Friday, October 24, 2014

Hagenbeck-Wallace WQ 1935


Bert Nelson and Maria Rasputin.

Posted by Buckles at 10/24/2014 05:27:00 AM

1 comments:

Roger Smith said...

Bert Nelson was introduced to me at Jungleland by Mabel Stark, whom he came to visit 2 or 3 times a year. In this site, I've described him as an elegant gentleman. Thankfully, he was easy to become friends with, and took hours of time to give me tremendous insights into work in the cage. He autographed this photo for me. They are on Hagenbeck-Wallace, in Peru, Indiana Winterquarters, in 1935. Bert had taken over the Clyde Beatty Big Act, when Beatty left all Ringling holdings over disputes with Sam Gumpertz. He did well with the act, although working in a style different than Beatty's. He told me Maria was a nice lady, personable around the show, but alas, after reams of first class publicity, it was found she could not work animals. To get back at Beatty, Gumpertz claimed Maria Rasputin would work 70 big cats, but her arena career was simply not to be.

24 October, 2014 15:01

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