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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
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[[File:Arne_Arnardo.jpg|right|250px]]
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[[File:Woodcock_RBBB.jpg|right|400px]]
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===ARNE ARNARDO===
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===BILL & BARBARA WOODCOCK===
  
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With his bushy sideburns, his Stetson hat, and his jolly personality, Arne Arnardo (1912-1995) was a legendary figure in his native Norway—where he was known as The Circus King—and in the European circus community. He had created Cirkus Arnardo in 1949; it became Norway’s largest and best-known circus, and remained so until the late 1970s, when Knut Dahl’s new Cirkus Merano slowly rose to a dominant position in that country, before folding its tents in 2015. Yet Cirkus Arnardo never lost its reputation and is still recognized today as Norway’s premier circus.
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William "Buckles" Woodcock was born on February 26, 1935 in Lancaster, Missouri, to an old American circus family. Although his father, [[William Woodcock, Sr.|William H. Woodcock]] (1904-1963), was a first-generation circus man (and became a legendary elephant trainer with a passion for circus history), his mother was Sarah "Babe" Orton (1902-1988), whose grandfather, Hiram , a former sailor and tavern-keeper of British origin, had started a circus in Wisconsin in 1854. As the feisty Babe would often say, "My family was in the circus when the Ringling brothers were still wearing wooden shoes."
  
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Arne Arnardo was born Arne Otto Lorang Andersen on October 12, 1912 in Sarpsborg, on the southeastern tip of Norway, the son of Einar (1888-1967) and Elna (1895-1920) Andersen. His father was a lumberjack. At a very early age, Arne showed an interest in show business; he is said to have given his first performance at age six—a puppet show that he presented in his parents’ home.
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Bill (to differentiate him from his father, William) Woodcock grew up around animals, elephants in particular. When he was a toddler, he was often buckled to his mother on a harness to keep him in check and safe around his father's elephants, thus his nickname. At age 11, he began working in the circus as a candy butcher. But Buckles had other plans: in 1951, over his father's objections, he found a job as an animal handler with another elephant trainer, Eugene "Arky" Scott, who worked with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
  
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He was fourteen when, in 1926, he "ran away and joined the circus": He found a job as a stable boy with Hartvig "Leonardi" Berg’s Cirkus Empress, which had just visited Frederikshald (today Halden), not far from Sarpsborg. Although Arne was now in an environment that suited him better than the world of lumberjacks, he was not yet satisfied: His primary ambition was to perform. He trained as a contortionist and wirewalker, and made his debut in the ring in 1929 under the name of ''Armido''. Soon he changed it to ''Arnardo'', which he thought sounded better.
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Obviously, there was not much William Senior could do. He and Buckles reunited two years later and began working together. Since his father's vision was failing, Buckles's role in the partnership became increasingly more prominent. In 1951, William Woodcock had acquired a four-year old Burmese woodland elephant, Anna May, from the Al G. Kelly-Miller Bros. Circus, and Buckles began working with her. Anna May, who was a remarkably smart and talented performer, would become America's most famous elephant and stay in the Woodcock family until May 2004, when she went into retirement at Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbrier, Arkansas. She died there that same year, on December 21.... ([[William Woodcock, Jr.|more...]])
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On April 29, 1937, Arnardo made the headlines (and, most importantly, the newsreels) when he did a chair-balancing act atop of the Odd Fellow-Gården building in Oslo, which had been recently completed and housed the brand-new Scala variety theater, where Arne had been contracted. Arne, who had an innate talent for public relations, made the most of this publicity stunt for his personal promotion. This talent for advertising eventually led him to a different path: In 1939, he became Business and Advertising Manager of Cirkus Berny, a well-known Norwegian circus.... ([[Arne Arnardo|more...]])
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==New Biographies==
 
==New Biographies==

Revision as of 19:04, 30 August 2020

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Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus
and inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

Woodcock RBBB.jpg

BILL & BARBARA WOODCOCK

William "Buckles" Woodcock was born on February 26, 1935 in Lancaster, Missouri, to an old American circus family. Although his father, William H. Woodcock (1904-1963), was a first-generation circus man (and became a legendary elephant trainer with a passion for circus history), his mother was Sarah "Babe" Orton (1902-1988), whose grandfather, Hiram , a former sailor and tavern-keeper of British origin, had started a circus in Wisconsin in 1854. As the feisty Babe would often say, "My family was in the circus when the Ringling brothers were still wearing wooden shoes."

Bill (to differentiate him from his father, William) Woodcock grew up around animals, elephants in particular. When he was a toddler, he was often buckled to his mother on a harness to keep him in check and safe around his father's elephants, thus his nickname. At age 11, he began working in the circus as a candy butcher(American) Concession vendor; so named because one of the first successful concessionaires of the American circus was a former butcher.. But Buckles had other plans: in 1951, over his father's objections, he found a job as an animal handler with another elephant trainer, Eugene "Arky" Scott, who worked with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.

Obviously, there was not much William Senior could do. He and Buckles reunited two years later and began working together. Since his father's vision was failing, Buckles's role in the partnership became increasingly more prominent. In 1951, William Woodcock had acquired a four-year old Burmese woodland elephant, Anna May, from the Al G. Kelly-Miller Bros. Circus, and Buckles began working with her. Anna May, who was a remarkably smart and talented performer, would become America's most famous elephant and stay in the Woodcock family until May 2004, when she went into retirement at Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary in Greenbrier, Arkansas. She died there that same year, on December 21.... (more...)

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