Gertrude Lintz

Infobox Person
name = Gertrude Davies Lintz


image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date =
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
death_cause =
residence = 8365 Shore Road, Brooklyn, New York City [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/60856058?tab=details WorldCat.org] - Description of a photograph in the Brooklyn Public Library, retrieved 17th July 2007]
other_names =
known_for = Keeping, raising and training animals
education =
employer =
occupation =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion = Judaism
spouse = Dr Bill Lintz
partner =
children =
parents =
relatives =


website =
footnotes =

Gertrude Davies Lintz was an eccentric animal lover from Brooklyn, New York.

She kept several animals in her Brooklyn home, including several St. Bernards and the famous gorillas Gargantua (called Buddy at that time) and Massa. She was known to drive around Brooklyn with a fully clothed gorilla or chimpanzee sitting in the passenger seat. She believed that apes would only thrive if they received proper mothering (she gained national attention by proposing this to the scientific community) so she treated them as her children - dressing them, teaching them to eat at the table with cutlery and so forth. [http://thenonist.com/index.php/thenonist/permalink/gargantua_the_great/ "Gargantua the Great"] . The Nonist. 17 July 2007.]

Buddy/Gargantua later became a major circus attraction after being sold to The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1937. He had been frightened by a thunder storm and, having escaped from his cage, climbed into bed with his "mother", Mrs Lintz. Massa was sold to the Philadelphia Zoo in 1935 after being severely startled when accidentally splashed with water. He became the oldest gorilla on record at 54 years old and his story, with elements of Gargantua's life, was made into the film "Buddy" (1997).Maslin, Janet. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2DA1E3DF935A35755C0A961958260 "Bringing Up Bonzo"] . New York Times. 6 June 1997.] Mrs. Lintz was played by Rene Russo.

Earlier, Mrs Lintz had another claim to fame when, on February 21, 1925 her St. Bernard, CH Hercuveen Aurora Borealis, became the first of her breed to win an "All-Breed Best In Show" (at the Maryland Kennel Club’s twelfth annual dog show in Baltimore, Maryland). [PDFlink| [http://clubs.akc.org/saints/Archives/1925firstbis.pdf CH Hercuveen Aurora Borealis, Breed First, Best in Show] |182 KiB , retrieved 17th July 2007]

One of her chimpanzees, Captain Jiggs, also became a well known national figure. In 1938 she claimed to have taught another chimpanzee, Susan, to talk and demonstrated this on the radio. The only words spoken by the chimp were "Who-who." [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759069,00.html "Chats with Chimpanzees"] . Time Magazine, 31 January 1938. retrieved 17th July 2007]

She was married to Dr. Bill Lintz,, a stomach specialist. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759533,00.html "Jungle to Garden"] . Time Magazine. 18 April 1938. Retrieved 17 July 2007] They lived at 8365 Shore Road in Brooklyn, New York City, a water-front "brownstone stoop of a mansion of faded grandeur straight out of Charles Addams’ macabre cartoons" according to Henry Ringling North [North, Henry Ringling. "The Circus Kings" Dell, 1964. ASIN B0007FUDJQ via [http://maisonbisson.com/blog/post/11057/ "MaisonBisson: The Real King Kong"] . retrieved 17 July 2007.]

She was the author of "Animals are my Hobby" (Museum Press Limited (1945). ASIN B0007JAIJC).

References

External links

* [http://monkeymaddness.com/apes_monkeys/bbm4.htm Extract from "Animals are my Hobby" at Apes & Monkeys]