Tuesday, August 24, 2021

RIDING #12

Posted by Chic Silber at 8/24/2021 09:55:00 AM

4 comments:

Roger Smith said...

LUCIO CRISTIANI. On the 1964 Beatty show, he was in his later years, but age had not diminished his presence as a star. I watched him show after show still completing a back somersault from horse to horse. The Cristiani name had been set aside for business reasons, and the act performed as the Franconis, with Lucio's wife, the luminous Gilda, as principal. Lucio's comedy stole the show, perpetuating the Cristiani tradition.

24 August, 2021 17:59
Chic Silber said...


Rex & Ava Williams a show girl

& Raphael rounded out the troupe

24 August, 2021 22:05
Chic Silber said...


The name Franconi was used

in tribute to a very early

riding act of note

24 August, 2021 22:07
Roger Smith said...

That showgirl was my dear friend, Kathy Brooks, one of our 6 Digger Pugh girls. One night, she fell between the horses and was badly injured. Herbie Weber gave me the show's insurance papers, and I followed her to the hospital. A week later, she recovered from internal injuries and I picked her up at the bus station, in Oklahoma City. Kathy knew I was an apprentice cat man, but she had ideas that we might develop a hanging perch act to share a partnership and create a package. When 1964 closed, I lost track of Kathy and inquire of her to this day.

25 August, 2021 19:38

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