Saturday, December 26, 2009

Rudy Mueller #1


SAVE0026, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

Rudy Mueller and assistant with "Rosie" best remembered from her days in the NY Hippodrome with Jimmy Durante in Billy Rose' Jumbo.

2 comments:

Bob Cline said...

What years was she with Rudy Meuller?

Roger Smith said...

My memories of Rudy at Jungleland centered on the great respect given him there. On December 20, 1949, May Kovar was attacked by a lion during a training period. Her two children were ineffective in their rescue attempts, as the lion had broken Kovar's neck, killing her instantly. Rudy entered the cage, drove the lion off, and sent him out before the body was mauled. No one forgot Rudy's heroism in going against an attacking animal with his victim still in his grasp, when cats are prone to covet their prey, ferociously challenging rescue. In semi-retirement, when I knew him, Rudy kept the Compound lush and green as Chief of Groundskeeping.

Rudy died of a heart attack in the first week of February, 1968, and if his glory days were in the past, he was never forgotten. With 7 photos supplied by his widow, Mrs. Anna Mueller, the Thousand Oaks News-Chronicle ran a full-page tribute to Rudy, on April 21, 1968. It was not yet well-circulated that the day before, on April 20, Mabel Stark had been found dead in her home.

BUCKLES & SHANNON: I'm taking this original full page to Staples for copying and will send it to you via USPS. Some photos are sharper than others, but I trust that you guys can arrange them and their captions for posting.