Steele's dream fulfilled in circus for 60 years
Tony Steele prepares to soar on the flying trapeze at his Haines City home on Friday. Friday July 22, 2011.Paul Crate / News Chief By PAULA STUARTNews Chief Correspondent
Sunday, August 14, 2011
HAINES CITY -- Legendary trapeze artist, Tony Steele has decided to make East Polk County his home. Known as one of the best high-fliers in the world, Steele, 75, could have picked anywhere on the globe to live, but said he likes the peace and quite of Polk County and enjoys his central location in Haines City.
"I've worked all over the globe," Steele said. "Vegas, Japan, Germany. I've been on about 40 different shows between Europe and Asia."
At the age of 15 in 1951, Steele left his home in Boston with his mother's blessings to fulfill his dream of being in the circus, which came from watching a Ringling Brothers show.
HAINES CITY -- Legendary trapeze artist, Tony Steele has decided to make East Polk County his home. Known as one of the best high-fliers in the world, Steele, 75, could have picked anywhere on the globe to live, but said he likes the peace and quite of Polk County and enjoys his central location in Haines City.
"I've worked all over the globe," Steele said. "Vegas, Japan, Germany. I've been on about 40 different shows between Europe and Asia."
At the age of 15 in 1951, Steele left his home in Boston with his mother's blessings to fulfill his dream of being in the circus, which came from watching a Ringling Brothers show.
"I read about an amateur circus in Gainesville, Texas. Instead of a community ball team, they had a community circus. It was a barn filled with circus equipment. The Gil Gray Circus wintered there and I told the owner I did a single trap," Steele said.
Paul Crate / News Chief
Trapeze artist, Tony Steele, strikes a pose mid-air on the flying trapeze at his Hanies City home. Steele, 74, began his career at the age of 15. Friday July 22, 2011.
The circus took in "dreamer" Steele, but only as a "roustabout," giving him jobs like painting wheels on circus trucks and other maintenance duties. Steele continued to perfect his single trapeze act during his breaks, and persistence and his dreaming both paid off.
"Mr. Gray had an act missing in one of the shows, so I filled in. After that, he said I wouldn't be a stagehand anymore," Steele said. "He told me he would give me $100 a week. I told him, I wanted $300 a week and I got it."
Paul Crate / News ChiefTony Steele looks comfortable walking the high wire even though it is not his specialty. Friday July 22, 2011
After years of flying and styling for audiences across the globe, Steele landed a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records when he became the first trapeze artist to complete 3 1/2 back somersaults to a legs catch while performing in Durango, Mexico, in 1962.
After years of flying and styling for audiences across the globe, Steele landed a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records when he became the first trapeze artist to complete 3 1/2 back somersaults to a legs catch while performing in Durango, Mexico, in 1962.
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