Friday, April 25, 2008

Walter Jennier and "Buddy"


Scan000011151, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.


Walter liked overland shows. He and wife Ethel had a good package with his top seal act and her top notch trapeze act. It was not easy cause they had to roll a carpet from truck to ring and then perform on a ring carpet, but he was good and "My country tis of thee" was a great blow off. And coming into the ring with the strains of "My Buddy" set the right tone. great scene. An all time great.
John Herriott

Posted by Buckles at 4/25/2008 05:28:00 PM

16 comments:

Mike Naughton said...

Let's not forget their daughter, Joanne Jennier, who did a trap act and presented, Sunny the Sea Lion .

For the finish on the trapeze she did an open hock catch, if that is the correct term for the behind the knee catch without locking the leg with the free leg.

I believe she did some Hanneford dates as well as Sells and Gray, details anyone?

25 April, 2008 20:20
Anonymous said...

Could someone -- perhaps Johnny -- fill us in on the length of Walter Jennier's career? I vaguely recall seeing a sea lion act featuring "Buddy" on King Bros. in the early 1970s. Thanks.

25 April, 2008 21:02
Mike Naughton said...

I might have mixed up Sells and Gray with King Bros.

25 April, 2008 21:24
OrMaggie77 said...

Yes,Joanne did a fantastic trap act. I worked with her on Sells and Grey and the King Show in the late 60's,early 70's. She also presented the seal act. I remember her as the sweetest person. Always smiling, and always ready to lend a hand when it was needed. And yes Mike I think that's the right term, and it was a great finish. I knew it was coming, but it always made me catch my breath to watch.

25 April, 2008 21:51
Anonymous said...

Mike Naughton, Joanne made saveral dates for Mcintosh and Marine's M & M Circus Internationale here. She and her mother worked in the aerial diplay. She also did a contortion act. Bill Galloway.

26 April, 2008 09:32
Anonymous said...

I remember "Ethel's Leaping Greyhounds" in St Louis and several M&M dates in 76-77, and Joanne on Tommy Bentley's California tour around the same time . . .

Bruce the Clown

26 April, 2008 09:49
Mike Naughton said...

Joanne's mother, Ethel Jennier, was on the Beatty-Cole show with a greyhound act -- part of the music was "Alabamy Bound" -- a selection that was very appropriate.

Ethel was one of the first animal acts (if not THE FIRST) to appear with the Big Apple Circus when the show made it's modest and humble appearance many years ago.

So I don't ruffle anymore feathers, the above information is from memory, I'm pre-patching the patch.

26 April, 2008 09:54
Buckles said...

During a conversation one day, Stubbs mentioned that the first animal act they hired was Hal Haviland's dogs.
The next move was to hire the roller skating elephant.

26 April, 2008 10:13
Mike Naughton said...

As a kid I remember Ethel Jennier, then married to Jack Joyce, presenting a mixed act in Ring One on Ringling.

How's that for the deepest darkest depths of my memory?

26 April, 2008 10:14
Anonymous said...

Jack and Ethel Joyce were excellent showfolk and warm, wonderful individuals. Difficult to remember ever seeing Ethel without a huge smile on her face. As a young press agent, had the pleasure of going with them to between-shows dinner many times. They both knew their stuff and just listening to them taught me a lot.

26 April, 2008 10:27
Anonymous said...

I saw Walter Jennier and Ethel on Floyd Kings (King Bros. Circus). Both the Seal Act and Ethels single trap act were outstanding. Ethel Jennier had endless energy - I can still see her standing on the single trap bar for her finish trick - which was a standing backward fall into an ankle drop. With the announcement for her finish along with the drum rolls the palms were sweaty with anticipation. In todays circus world - there would be no announcement for her finish and forget the drum rolls. Sadly, all of the Hoop La is gone from the circus. Charles Hanson

26 April, 2008 20:55
Anonymous said...

The history of Walter and Ethel Jennier brings up some increditable History of Americas overland shows and even A merican circus generally, brininging in names like Haag, Silverlake and others, even including famed band man and trumpeteer Harry Haag James. I will try to explain and hope it doesn't get too lengthy. Alot I have learned thru the years from families directly part of it and from my father, who was a young man on the "Mighty Haag Circus". It ties in so much of overland circus families and the history culminating with two high powered RBBB-Feld ENT> PR marketing whiz, namely Brad Silverlake and Bill Powell.

Yes, Walter Jennier was from a circus family and he learned all the skills of a circus performer. He and his brother, Roy did a double trap act and Walter said that his mother was similar to a Mollie Bailey, Rose Kilian character and they had a small family circus. They never closed a season and would play thru Florida in the winter. He told about playing Ft. Myers and three distinguished looking gentlemen came on the midway and bought tickets and saw the matinee and were, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford who were buddies and were visiting Edison at his Ft. Myers home. Just out seeing the sights.

