seat multi-purpose arena in Detroit, Michigan. It is home to the Wayne State University Warriors ice hockey team. The arena was also host to the 2006 men's and women's College Hockey America conference tournament...
, the front man on the wire faltered and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law, and nephew Dieter Schepp. Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son, Mario, was paralyzed from the waist down.
Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Rietta, fell to her death in 1963, and his son-in-law Richard ("Chico") Guzman was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of the metal rigging. Nonetheless, Karl decided to go on. He repeated the pyramid act in 1963 and 1977. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts.
Karl Wallenda crossed the Tallulah Gorge
Tallulah Gorge
The Tallulah Gorge is a gorge that is formed by the Tallulah River cutting through the Tallulah Dome rock formation. The gorge is approximately long and features rocky cliffs up to high. Through it, a series of falls known as Tallulah Falls, drop a total of in one mile...
in Georgia on a high wire on July 18, 1970.
On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Karl Wallenda
Karl Wallenda
Karl Wallenda was the founder of The Flying Wallendas, an internationally known daredevil circus act famous for performing death-defying stunts without a safety net.-Personal life:...
fell from the wire and died. He was 73. Rick Wallenda completed the walk a year later.
There are several branches of the Wallendas performing today, comprising mostly grandchildren of Karl Wallenda
Karl Wallenda
Karl Wallenda was the founder of The Flying Wallendas, an internationally known daredevil circus act famous for performing death-defying stunts without a safety net.-Personal life:...
. They still perform regularly and have achieved recognition in the Guinness Book of Records.
Some family members
- Jenny Wallenda, Karl's oldest daughter, performed around the world. After her retirement, she remains active in the circus community, organizing parades, shows and other events to promote and preserve the art of circus. She has been honored with a place in Sarasota's Circus Ring of Fame.
- Carla Wallenda, Karl's younger daughter, now a grandmother, still performing on the highwire and swaypole with her husband Mike Morgan.
- Richard Faughnan, Karl's son-in-law, was the husband of Jenny Wallenda. Faughnan fell 70 feet (21.3 m) to his death on 30 January 1962 in Detroit, when the Seven-Man Pyramid collapsed.
- Richard "Chico" Guzman, Karl's son-in-law, and Carla's husband, was killed in 1972 when he touched a live wire while on the metal rigging.
- Dieter Schepp, Karl's nephew, fell 70 feet to his death on 30 January 1962 in Detroit. Dieter, who was making his first appearance in the pyramid, apparently lost his grip on the balance pole.
- Jana Schepp, Karl's niece and Dieter's sister, was one of the survivors of the 1962 disaster.
- Angel Wallenda (20 March 1968 – 3 May 1996), born Elizabeth Pintye, married Steven Wallenda (Karl's grandnephew) in 1985, when she was 17, and began training on the wire. Soon, however, she became ill with cancer. In 1987, her right leg had to be amputated, and in 1988 parts of both lungs were removed. Nonetheless, later that year, she returned to the act, becoming the only person with an artificial leg ever to walk a high wire. She gave her final performance in 1990. She and Steven divorced.
- Edith Wallenda (18 March 1913 – 21 October 1999), Herman's second wife, performed with the Great Wallendas for a quarter century before her retirement.
- Gunther Herman Wallenda (25 June 1927 – 16 March 1996), Herman's son by his first wife, Lucy, began training on the wire at age five, though he was already part of the act. In the Hartford Circus FireHartford Circus FireThe Hartford Circus Fire, which occurred on July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, was one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States...
, he helped rescue a number of the spectators. When in 1962 the pyramid fell, Gunther was the only one left standing and was able to help rescue three who were clinging to the wire. Gunther married and became a history and geography teacher. While teaching in Sarasota, he continued to train high-wire performers, most notably as part of the Sailor Circus, a Sarasota county sponsored circus school. His daughter, Lisa Ellen Wallenda (now Wallenda-Picard) performed with her father, as well as Carla Wallenda, and was part of Ringling Brothers headquarters management for many years. - Helen (Kreis) Wallenda (11 December 1910 – 9 May 1996), Karl's second wife, was the last surviving member of the original troupe. She joined the Wallendas when she was 16. Helen and Karl Wallenda were married in 1935. Until she retired in 1956, she was balanced at the peak of the seven-man pyramid.
- Herman Wallenda (11 June 1901 – January 1985), Karl's brother, was one of the original members of the Great Wallendas troop, along with Karl Wallenda, Herman Wallenda, Helen Wallenda, and Joe Geiger. Born in Magdeburg, Germany, he began performing at age two as an acrobat and clown. Together with the other members of the troop, he was discovered by John Ringling in Cuba in the late 1920s and joined the Ringling Brothers circus in the United States, where he resided the rest of his life. He was one of the survivors of the 1962 disaster in Detroit. He was the father of Gunther Wallenda.
