Buckles Blog: More Beatty #2

Monday, June 10, 2013

More Beatty #2

15 comments:

Dennis said...: I would like to know who had the last 'fighting' cat act in America.; 10 June, 2013 22:34
Roger Smith said...: The last true fighting act of consequence was that of Pat Anthony. He had good speed and flash, and carried impressive numbers of cats. I saw Pat working usually between 15 and 20 mixed lions and tigers. Bill Johnston, Pat's animal man for 17 years, told me their biggest act was 22 cats.; 11 June, 2013 02:39
Chic Silber said...: Pat looked good & moved well with

an impressive assemblage but you

could hear him cursing all through

the act out on the midway (funny

but a challenge to some families); 11 June, 2013 09:31
Chic Silber said...: Love the lacing between sections

I recall some rather improvised

patches & parts in the chute

Roger should tell us more; 11 June, 2013 09:58
Dennis said...: I kind of thought it would be Pat Anthony. Seems, to me at least, there is a huge lack of info on the man.
I get nothing on Google either.
Back in the day, when I was deciding to work cats I had a very warm welcome at his compound in Florida.
I remember his living room chairs all draped in tawny brown and tiger stripes.; 11 June, 2013 23:26
Chic Silber said...: I think Roger offered an outline

of Pat's getting the GI Bill to

finance his big cat circus training

His birth name was Anthony Vitanza; 12 June, 2013 00:32
Dennis said...: Yes, the G I Bill story is well known but where is the rest of the story?
We know more about German trainers than our own.; 12 June, 2013 06:31
Roger Smith said...: No, the GI Bill could never have financed an act. It was to sustain the student during his learning time. WW II paratrooper Anthony Patrick Vitanza drew $80 a month during his apprenticeship, and nearly starved to death. He broke in under John "Chubby" Guilfoyle, out here in Thousand Oaks, when the Old Place was World Jungle Compound, then operated by Richards & Horne. He left to go on his own in 1953, with a bankroll not at all from the government, but from a showbiz "angel" named Walker Dick. By then a polished trainer, Pat framed an excellent act, booked it steadily, and both the act and his name grew appreciably.

I've recounted aspects of the Beatty tunnel before here--maybe too many times. But it was heavy, and very difficult to line up and assemble. In this photo, you see the long stakes we used to drive through corresponding grommets, strategically spaced to serve both connection and stability. Further details really should be offered with better shots of the set-up and operation of this knuckle-busting, scrap-iron son-of-a-bitch.; 13 June, 2013 02:42
Dick Flint said...: Dave Hoover had a fighting act on Beatty-Cole but don't know his last year with the act nor Pat Anthony's last year to work. Hoover later went out with his L.E. Barnes show doing a fighting act but it was very much an anachronism by then. Anyone know where he got his cats and what became of them after Barnes closed?
Dick Flint
Baltimore; 13 June, 2013 10:16
Chic Silber said...: With all due respect to Dave as we

became good friends over the years

His mixed act was a crowd pleaser

but it was more like dancing than

fighting & 1 of his favorite lines

was "They aren't going to eat me"; 13 June, 2013 11:22
Chic Silber said...: Dave remained on the show for long

after he gave up the cats in some

"Safety Director" position & still

kept that unlit stump of a cigar

firmly in the corner of his mouth; 13 June, 2013 11:26
Chic Silber said...: Lisa Bale could tell us about when

Pat retired from performing; 13 June, 2013 11:27
Roger Smith said...: If anyone comes back to this post: Pat Anthony was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and sold the last of his cats to Hoover in the winter of 1980, after we returned from that disastrous Beatty-Cole building effort. We went to Pat's compound in Riverview to pick them up. Pat came to DeLand to help Dave mix selected animals in with his veterans, and frankly Hoover treated the whole thing almost like a joke. He didn't pay attention, and Pat became impatient as he had no time to lose. He showed Dave how to work Phoebe (or PeeWee) tigress and Shorty lion on the barrel, and Dave never used it. He took the animals on the road and left the barrel in Winterquarters. Pat collected his money from the sale, but threw up his hands on what he called a hopeless case of further instruction. Hoover's act on L.E. Barnes was Andre Skarbecki's Serengeti Lions, ironically also sold to Hoover due to Andre's terminal cancer. The act was cut males, left to resemble lionesses, and the presentation would not be classed as a fighting act.; 18 June, 2013 14:25
GaryHill said...: Larry Allen Dean was training an act in Mesquite/Seagoville area in late 78.. mostly very large altered males too..visited pats compound with Jewell New when we were off one day from Circus World..Pat was a really nice guy..; 18 June, 2013 23:48
Dennis said...: Thanks for the further info on Mr. Anthony.
In 1977 I carried whip, chair and pistol in the Carson & Barnes cat act, but in no way was it considered a fighting act. Only once I got to fire the gun. Gypsy the tiger got up behind me in the grass. Okie warned me right away. She refused to budge with all the whip cracking I could muster. Finally, I shot off all the blanks in the gun right in her face and she left the arena. That was as close to a fighting act I ever got.
D.R. commented that it would be good if I could do that in every performance.; 19 June, 2013 08:00

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