Vince Bruce
Vince Bruce, who died on September 24 aged 56, was a British rodeo performer who taught America a thing or two about the art of the lasso. Born in Brighton, Sussex, on April 4 1955, Vincent Bruce showed himself a talented rope-spinner by the age of 12, and in his early teens he was starring with Britain’s Circus Hoffman, “The Wildest Show on Earth”.His tuition in the art of rope-spinning had begun when he was eight, at the hands of the Wild West star Tex McLeod, who had performed with Buffalo Bill and appeared in silent Western films before moving in 1919 to England, where he became famous on the variety circuit. When he became too old to entertain, McLeod settled in Brighton, where he ran a boarding house for homeless men just down the street from Vince Bruce’s family. Under McLeod’s guidance, Vince began performing every Friday night at a local show. After touring with Circus Hoffman, the young Bruce joined a French circus. He went on to appear as the French cartoon character Lucky Luke in the Western-themed amusement park outside Paris called La Vallée des Peaux Rouges (Valley of the Red Indians) — an enterprise set up by the actor Jean Richard, famous for his role on television as Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret.
When Bruce was 19 he left the circus world for the international nightclub and variety circuit, presenting his trick-rope act all over the world. In 1983 he went to the United States to perform with the Harlem Globetrotters, and in the same year won the International Trick and Fancy Roper Association Championship at Fort Worth, Texas. He decided to settle in America, where he became much in demand at rodeos, circuses and state fairs. In 1989-90 he featured in The Big Apple Circus production Grandma Goes West, alongside stars such as Barry Lubin (as Grandma), Cesar Aedo (a Peruvian mime artiste), Katja Schumann (one of Europe’s leading equestriennes), the Rios Brothers, and Britain’s David Rosaire (with his perky performing pekes).
Bruce made his Broadway debut in 1991, in the Tony Award-winning musical The Will Rogers Follies — A Life in Revue. Appearing as the trick-roping star and portraying Rogers in this tribute to the cowboy and vaudeville star, Bruce remained with the show for two and a half years at New York’s Palace Theatre. For his act, he performed a spin with two ropes, a feat first devised 60 years earlier by Will Rogers himself.
On July 21 1991, at the Empire State Building, Bruce set a new world record — 4,011 — for “Texas Skips” (jumping back and forth through a spinning loop of rope). He already held the two previous world records, 1,814 and 1,851.
Vince Bruce continued to perform in America and internationally in nightclubs, rodeos and variety shows, as well as on television. Recently he had been suffering from cancer.
It was while working in New York that he met his wife, Annie Dubats, a singer based in Manhattan, who survives him. From time to time she performed with Bruce in his shows, singing songs on horseback.
Vince Bruce, born April 4 1955, died September 24 2011.
