Charles Blondin
| Charles Blondin | |
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Blondin carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on a tightrope
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| Born | 28 February 1824 |
| Died | 22 February 1897 (aged 72) |
Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 1824 – 22 February 1897) was a French tightrope walker and acrobat.
Blondin was born on 28 February 1824 at St Omer, Pas-de-Calais, France. His real name was Jean-François Gravelet and he was known also by the names Charles Blondin, Jean-François Blondin and called the "Chevalier Blondin", or simply "The Great Blondin". At the age of five he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon and, after six months training as an acrobat, made his first public appearance as "The boy Wonder". His superior skill and grace, as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favourite. He first married Marie Blancherie, and at the same time legitimised their son Aime Leopold. It is not known what happened to his French family after he went to America.
Blondin went to the United States in 1855. He was engaged by William Niblo to perform with the Ravel troupe in New York City and was subsequently part proprietor of a circus. He especially owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea of crossing the Niagara Gorge (located on the Canada–US border) on a tightrope, 1,100 ft (340 m) long, 3.25 in (8.3 cm) in diameter and 160 ft (49 m) above the water, near the location of the current Rainbow Bridge. This he did on 30 June 1859, and a number of times thereafter, always with different theatrical variations: blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man (his manager, Harry Colcord) on his back, sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelette and standing on a chair with only one chair leg on the rope.
While in the US he married a second wife, Charlotte Lawrence, with whom he had Adele c. 1854, Edward c. 1855 and Isis c. 1861.
In 1861, Blondin first appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept, 70 feet (21 m) from the ground. In 1862, he again gave a series of performances at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere in England, and on the continent of Europe.
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