- Karl WallendaKarl WallendaKarl Wallenda was the founder of The Flying Wallendas, an internationally known daredevil circus act famous for performing death-defying stunts without a safety net.-Personal life:...
(21 January 1905 – 22 March 1978) was the founder and leader of the group until his death in 1978. - Mario Wallenda, Karl's adopted son, was paralyzed from the waist down on 30 January 1962. In the 1990s, Mario developed an act in which he would ride a two-wheeled electric "sky cycle" on the high wire.
- Tino Wallenda, Karl's grandson, started on the high wire at age seven. He is the family patriarch of the Flying Wallendas and is still performing (2008) the Seven-Man Pyramid with his daughters and son, his brother-in-law Sascha Pavlata, son-in-law Robinson Cortes and family friend Jade Kindar-MartinJade Kindar-MartinJade Kindar-Martin is a highwire walker and circus performer.Kindar-Martin started performing on the wire at the age of 14 with Circus Smirkus, a youth circus based in rural Vermont...
. - Olinka Wallenda, Tino's wife, is descended from the Valla Bertini circus family, and has been performing on the high wire with Tino since 1974. She and Tino have four children, all wirewalkers - Alida, Andrea, Aurelia and Alessandro (Alex).
- Mario B. Wallenda (6 November 1956 – 5 March 1993), Karl's grandson, learned to walk the tightrope at the age of two or three, but his specialty was riding his motorcycle inside the "Globe of Death". He tested positive for HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
in 1990 after collapsing after a performance in Canada. After his death from AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, his mother, Carla, said she wanted his cause of death made public. - Rietta Wallenda, Karl's sister-in-law, fell to her death April 18, 1963 in Omaha, Nebraska while performing on the sway pole.
- Sandra Wallenda, Gunther's daughter from his second marriage to Margarita, a talented Mexican aerialist who fell to her death in Mexico City in the late 1950s. Sandra performed various aerial acts around the world and was also a gifted horsewoman.
- Rietta Wallenda, Karl's granddaughter, has been performing since the age of 13. The only member of Karl's family who was performing with him at the time of his death, she performed in San Juan to a standing ovation five hours after her grandfather died. She and her daughter Lyric, also an accomplished performer, are currently working in Hawaii.
- Rick Wallenda, Karl's grandson, has been performing since the age of 13. He completed the walk that took Karl's life a year after his grandfather's death. He also broke his grandfather's record at Kings IslandKings IslandKings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Opened in 1972 by Taft Broadcasting Company and now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, Kings Island is the most visited seasonal amusement park in the U.S...
, walking 2000 feet (609.6 m) without a net. It is the continental record for that walk. - NikolasNik WallendaNikolas Wallenda, known as Nik Wallenda born January 24, 1979 is an American high wire artist, acrobat, daredevil and Guinness Book of Records world record-holder. A direct descendant of Karl Wallenda , Nik is known for performing death-defying stunts on highwire without a safety net...
and Erendira Wallenda, Karl's great-grandson and his wife now perform with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is a seventh generation Wallenda. Erendira comes from the Flying Vasquez family of trapeze artists. They have three children, sons Yanni, Amadaos and daughter Evita Wallenda, who are also learning the family trade. On October 15, 2008, Nik broke the world record for the highest and longest bike ride on a high wire live on NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today. Nik is also looking to cross Niagara Falls on a wire. - Alida Wallenda-Cortes, an aerialist performing in the act The Flying Cortes with her husband's family. Her daughter Ysabella is part of the act as well. In 2010, the Flying Cortes were one of the featured acts in the PBS documentary Circus.
- Lyric Wallenda, currently (2011) performing in the Cirque Polynesia show in Ka'anapali, Maui, Hawai'i.
In film and song
In December 2008, TLC aired a one-hour documentary about Tino and the Wallenda family produced by Jen Stocks for Figure 8 Films.In 2010 alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
band Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
recorded a song "The Flying Wallendas" about the high-wire circus act. It appears on their album The Big To Do
The Big To Do
The Big To-Do is the eighth studio album by the alternative country band Drive-By Truckers, released on March 16, 2010. It is their first album released on ATO Records, which they signed to after completing their four album deal with New West Records. The Big To-Do marks the seventh Drive-By...
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Rietta Wallenda is mentioned in Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
series 3 episode 2.