Houcke on Knie 1969

Houcke on Knie 1969001, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Here is a photo I took when I saw Gilbert Houcke on Circus Knie in 1969. By the time I saw him he was middle-aged and had shed the Tarzan look only a few years earlier but the tigers remained impressive. Yes, I had already seen Baumann on Ringling (and in an interview I did in 1967 he was not sure if he would stay in the US because his style was so different!) and I certainly enjoyed his act though I think Baumann reached his peak a few years later in the 1970s when he had all those tigers perform a successive series of simultaneous rollovers. Up to that time the only other presentation in the European manner that I had seen, and certainly admired and was always eager to catch again, was Robert Baudy on the Frank Wirth dates. Like Houck, his broad shoulders and a bare-chested presentation certainly appealed to the ladies! Sue Lenz contributed two nice photos of Gilbert Houcke that ran on the blog last March 19, 2007, including one that showed a laydown of five tigers with all their front paws in a perfectly straight line (better than the situp seen here with a loner back of the lineup) and the other image of Houcke as Tarzan astride one of his tigers. I believe he was a friend of Prince Rainer of Monaco. His biography was published a few years ago under the title of "Gilbert Houcke, un grand nom du cirque" and he was, as the subtitle states, a great name of the circus. Louis Knie, himself an accomplished tiger trainer, in his forward to the book described Houcke's presentation as "being free similar to horses without many props. Acts of remarkable beauty which explored new territory." Houcke (1918-1985) was with Circus Roland in Germany in 1951 and the next season he was followed by Charly Baumann. Houcke had already inaugurated his Tarzan appearance and so Charly was required to appear in a loincloth. However, by his own admission in his autobiography, the "boney" Baumann was greeted with "laughter" and "giggles" and he further writes that "I was a sad replacement for the great Gilbert Houcke, who had a magnificent build...a French tiger trainer, and regarded as one of the best in the business." Dick Flint Baltimore