 Pictured from upper left corner, moving clockwise, are resident trainers Pat Anthony, Mabel Stark, Henry Tyndall, Larry White, Richard Walker, Norman Tyndall, Howard Bryant, Melvin Koontz, Earl Le Grand, Charles Bennett, and Frank Phillips. In the center are owners Trader Horne and Billy Richards. Elsewhere in the brochure, the following appears about the little-known Richards: “One of the organizers and manager of the world-famous Al G. Barnes Trained Wild Animal Circus for several years, W.J. ‘Billy’ Richards, executive vice-president, started using wild animals in the movies in 1910, when the big show was in winter quarters in Venice, California. Early motion pictures were made in the fields of Santa Monica and Venice. Later Richards became the owner-manager of the Old Selig Zoo in Los Angeles—first home of the motion picture animals, and later known as the California Zoological Gardens.”  |
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
From Richard Flint #3
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Once again you have brought some more interesting history to the blog. Just great. I only got to the place after it was out and over, except the training barn. But the great stories that have been told are fabulous. Mack trained the "Besalou" elephants in that barn as did Jack Joyce train his original camel act. I spent a little time there with Wally Ross and a new liberty act for Vargas and also with George and Vicky Hanneford with their newly acquired baby elephants. Sorry i MISSED SEEING IT IN THE DAYS YOU HAVE PICTURED. Thanks again Dick johnny
Larry White was an interesting guy. When Was at the Mickey Mouse Circus in Disneyland he introduced himself to me. AQt the time he was in full security uniform on the Disney land police=security dept. He would visit frequently and had been involved with Dolly Jacobs elephants and also Thonglaw the famous breeding male later at the Portland Zoo. I can not imagine him as a live wire elephant guy. johnny
Adding to the list, the eight baby elephants that A-B brought for the St. Louis Zoo were trained there in the winter of 1954-55 by Floyd Smith. Goebel brought over four elephants in the spring of 1954 and the other four in the fall.
My sentiments are in line with Mr. Herriott. Thank you for sharing, Dick.
It seems that all the years of the Thousand Oaks animal compound one person stands out both in its finances and operations. Mr. Louie Goebel. A non descript little workaholic with ba club foot. Always in dash board overalls out working with a big tractor, ngrading, pulling trees, etc. He imported thousands of animals over the years. A very nice man and alot of big time showguys were indebted to Louie. I am glad I got to meet him and see him in action. Quite a guy.
Would Mr. Richards be inventing himself in his resume. Maybe Dick Flint or some historian out there would give a clear picture of his involvement with Al.G.Barnes. That is all news to me. tanglefoot
Question for Roger Smith or others:
When did Tony Vitanza become Pat Anthony? I recall Bill Johnston telling me that in his early Jungleland dates Pat was still billed as Tony Vitanza, his original name, Anthony Patrick Vitanza.
JIM A: I can't nail a specific time Vitanza settled on the name Pat Anthony. As you suggest, I've seen his billing as Tony Vitanza. In his many stories to me, Bill Johnston often called him "Patty". Gee Gee always called him "Tony", and his long-time friend, Parley Baer, dubbed him "Our friendly neighborhood wild man." In due course, the name Pat Anthony rose to prominence on the rosters of the top circuses for more than 30 years. I'm grateful to have known him, and thanks to Hubert Castle, to have shared a dressing room with him in Memphis, in '72.
I phoned over to Pat's place in Riverview one day and asked for Pat and a lady asked, "Which one?"
I wasn't aware he and his wife had the same name."
He has been referred to by many who knew him quite well as PAT AGONY. TANGLEFOOT
Post a Comment