The Flying Wallendas

The Flying Wallendas is the name of a famous group of circus act and daredevil stunts performers, most known for performing death-defying stunts without a safety net. They were first known as "The Great Wallendas", but the current name was coined by the press in the 40s and has stayed since. The name in their native German, "Die fliegenden Wallenda", is an obvious rhyme on the title of the Wagner opera, "Der fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman").

Karl Wallenda was born in Magdeburg, Germany. in 1905 to an old circus family, and began performing at the age of 6. While still in his teens he answered an ad for a "hand balancer with courage". His employer, Louis Weitzman, taught him the trade. In 1922 Karl put together his own act with his brother Herman, Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl, Helen Kreis, who eventually became his wife.

The act toured Europe for several years, performing some amazing stunts. When John Ringling saw them perform in Cuba, he quickly hired them to perform at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1928, they debuted at the Madison Square Garden. The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

It was at a performance in Akron, Ohio that the group all fell off the wire, but were unhurt. The next day, a reporter who witnessed the accident was quoted in the newspaper: "The Wallendas fell so gracefully that it seemed as if they were flying" -- thus coining the name of The Flying Wallendas.

In 1944, while performing in Hartford, Connecticut, a fire started that ended up killing over 168 people (see Hartford Circus Fire). None of the Wallendas was hurt.

In the following years, Karl developed some of the most amazing acts like the "seven-person chair pyramid". They continued performing those acts until 1962. That year, while performing at Detroit, Michigan, the front man on the wire faltered and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing two of them (Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law, and nephew Dieter Schepp). Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son, Mario, was paralyzed from the waist down.

Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Rietta, fell to her death in 1963, and his son-in-law Richard ("Chico") Guzman was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of the metal rigging. Nonetheless, Karl decided to go on. He repeated the pyramid act in 1963 and 1977. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts.

On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Karl Wallenda fell from the wire and died. He was 73 at the time. Rick Wallenda completed the walk a year later.

There are several branches of the Wallendas performing today, comprising mostly grandchildren of Karl Wallenda. They still perform regularly and have achieved recognition in the Guinness Book of Records.

