Wednesday, June 29, 2011

From Jerry Digney #2

Star wire walker Hubert Castle (aka, early in career, Hal Silvers, and birth name: James Albert Hal Smith) in RBBB backyard--later a successful circus impresario and major Shrine circus producer; I believe
Mrs. Castle, at age 99, may still be with us. Castle sold his show to Tarzan Zerbini in 1979.
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Posted by Buckles at 6/29/2011 05:51:00 AM

8 comments:

john herriott said...

WOW, THIS IS THE cASTLE i REMEMBER AS A YOUTH. tOUGH GUY, hot tempered, very prejudiced and out spoken, [you name it]. Right wing in every way. But a fabulous, self taught performer with a show stopping act and the best drunken routine in show biz. [he didn't drink]. Loved to get in a fist fight.He, in his youth was on my Uncle's SCHELL Bros. and Seils Sterling among others as HAL SILVERS. Afterthought. With his prejudices it seems the name Silvers would be odd. I watched him perfom many times on Cole, indoor dates, etc. Last time was when GilGray put on big,big show in the downtown Dallas new arena and padded it with extra acts. [wALLENDAS WITH all their acts] and Castle. We were all anxious to see and work with him again and he did not disappoint. He was fabulous and tore the house down. Living in Dallas he had his beautiful, charming wife assist him in an elegant gown. He loved to play cards in the dressing room and alomng with BoBo Barnett was a personal favorite act withLouie Stern Polack Bros. Later I would work many dates with his circus and we would tell the latest dirty joke every day. Quite a guy. One in a million. I am sorry I missed his funeral in Tampa. Yes, the died in the wool Texan was buried by his wife request in Florida. Go figure. Ringling hired him and announced him as the great star from England HUBERT CASTLE and he went by the name professionally but I believe legally he was Harold Smith. In remembrance and respect, John Herriott

29 June, 2011 08:35
Casey said...

I remember that date and was awed seeing Castle and the Wallandas. Ed Martin warned me to never be walking around when Hubert was working so i only saw him from the back door. When he started his show Cleo Plunkett brought me over to be his Prop Boss. Always enjoyed playing cards and fishing with him.

30 June, 2011 15:24
Roger Smith said...

The photo caption was right. He was born James Albert Hal Smith, in Enid, Oklahoma. He was fairly secretive about his birthday, but a reliable account gives it as April, 1913. To please an uncle, young Hal enrolled in a Baptist seminary to study preaching. But the tightwire won out and his career is the stuff of legend. The last time I saw him on the wire was 1957, when he toured for Col. Tom Parker on the Elvis Presley Show. His well-documented prejudice was evident even here, as he detested the sudden fame and immense wealth of the singer, cracking that instead of being nicknamed Elvis the Pelvis, "He should have been named Enis."

I joined Castle for '72 and '73, and came to like the man. I took his extreme politics in stride, and liked his family as well. For his birthday in '73, Mary Castle told me she had bought him property in Largo, Florida, one of his favorite fishing spots.

Castle suffered the cruelties of Alzheimer's, and died at 76, on January 29, 1989, in the home of his daughter, Jan, in Newburg, NY. He also left a son, Hal, Jr., with whom he shared a cover of LIFE magazine. Mary buried her husband in Largo. A fairly recent posting here related this gracious lady still lives there at 99.

30 June, 2011 18:24
Anonymous said...

Didn't he teach his 'drunken slack wire' act to James Plunkett?
I seem to remember both June and Jan telling me that.May have even seen it too.

30 June, 2011 22:53
johnny said...

Yes he did teach James the act, rigging and all and James did it in its finest fashion, somersaults and all. James still does the opening drunk routine [out of shape big belly and all] and tears the house down with all the great falls, etc. A few years back at the Milwaukee circus parade grounds he did the comedy and was the hit of the parade grounds as no one had remembered it from before. Castle starred on the GSOE. pretty good for a self taught circus performer.

He was mis-cast as a circus producer, but successful. No specs, no wardrobe. Just good ring lighs. His programcould be a Unicycle act following a chimp act or low wire following the high wire. He hired good acts and paid well. The big showbiz news is when he paid Tarzan Zerbini an unprecedented, at that time of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER DAY. He had awful fibre glas ring curbs. Not very high or wide but beware if you scratched one. They never needed painting. My liberty act "walked the ring curb" so I had to use my own ring curb.

One year in Dayton [in that little fairgrounds bldg I had done some before opening pr with the elephants [it was ten days date. no shows on Sunday. the good old days]. Any way I was at a kick off luncheon with Castle and PR clown "Chuckles" FAcer. On a stage the MC Shriner introduced who was who and he introduced Castle. He got up walked up the couple stars on to the stage and just at that moment he fell flat on his face with a big bang. We all jumped up and then he got up with a big grin. He had done one of fake falls from the wire act days. What a surprise. I saqw him do ir another time as well. He hated Al Dobritch and one winter at the "Showmans leauge" convention in Chicago he got in a fist fight with Dobritch right in the lobby at the "Check in" MR and I were sitting there along with lots of show people. What a shocker that was. I am sure Casey Gibbs has alot of Castle stories. If he liked you and your act he didn't mind repeating. George and Vickey were there multiple times. Also chandeleir Betty Pasco and Rex Young had a great clown alley. Cleo was his rngmstr,. for many seasons.Quite a guy. Glad to have known him for many years. johnny

01 July, 2011 09:05
Circus Photos said...

Dad did clowning for one of his dates in Ky in mid "70". I can remember parts of the show like it was like yesterday.

01 July, 2011 18:36
Ole Whitey said...

Roger: He was working the act as late as 1959 because I saw him at an "Outdoor Show" here that spring just before I left to join the Mighty Cole and Walters.

I had seen him work before and he was always terrific. Interesting that Hubert didn't drink as he really had the moves down. I couldn't watch him with cracking up.

He told me his favorite show had been Barnes-Sells-Floto.

01 July, 2011 23:00
Ami said...

I just came across this post, my name is Ami Burkhalter (maiden name Shew). I'm the great granddaughter (first great grand child) of Hubert Castle (James Albert Harold/Hal Smith) and Mary "Bunny" Smith. Grandad did pass away in 1989 when I was 10 due to Alzheimer's. Granbun passed away over Memorial Day weekend in 2009, she was 97. She had recently relocated from Florida where she had lived for about 25 years. Her sister Betty, who she had shared an apartment with since Betty's husband passed away, had passed and it was decided that she needed to be closer to family. She is buried in Florida next to Grandad. At the time she was living in Seagoville, TX near my Grandpa, her son, Hal. Granbun always loved Florida, she had lived there for a time as a child and always wanted to go back. She and Grandad had planned to retire there, but he passed before they could do that together. Thankfully we had gotten the chance to see her just after her birthday a few months before that. Even at that age her mind was still very intact and we had a great time talking and listening to old stories about the family. Her body was old and the medication she took for some things caused her speech to be slurred though which made it difficult to understand her sometimes and frustrated her greatly. She still made sure to be dressed well, have a bit of lipstick on, her neck scarf, and her hair done each day. My Grandpa Hal passed away this past December (2015) the week before Christmas. Grandad was born on April 8, 1912 in Enid, OK for those who weren't sure about his exact birth date.

29 June, 2016 11:19

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