Clyde Beatty
| Clyde Beatty | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 10, 1903 Bainbridge, Ross County, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | July 19, 1965 (aged 62) Ventura, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | cancer |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn–Hollywood Hills Cemetery |
| Occupation | Lion trainer, performer, film actor, circus owner |
| Spouse(s) | Earnestine Pegg, Harriett Evans (1933–1950) (until her death), Jane Beatty |
| Children | Joyce Beatty Ferguson, Albina Beatty (1931–2010), Clyde Beatty Jr. |
Clyde Beatty (June 10, 1903 – July 19, 1965) joined the circus as a cage cleaner as a teen and became famous as a lion tamer and animal trainer. He also became a circus impresario who owned his own show, which later merged with the Cole Bros. Circus to form the Clyde Beatty–Cole Bros. Circus.
Beatty became famous for his "fighting act," in which he entered a cage with wild animals with a whip and a pistol strapped to his side. The act was designed to showcase his courage and mastery of wild beasts, including lions, tigers, cougars, and hyenas, sometimes brought together all at once in a single cage in a potentially lethal combination. At the height of his fame, the act featured as many as 40 lions and tigers of both sexes, and Beatty had his own rail car in the 35-car circus train.
There have been suggestions that Beatty was the first lion tamer to use a chair in his act, but in an autobiographical book he disclaimed credit for this practice: "It was in use when I was a cage boy and had been used long before."
Beatty's fame was such that he appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1950s and on television until the 1960s. He was also the star of his own syndicated radio series, The Clyde Beatty Show, from 1950 to 1952. The weekly programs featured adventures loosely based on his real-life exploits. The stories were no doubt more fictitious than real, and Beatty actually appeared in name only; Vic Perrin (not identified as such to the radio audience) impersonated him on the show.
Beatty's "fighting act" made him the paradigm of a lion tamer for more than a generation. He was once mauled by a lion named Nero and was in the hospital for ten weeks as a result of the attack. However, he remained undaunted and faced down Nero in a cage for the film The Big Cage. A caricature of Beatty, drawn by Alex Gard, was displayed at Sardi's restaurant in New York City and is now part of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection at the New York Public Library.
...
Wikipedia