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In the Spotlight

BEN WILLIAMS

Ben Harold Williams was born January 18, 1953 in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of aerialistAny acrobat working above the ring on an aerial equipment such as trapeze, Roman Rings, Spanish web, etc. Barbara Ray and elephant trainer Rex Williams. His parents divorced. When Barbara married another elephant trainer, the legendary Bill “Buckles” Woodcock, Ben began working with Buckles's star elephant, Anna May, a remarkably gifted Indian Woodlands elephant that Buckles had purchased from a circus in 1951, when she was five years old. By then, Anna May was thirteen, and Ben, six. When not traveling with his parents, Ben went to school in Ruskin, Florida—the Woodcocks' hometown—where he became president of the National Honor Society. A bright student, he was offered a scholarship for the University of South Florida, but he chose to go back to the circus instead, and to continue working with elephants. (more...)

Recent Additions

• Elena Borodina, Hand Balancer
• Circus Oz, Australia
• Gunther Gebel-Williams, Animal Trainer
• Harold Alzana, High Wire
• Svetlana Shamsheeva, Animal Trainer

Featured Oral Histories

• Barry Lubin, Clown (Grandma) - Interview (Jando 2008)
• Fumagalli, Clown - Interview (Jando 2008)
• Kris Kremo, Juggler - Interview (Jando 2007)

Featured Video

• Ben Williams & Anna May, with The Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra (1985)

A Message from the Editor

CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding encyclopedia of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly—and sometimes daily—basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow!

Dominique Jando