Young Ethel --------, was kind of an orphan apprentice to the Haag Family as a young girl and became apart of the family and young Harry Haag would marry Ruby Fisher of Medora, Ind. whose father was a veterinary and her sister, Josephine would marry circus clown Brownie Silverlake and both couples would have multiple children. So it gave Ethel a family that she would remain close to all of her life. She also learned to be a versatile circus performer. Overland circus families had to learn how to do it all.

Along the way she met Walter and they would marry and raise two children Joanne and Johnny.

Both Walter and his brother Roy somehow [I wish I knew] got into the field of animals, with Walter devoting his lifetime energies in training Sea Lions and his brother became a keeper in the reptile house at the National zoo in Washington under Director CFA charter member Dr. William Mann and eventually become Head Keeper. My father would work with him on the Zoo staff for two years that he spent as a Keeper at the Zoo, 37-39.

Being friends of Terrel Jacobs the Jenniers had a custom built home built right across the hwy. from Terrel's home-quarters in Bunker Hill. My father and mother would move into the bungalow vacated by Terrel and for some three or four years would be very socially active with the Jenniers with dinners, holidays, etc. I became part of it and it was so much fun to hear the humerous stories of various times from both Walter and my dad and Ethel and my mother would join in as well with Ethels background and my mother having been a young person on my Uncle George Engessers showbiz-circus career. Lots of good times. We would all go in 54 withe big Floyd King-Arnold Maley King Bros. Paul and Dorothy Kelly would take over the property. I believe the Jenniers home was "eminent Domain" in widening, Hwy 31.

Naturally in this biz. we all know each other and as I stated before the Jenniers would always troupe with overland shows, until they went with the GSOE where Walter trained ,I believe a Two Seal act presented by the vivacious annd energetic Ethel. Sadly their and Jack Joyce marriage would suffer and divorces took precedent. Walter would troupe and assist Daughter Joanne until his passing in his 80s. Ethel and Jack would remain for a couple years with Ringling [Jack as Perf. Dir.] then onto Beatty Cole, etc. They would divorce and Ethel would continue on in her sixties with Leaping Greyhound act and Sword Balancing, both in her high energy style. She would remarry to a B-C musician who would assist her in her acts. The Haag and Silverlake families would continue in the circus biz. in various capacities and my mother being an Engesser means that those family roots have continued with our Herriot, Engesser and Powell families up to the present time. I have enjoyed spending time on shows, etc. with Jimmy and Mel Silverlake, Harry Haag jr., Doc and Naomi Haag and so many others. Seems we have lost track of Joanne and Johnny Jennier over the years and she is remembered as a fine performer as well. Hope all of you enjoyed this snippet of circus history of which I am quite proud. I must mention that Harry James father, Everett was noted band leader on Christy, Lee Bros. and Haag where he and a sister Fay grew up and I believe that Fay would be the maternal grand or great grandmother of the American circus family, Loter.

27 April, 2008 09:33
Mike Naughton said...

Johnny,
Fascinating recollection.
I met Joanne a few times, just a quick hello and that's all. I do recall that she had an impressive degree (maybe advanced) in an area totally unrelated to show business.
Perhaps Margaret D. would know since they both toured with King in the 70's.

27 April, 2008 11:39
Anonymous said...

I might add that also such an important part of our wonderful American circus history in all those early times would be Buckles ORTAN family. Great histories of those overland shows from wagons and horses to motorized.

27 April, 2008 14:59
GaryMBohanJr said...

Hi. Not sure if this thread is too old, but, to Mr. Herriott's question, I believe I know how Walter Jennier came into seals (aka sea lions), Buddy in particular. It was via Mark Huling of Kingston, N.Y. There was a terrible fire at Huling's seal quarters in December 1929 and Mark (who was with Ringling Bros. at the time) lost 13 of his 15 seals. He was so devastated he left seals and show business altogether. He sold one of the surviving seals to an outfit in Germany. The other (Buddy) went to Walter Jennier. In 1930, Jennier actually took up residence in Kingston to learn the seal training craft from Mark who, along with his brothers Frank and Ray had been at the top of the seal training profession for over twenty years. Walter and Buddy became well known in the '30s and thereafter. In 1939, Mark got back in the business and opened up a "Seal College" in Kingston N.Y. His old friend Walter Jennier was his partner for a while and helped Mark get it off the ground.

22 February, 2016 19:50
Unknown said...

A couple of minor items. Walter and Ethel's children were Joanne (or Jo Ann) and Walter Arthur Jennier, Jr, not Johnnie. Also Ethel's full name was Ethel Louise Harris.

27 May, 2017 13:21

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