Monday, November 20, 2006

Ladies of the Steel Arena #1 Vol. 4 (From Jim Cole)



Harriet Beatty

"When Clyde Beatty left the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus at the close of the 1934 season, Sam Gumpertz refused to sell any of the cats to his new employers (Zack Terrell and Jess Adkins).
History tells us that in less than two months, Mr. Beatty assembled another large group of animals in time to open at the Detroit Shrine Circus.
This is a picture , taken at the Rochester, Ind. Quarters, of a second act being trained later for Mrs. Beatty. The elephant chosen was "Anna May", namesake of the elephant that was in our family for so many years.
Eddie Allen later told me that this number was really "touch and go" and in fact, at the dress rehearsel the night before the Cole Show's indoor opening in Chicago, "Anna May" unloaded the cats and made an exit right thru the side of the arena.
The act eventually became a regular staple of the Beatty repitoire but "Anna May" was always led during the act by Mr. Beatty's current elephant man.
My dad once told me that Mrs. Beatty was inept with a whip and that he and "Anna May" bore the brunt of her inaccuracy more so than the cats." BucklesPosted by Picasa

Posted by Buckles at 11/20/2006 06:47:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buckles: There are photos of this act inside working, while another elephant stood outside reportedly to offer moral support for Anna May, who calmed down only if her friend was present. Was this Sidney, and would this story be accurate?

20 November, 2006 14:35
Anonymous said...

sidney stood nearby to keep anna may calm. i have heard from several sources that anna may was very nervous about the cats but by the time she got to sells and gray in the 1960s, she was such a grand, wise elephant and very very easy to work with, never giving anyone any problems. bill english was very proud of getting her for sells and gray. we started out with 3 elephants and mccloskey told him to bring in the two smaller ones and take one of the older ones but didn't specify which one. bill said he told frank dailey to get anna may in the truck and get out of deland before mccloskey realized which elephant he had taken. i used anna may a lot on press and promotional stunts and she was always great to work with and more cooperative than some of the performers. she even seemed to have a sense of humor, particularly when i tried to act like i knew more than i did. once during a photo session, i yelled trunk, anna may, trunk, and she raised her trunk. i was so happy -- but what she actually was doing was throwing a batch of hay on me, and it looked like she was laughing. i never tried to give her any commands afer that. when i start talking about anna may, and remembering all the anna may stories, and her own special personality, i think of her more like she was a wonderful person trying to help out a kid learning to do press than another elephant.

20 November, 2006 19:00

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