Volume II : Series Feature #2 Life in the Circus from Yesterday to Today! – Circus Tragedies (Flying Wallendas)

Step right up, Step right up! The show is about to begin as we explore the world of the circus and those who made and make a magical place to visit. The tradition of the circus has a long incredible history as we learned from last week, but that history lesson is not over today as I will make it point of how history and even film has influenced the circus.

For years now we have explored the world of the circus and the life of those performers, but one area that often gets overlooked is the tragedies of those who have been seriously injured or died whether as a performer or a spectator, we will now get into those stories but if you interested in knowing more about specific people and performers and want to go down the rabbit hole, please read below. Some of these tragedies there may not be a great deal of information in and that is probably by design as why who circuses want people to remember those terrible events, ruining the good name of the circus.

There are so many performers that have been forgotten or their stories go untold because of little or no real information other than a picture and some history, but they existed. Some of the so called freaks were not freaks at all, but unusual in their appearance all human beings of course, but it’s sad that we as society exploited that to make money and bring fame.

The Freak Show Compilations

Life in The Circus From Yesterday to Today- Welcome to the Freak Show!

Throughout circus history there were known names who made history and made the circus since the 18^th century, one of those names is the Wallenda’s. They’re some of the world’s most famous circus families and within each family and with any family is tragedy.

One of those tragedies was the flying Wallendas and the tragedy of starting in the 1930’s when Willie Wallenda fell to his death doing a bicycle stunt on a high wire. Followed in 1945, a Wallenda sister-in-law died from a 50-foot fall while doing a handstand on a pole. In 1972, a Wallenda son-in-law was shocked by a live wire during an act and died from the subsequent fall.

These accidents are nothing in comparison to one of the worst accidents happening in 1962, when a seven-person human pyramid collapsed from 35 feet with two deaths and one paralyzed. But the show must go on as the Wallendas are serious about their roots , the remaining members continued the next day.