ome Family Members

* Jenny Wallenda Karl's oldest daughter, performed around the world. After her retirement she remains active in the circus community, organizing parades, shows and other events to promote and preserve the art of circus. She has been honored with a place in Sarasota's Circus Ring of Fame.
*Carla Wallenda Karl's younger daughter, this high flying grandmother is still performing amazing feats on the highwire and swaypole with her husband Mike Morgan.
* Richard Faughnan, Karl's son-in-law, was the husband of Jenny Wallenda. Faughnan fell 70 feet to his death on 30 January 1962 in Detroit, when the Seven-Man Pyramid collapsed.
* Richard "Chico" Guzman, Karl's son-in-law, and Carla's husband, was killed in 1972 when he touched a live wire while on the metal rigging.
* Dieter Schepp, Karl's nephew, fell 70 feet to his death on 30 January 1962 in Detroit, when the Seven-Man Pyramid collapsed. Dieter, who was making his first appearance in the Seven, apparently lost his grip on the balance pole.
* Jana Schepp, Karl's niece and Dieter's sister, was one of the survivors of the 1962 disaster in Detroit.
* Angel Wallenda (20 March, 1968 - 3 May 1996), born Elizabeth Pintye, married Steven Wallenda (Karl's grandnephew) in 1985, when she was 17, and began training on the wire. Soon, however, she became ill with cancer. In 1987 her right leg had to be amputated, and in 1988 parts of both lungs were removed. Nonetheless, later that year she returned to the act, becoming the only person with an artificial leg ever to walk a high wire. She gave her final performance in 1990. She and Steven divorced, and Angel married Adil Shaikh. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E1DE1439F937A35756C0A960958260 Angel Wallenda, 28, a Flier Despite a Life of Obstacles] .]
* Edith Wallenda (18 March, 1913 - 21 October, 1999), Herman's second wife, performed with the Great Wallendas for a quarter century before her retirement. After retirement from the high wire, she worked for ten years as an X-ray technician at Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Her children, by a previous marriage, are Rosemarie Wallenda (born 8 December 1942) and Peter Pfeifer (born 7 August 1938).
* Gunther Herman Wallenda (25 June 1927 - 16 March 1996), Herman's son by his first wife, Lucy, began training on the wire at age five, though he was already part of the act. In the Hartford Circus Fire, he helped rescue a number of the spectators. When in 1962 the pyramid fell, Gunther was the only one left standing and was able to help rescue three who were clinging to the wire. That summer the troupe went to the theme park The Enchanted Forest of the Adirondacks to regroup and heal. While performing at the Enchanted Forest that summer and the summer of 1963, Gunther fell in love with Sheila Monahan (22 May 1936 – 15 July 2000). Sheila was a teacher who worked summers as the secretary to the park's general manager (who was also her brother-in-law). Sheila and Gunther married in the fall of 1963 and settled in Sarasota, Florida where Gunther returned to school. He graduated from high school, got a university degree, and became a history and geography teacher. While teaching in Sarasota, Gunther continued to train high-wire performers, most notably as part of the Sailor Circus, a Sarasota county sponsored circus school. They had one daughter, Lisa Ellen Wallenda (now Wallenda-Picard) who performed with father as well as Carla Wallenda and was part of Ringling Brothers headquarters management for many years.
* Helen (Kreis) Wallenda (11 December, 1910 - 9 May, 1996), Karl's second wife, was the last surviving member of the original troupe. She joined the Wallendas when she was 16. Helen and Karl Wallenda were married in 1935. Until she retired in 1956, she was balanced at the peak of the seven-man pyramid.
* Herman Wallenda (11 June 1901 – January 1985), Karl's brother, was one of the original members of the Great Wallendas troop (Karl Wallenda, Herman Wallenda, Helen Wallenda, and Joe Geiger). Born in Magdeburg, Germany, he began performing at age 2 as an acrobat and clown. Together with the other members of the troop, he was discovered by John Ringling in Cuba in the late 1920s and joined the Ringling Brothers circus in the United States, where he resided the rest of his life. Self-taught and without formal education, he was conversant in five languages and played a number of musical instruments. He was one of the survivors of the 1962 disaster in Detroit. He was the father of Gunther Wallenda.
* Karl Wallenda (21 January, 1905 - 22 March, 1978) was the founder and leader of the group until his death in San Juan in 1978.
* Mario Wallenda, Karl's adopted son, was paralyzed from the waist down on 30 January 1962 in Detroit, when the Seven-Man Pyramid collapsed. In the 1990s, Mario developed an act in which he would ride a two-wheeled electric "sky cycle" on the high wire.
* Tino Wallenda, Karl's grandson, started on the high wire at age seven. He is the family patriarch of the Flying Wallendas and is still performing (2008) the 7-Man Pyramid with his daughters and son, his brother-in-law Sascha Pavlata, son-in-law Robinson Cortes and family friend Jade Kindar-Martin.
* Olinka Wallenda, Tino's wife, is descended from the Valla Bertini circus family, and has been performing on the high wire with Tino since 1974. She and Tino have four children, all wirewalkers - Alida, Andrea, Aurelia and Alessandro (Alex).
* Mario B. Wallenda (6 November 1956 - 5 March 1993), Karl's grandson, learned to walk the tightrope at the age of two or three, but his specialty was riding his motorcycle inside the "Globe of Death". He tested positive for HIV in 1990 after collapsing after a performance in Canada. After his death from AIDS, his mother, Carla, said he wanted his cause of death made public.
* Rietta Wallenda, Karl's sister-in-law, fell to her death in 1963 in Omaha Ne, while performing on the sway pole.
* Sandra Wallenda, Gunther's daughter from his second marriage to Margarita, a talented Mexican aerialist who fell to her death in Mexico City in the late 1950s. Sandra performed various aerial acts around the world and is also a gifted horsewoman.
* Rietta Wallenda, Karl's granddaughter, has been performing since the age of 13. The only member of Karl's family who was performing with him at the time of his death, she performed in San Juan to a standing ovation five hours after her grandfather died. She and her daughter Lyric, also an accomplished performer, are currently working in Hawaii.
* Rick Wallenda, Karl's grandson, has been performing since the age of 13. He completed the walk that took Karl's life a year after his grandfather' death. He also broke his grandfathers record at [kings Island] walking 2000 feet without a net. It is the continental record for that walk.Fact|date=July 2008
* Nikolas & Erendira Wallenda, Karl's great-grandson and his wife now perform with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is a seventh generation Wallenda. Erendira comes from the Flying Vasquez family of trapeze artists. They have three children sons Yanni, Amadaos and daughter Evita Wallenda who are also learning the family trade.
* Helen Wallenda,1979 Karl's foxy flame-haired great-niece and name sake of Helen (Kreis) Wallenda (11 December 1910 - 9 May 1996). Helen has also joined the world of entertainment. She currently works as a successful multi media archivist for a world reknowned television company in London.

References

* [http://www.wallenda.com/history.html The Flying Wallendas - History] - retrieved February 5 2006

ee also

* Tightrope walking

External links

* [http://www.wallenda.com/index.html The Flying Wallendas Official Page]
* [http://www.wallendaenterprises.com/index.html Rick Wallenda Official Page]
* [http://blog.mlive.com/ann_arbor_news_extra/2008/07/reflection_carla_wallenda.html Carla Wallenda article]