Charlie Roark (From Don Covington)

Remembering the circus life By Meag Hunt Malvern (ARKANSAS) Daily Record September 5, 2007 He watched an elephant be struck dead by lightening. He met Harry Houdini's wife, Bess Houdini. He even performed in Madison Square Garden. Charlie Roark, 89, has lived a fuller life than the average person and has a room full of memorabilia to show for it. Roark began seeking a life on the road when he was still in elementary school. Roark's fifth grade year, Bert the Magician came to Malvern, performing tricks like vanishing horses. "And it snowed," Roark said. "I mean the snow was deep and he was afraid nobody would come to the show." To ensure a successful show, Bert the Magician picked out boys with boots to walk door to door and hand out fliers. Roark did not have boots. He had a pair of leggings that came to the top of his shoes so that it appeared he had boots. While the boys were being picked out, Roark stood back in a corner and volunteered. "I hadn't gone three feet and my shoes had filled up with snow," he said. The night at the show, Roark volunteered again to perform in a trick. "I don't remember what the trick was, but I did something up there and everyone laughed," Roark said. "And I thought this is for me." Roark began learning magic tricks shortly after and met up with the Robert Brothers Picture Show. He convinced them to take him along. Roark went from there to perform in medicine acts and burlesque shows until a 40-car railroad show stopped in town. "I told them all what I could do and I could speak English and most working in the circus couldn't," Roark said on how he was hired for the show and then later promoted to introducing the side shows. Roark learned to be a ventriloquist during his time on the road and it turned out to be the biggest card in his bag of tricks. "Everyone wanted a ventriloquist," he said. In the spring of 1938, Roark performed in Madison Square Garden. Because of his fame as a ventriloquist, he was asked to perform on the radio where he was interviewed by a young intern named Kip Carson. After the interview, Carson pulled out a whistle, one similar to what Roark used to create the voices of Punch and Judy, two famous puppets. "He said to me 'I know you,'" Roark said. "I met you in Northfolk, Nebraska and you sold me this whistle and I can't blow it." Roark later found out the man named Kip Carson was Johnny Carson. "They [the others performers] teased me all the way back," Roark said. "They said to me 'He knows you took his dime.'" Roark recalls a similar situation that occurred during a storm. During a hurricane, the ropes began to break on the tents, things were turned over and as Roark was running out of the main tent, it was ripped from overhead. "It was raining so hard it stung," he said. "And this little boy comes running up to me and grabs my pant leg and is tugging on it to get my attention. All I could think was that me and this kid were going to die." The boy then asked Roark how to blow on the same type of whistle Roarck had sold to Johnny Carson. Despite dangerous situations, however, Roark continued to perform even after his retirement from the road in the 80's. "I love to make them laugh," he said. It's this mentality that led Roark to the collection of photos, posters and puppets that line a back room in his house. "In the Bible, King Solomon looked back at his life and called it all vanity," Roark said as he stood beneath the pictures of dead friends and coworkers. "I call it precious memories." _________________________________________________________________ Test your celebrity IQ. Play Red Carpet Reveal and earn great prizes! http://club.live.com/red