Monday, September 05, 2011

1941 Cole Bros. Circus #26



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Posted by Buckles at 9/05/2011 05:42:00 AM

4 comments:

Roger Smith said...

At first glance, it looks like she's working from the flying act frame. A second look finds her own crane bar in the shadows--but we still don't have her name. Who is she, and who is the heel-and-toe man in the shot above her?

05 September, 2011 18:24
Buckles said...

The Bradbury article states:

Aerial Display

Miss Rich and Corrine
Betty Rich and Partello
Ring 1 Sergeant Shubert
Ring 2 Ernie White
Ring 3 Bert Dearo

A good display of hazardous feats, beautiful girls and costumes.

05 September, 2011 21:27
Dick Flint said...

Since this shows a single trap act, the photo is likely of Betty Rich who did a heel catch as part of her solo that was display four in the program and different from the paired act ("Betty Rich and Partello") Buckles notes. She was taught her heel-and-toe routine by Bert Mayo, a west coast based aerialist with the Flying Mayos. She was with Cole for 1941 and 1942 and played some winter dates in Los Angeles theatres between seasons.

Also on Cole was Marilyn Rich and she was a feature part of the Cole show aerial ballet. Billboard noted she “is practically new to the circus world but will not be long, for her act easily takes the top honors of this great show. The stunt she does by swinging in mid air on one arm, flipping her body up and down 82 times is a great feat. The act certainly puts first class into the whole [aerial ballet] affair.” When the Cole show was visited by members of the Pacific Coast Showmen’s Association during the season, she completed 227 one-arm planges. Marilyn Rich played fair dates in the later 1940s doing a trapeze act beneath a helicopter.

Dick Flint
Baltimore

06 September, 2011 15:20
Stein-Erik said...

All the pix Nos. 23-26 are of Betty Rich. Reason I feel sure is that they look like (although might not directly be) taken from a film called "Here comes the Circus", made by Castle Films and downloadable for free from archive.org (together with more features from the 40s and 50s in black and white). The footage of Ms. Betty Cole is also available at several stock footage sites (but then with time codes and other disruptions). But Marilyn Rich was, precisely as Buckles stated, also in the show, doing "arm twists" (or what the correct expression is). But DO look for more great circus at archive.org!
Stein-Erik Mattsson, Oslo, Norway

09 September, 2011 19:31

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