Saturday, July 07, 2018

LIONS #5


Posted by Chic Silber at 7/07/2018 12:09:00 AM

5 comments:

Bob Cline said...

Klaus Blazek. This was taken on the Ringling show in the 1960s. Also known as Ada Smieya's husband and Brunon "The Rage in the Cage" Blazek's father.

07 July, 2018 08:11
Chic Silber said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
07 July, 2018 10:55
Chic Silber said...


I mentioned Klaudiusz "Klaus" Blaszak

under his wife in "Lions #4" above

When they defected & left Big Bertha

they showed up at Thousand Oaks with

this lion & not much else

07 July, 2018 11:00
Chic Silber said...


I believe that Roger Smith was at

Thousand Oaks when they arrived

08 July, 2018 23:23
Roger Smith said...

I was, indeed. Their lion, Oss (sp?), a name that translated as "Ass" or "Joker" from the Polish, came first to my string, under my care, on July 16, 1967. In previous comments on this blog, I've recounted how we knew Klaus and Ada were defecting from both the Communist Poland regime, and from its oppressive atmosphere on the Ringling show. We welcomed them at once, and made the best we had available to them. Then, in very short order, their East European contempt for America and Americans emerged full-scale, and this was made worse by the approbation of Jungleland's management. Their presence proved a bitter experience for Jungleland personnel across the board, so the question becomes, for those who associate with Ada today, how much am I being asked to tell?

One point to be made now, especially with the release of the Leslie Zemeckis documentary, MABEL, MABEL, TIGER TRAINER. Since the Compound closed, in 1969, Ada has claimed far and wide that she "worked with Mabel Stark". This is patently false. I worked directly with Mabel for her last 3 1/2 years, and know first-hand that the two women never spoke, even once. The separation was such that Klaus and Ada were on Jungleland's payroll, but Mabel was compensated under specific arrangements that were exclusive to her. So it was that if we were technically on the same lot, the Blaszaks and the rest of us were worlds apart. And the stories I can relate have barely begun.

09 July, 2018 18:43

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