Monday, April 26, 2010

Con Colleano (From Robert Perry)


Buckles, A paper add for Colleano,s circus in Mansfield Northern Victoria 1917, Con & his family. Con & my dad were great friends, my dad was a wire walker too.

They used to go hunting in outback Australia

Robert Perry
Australia

Posted by Buckles at 4/26/2010 05:43:00 AM

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some help please, over the years I have heard this superb performer's name pronounced "Coleeno" and "Col e ahno" which is correct? Many Thanks.

Paul Gutheil

26 April, 2010 11:11
Buckles said...

Coleeno.

26 April, 2010 11:22
Roger Smith said...

I agree with Buckles. I only wish I could have known this man. Everyone who did pronounced his name Co-LEE-no. Some may have seen the A&E circus special years back with some staid historian making a point of pronouncing the name Co-lee-AH-no. Not so with his acquaintances.

And I'm not going to miss a chance to set down once again that the name Beatty was BAY-tee and not BEE-tee.

26 April, 2010 14:48
Karen Glenn said...

Not trying to hijack the post...but have a question for you Buckles...yesterday my sister texted me and asked this question: How many tons was Anna May? They are in DC and had just been at the Smithsonian when she sent me the text..caught me off guard of course..I cannot recall this, would you please tell us and how many pounds was she or both...Thanks! I told her I will get the info back to her. All the best to you guys! Karen

26 April, 2010 19:25
Buckles said...

She peaked at 8,000 lbs in her palmy days,average size.
However her big square head gave the illusion of being much larger.

26 April, 2010 19:42
Chic Silber said...

Hi Roger

I always thought it to be funny

that his name was pronounced as

you say but for most of my years

in the business (even to today)

many if not most folks refer to

it as the "Beety" show

Just real hard to get used to

"Circus Of The Stars"

26 April, 2010 20:43
Anonymous said...

i would have thought that the paper add that the colleano family would have put in should be the right one maybe Con changed it in later years not sure.
had the honour to meet the great man when he visited Wirth,s in Sydney in 1957 he had a hotel i think in Parkes nsw Before he went
back to the USA . we used to bring his wife winnie out to our show she was living in Sydney i even seen the Medal given to him by that not so nice Man Hitler dont know where that ended up. Robert Perry

27 April, 2010 00:01
Karen Glenn said...

Thanks Buckles! WOW! I always thought Anna May was a gentle giant and so graceful, beautiful and so smart....I thought she was heavier and larger like you said because she had a big head, but she was BIG to everyone. Thanks!!

27 April, 2010 00:40
klsdad said...

Hello.. Roger..
and I'm not going to "miss the chance" to present the name as "BEE-TEE" on a LIVE video I took at a Clyde Beatty - Cole Bros performance...as pronounced by the announcer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQB_TiehqG0

Regards..

klsdad

27 April, 2010 11:22
Anonymous said...

Next thing you know, someone is going to say that they heard it pronounced Bee-At-Tee.

"The one, the only, Clyde Baaaay-tee!"

That was how Boom Boom said it and I have always heard it pronounced that way.

Let's get onto something worth commenting on.

Bob Kitto

27 April, 2010 19:33
Roger Smith said...

Announcers had written instructions for the Beatty announcement, including the correct pronunciation of the name. Professionals worked to get all the performers' names correctly announced, as I did announcing at Jungleland, and on Miller-Johnson. Some of them were challenging and needed rehearsal, with the head of the act there for approval. But non-pro mentality and amateurism prove you can always find someone to get a name wrong, and someone to cite their example.

28 April, 2010 02:56
Chic Silber said...

During their years on Beatty

I heard several variations of

pronouncing the name Gaona

Some were strange & funny

28 April, 2010 10:09
klsdad said...

To: "Raja" the Rude!!

A simple "the announcer was incorrect" would have been quite adequate.

klsdad

28 April, 2010 11:22
Chic Silber said...

Sorry KDad

Not all are cut out to announce

There should be some criteria

of ability with the language

(at least in the native tongue)

28 April, 2010 13:30
Mike Naughton said...

From what I've learned the name Beatty (pronounced Bay-tee) is a derivative of the grand English surname, Bartholomew. It seems that over time Bartholomew became BAR TEE and with the English accent the "R" was lost.
Now the source of my information is one of the appraisers on the BBC edition of the Antiques Road show that has the Beatty surname.

And that's the way it was on April 28.

28 April, 2010 13:58
Buckles said...

As everyone knows Shirley McLaine and Warren Beatty are siblings.
I read somewhere that when she went into show biz she shed the Beatty name because no one could say it right.

28 April, 2010 14:11
Jack Ryan said...

Buckles,

As somebody who has done my share of writing announcements for new ringmasters, I quickly learned to write difficult names phonetically.

"GUY-oh-nas."

"Gunter Gable Williams."

That was usually all that was necessary.

Jack

28 April, 2010 15:17
Roger Smith said...

We have Warren Beatty, Ned Beatty, and Clyde Beatty, all pronounced the same.

On his "Mystery Guest" appearance on WHAT'S MY LINE?, host John Daly revealed their guest as Clyde BAY-tee. The ever erudite Bennett Cerf, the show's resident intellectual, wanted to be sure, and innocently asked, "Isn't it Warren BAY-tee, and Clyde BEE-tee?" Clyde said, "It's BAY-tee."

CHIC: I knew the Gaonas on the Beatty show, and was a little surprised when visiting them on the Ringling show, to hear Harold Ronk announce the Flying GA-onnns.

28 April, 2010 17:07
Chic Silber said...

I must have heard at least 17

versions of their name Roger

A few of the best were in Reno

at Circus Circus

28 April, 2010 19:36

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