Lillian Leitzel, The High-Flying 'Queen' Of The Circus
Aerialist Lillian Leitzel came from a family of performers. In 1905, she toured Europe as part of the Leamy Ladies circus attraction, which included Leitzel (far left), her aunts Tina and Toni Pelikan, her mother Nellie Pelikan, and Lily Simpson.
Dean Jensen's collection/Courtesy Crown Publishing Group
from: npr.com
by NPR Staff
June 29, 2013
In the first half of the 20th century, aerial performers — not elephants or tigers — were the big draw at circuses. And nobody was a bigger star than Lillian Leitzel, a tiny woman from Eastern Europe who ruled the Ringling Brothers circus.
"She was a child of another trapeze artist — her mother, Nellie Pelikan," says Dean Jensen, who has written a new biography of Leitzel called Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus.
Jensen tells NPR's Jacki Lyden that as a young girl, Pelikan was forced to work in a small traveling circus where she was sexually abused by the troupe's owner.
Aerialist Lillian Leitzel came from a family of performers. In 1905, she toured Europe as part of the Leamy Ladies circus attraction, which included Leitzel (far left), her aunts Tina and Toni Pelikan, her mother Nellie Pelikan, and Lily Simpson.
Dean Jensen's collection/Courtesy Crown Publishing Group
from: npr.com
by NPR Staff
June 29, 2013
In the first half of the 20th century, aerial performers — not elephants or tigers — were the big draw at circuses. And nobody was a bigger star than Lillian Leitzel, a tiny woman from Eastern Europe who ruled the Ringling Brothers circus.
"She was a child of another trapeze artist — her mother, Nellie Pelikan," says Dean Jensen, who has written a new biography of Leitzel called Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus.
Jensen tells NPR's Jacki Lyden that as a young girl, Pelikan was forced to work in a small traveling circus where she was sexually abused by the troupe's owner.
Leitzel is remembered as the first true circus diva.
Dean Jensen's collection/Courtesy Crown Publishing Group
Eventually, Pelikan left the circus and became a star aerialist, touring Europe and leaving her daughter behind for years at a time.
"Leitzel wanted to be like her mother so she worked very hard at becoming an aerialist," Jensen says. "Ultimately, when she was about 14, [she] joined her mother in an aerial troupe."
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Leitzel was a star from the moment she first grabbed a trapeze bar. But her signature act was the Roman rings, which are similar to the rings male gymnasts use in the Olympics today, except much, much higher. Leitzel's act took her up into the heavens of the circus tent, often 50 or 60 feet in the air, with no net or safety features below.
listen to the interview and read more:
http://www.npr.org/2013/06/29/195971072/lillian-leitzel-the-tiny-high-flying-queen-of-the-circus
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