Ethel Jennier - Revision history

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‎See Also

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‎Image Gallery

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‎Image Gallery

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‎Animal Trainer

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‎Animal Trainer

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‎Miss Aerialetta

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‎Image Gallery

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‎Animal Trainer

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‎Animal Trainer

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‎Miss Aerialetta

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 ==See Also==
-* Biography: [[Walter Jennier]]
+* Biographies: [[Walter Jennier]], [[Jo-Ann Jennier]]
 ==Image Gallery==

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 File:Ethel_Jennier_and_Fans.png|Ethel Jennier (1943)
 File:Ethel_Jennier_with_cape.jpg|Ethel Jennier (c.1944)
-File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (1958)
+File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (c.1958)
 File:Ethel_Jennier_and_llamas.png|Ethel Jennier (1973)
 <Gallery/>
 [[Category:Artists and Acts|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Aerialists|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Animal Trainers|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Sea Lion Acts|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Dog Acts|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Sword Balancing|Jennier, Ethel]]

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 File:Ethel_Jennier_and_Fans.png|Ethel Jennier (1943)
 File:Ethel_Jennier_with_cape.jpg|Ethel Jennier (c.1944)
-File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (1948)
+File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (1958)
 File:Ethel_Jennier_and_llamas.png|Ethel Jennier (1973)
 <Gallery/>
 [[Category:Artists and Acts|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Aerialists|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Animal Trainers|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Sea Lion Acts|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Dog Acts|Jennier, Ethel]][[Category:Sword Balancing|Jennier, Ethel]]

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 Walter’s sea lion, Buddy, died during a tour in Central America in 1955. Since Walter considered retiring from performing, Ethel suggested to take over and present a two-sea-lion act trained by Walter, and Walter approved the idea. With his assistance, Ethel worked with the sea lions, and, after two years with the Polack show, she also resumed her swinging trapeze act as Miss Aerialetta. In 1964, her two acts were hired by [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey]].
-[[File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (c.1948)]]Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for Ethel and Walter. They had a huge age difference: Walter was seventy-three, and at fifty, Ethel was still an attractive woman and full of life. They divorced at the end of the season and Ethel married [[Jack Joyce]], a veteran animal trainer, who presented a liberty act in the show (along with [[Charles Mroczkowski]] in the center ring, and Mroczkowski's wife, Gena Lipowska, in the third ring).
+[[File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (c.1958)]]Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for Ethel and Walter. They had a huge age difference: Walter was seventy-three, and at fifty, Ethel was still an attractive woman and full of life. They divorced at the end of the season and Ethel married [[Jack Joyce]], a veteran animal trainer, who presented a liberty act in the show (along with [[Charles Mroczkowski]] in the center ring, and Mroczkowski's wife, Gena Lipowska, in the third ring).
 Ethel and Jack were featured in the show for the 1965 and 1966 seasons. They presented a mixed animal act composed of camels, a zebra, and a llama, which Ethel led alone in 1966. She also worked as a showgirl, appearing in the aerial ballet&mdash;which her prior work on the trapeze made quite easy for her. With her personality, the animal act was also a good fit. On his side, Walter retired definitely from performing.

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 Ethel and Jack were featured in the show for the 1965 and 1966 seasons. They presented a mixed animal act composed of camels, a zebra, and a llama, which Ethel led alone in 1966. She also worked as a showgirl, appearing in the aerial ballet&mdash;which her prior work on the trapeze made quite easy for her. With her personality, the animal act was also a good fit. On his side, Walter retired definitely from performing.
-Jack and Ethel remained on the Ringling show in various capacities until in 1971. Then Jack became performance director for a new ''Buffalo Bill’s Wild West''&mdash;a short-lived venture. They joined the [[Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus]] for the 1972 -1973 seasons. In addition to the mixed animal act, they trained a greyhound act that was presented by Ethel. Charles Schlarbaum, the Beatty-Cole circus's bandleader, arranged music for the greyhound act using an appropriate ''Alabamy Bound'' at fast tempo and a high-speed version of ''Honky Tonk Woman'' that perfectly suited the pace of the act.
+Jack and Ethel remained on the Ringling show in various capacities until in 1971. Then Jack became performance director for a new ''Buffalo Bill’s Wild West''&mdash;a short-lived venture. They joined the [[Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus]] for the 1972 and 1973 seasons. In addition to the mixed animal act, they trained a greyhound act that was presented by Ethel. Charles Schlarbaum, the Beatty-Cole circus's bandleader, arranged music for the greyhound act using an appropriate ''Alabamy Bound'' at fast tempo and a high-speed version of ''Honky Tonk Woman'' that perfectly suited the pace of the act.
 "Zack the shaggy dog" added comedy to the act and, despite the greyhounds’ thrilling hurdle jumping, it is Zack that was the shining star. Ethel eventually added a sword-balancing act to her repertoire, which she performed, along with her dog act, on the [[Royal Bros. Circus]] in 1974. On the same program was her daughter [[Jo-Ann Jennier|Jo-Ann]], with the trapeze act that Jo-Ann’s father, Walter Jennier, had helped her create. Walter also traveled with the show; sadly, he died on the road during the season, on June 24, 1974, in Toronto, Canada. Then Ethel worked with Jo-Ann, offering the three acts as a package, and did spot dates for a variety of producers.

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 [[File:Ethel_Jennier.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ethel Jennier on her trapeze (c.1941)]]As luck would have it, she was spotted by a representative of the [[Mighty Haag Circus]] doing acrobatics in her front yard; he offered to take her as an apprentice on the show, and her uncle accepted. There she started learning the circus way of life, as well as acrobatics, aerial work, and anything else that rendered her "generally useful," as was what was expected of circus performers in those days.
-After her initial training on the Mighty Haag show, she continued her circus apprenticeship on the Sam B. Dill Circus in 1930; she had by now a trapeze act to which she added a cloud swing and iron jaw routines, which she performed as ''Miss Aerialetta''. She also learned horsemanship, taking advice from experts on the show and practicing relentlessly.
+After her initial training on the Mighty Haag show, she continued her circus apprenticeship on the [[Sam B. Dill's Circus]] in 1930; she had by now a trapeze act to which she added a cloud swing and iron jaw routines, which she performed as ''Miss Aerialetta''. She also learned horsemanship, taking advice from experts on the show and practicing relentlessly.
-It is on the [[Sam B. Dill's Circus]] that she met [[Walter Jennier]], a seasoned performer who was featured in the show with his trained sea lion, Buddy. Walter was a former acrobat and aerialist, and he started working with Ethel to polish her trapeze act and eventually helped her build a new swinging trapeze act&mdash;a grueling and dangerous specialty&mdash;which ended with a spectacular somersault to a web, without any safety or protection. Ethel was a dedicated performer, enhancing her work with endless energy and an amazing smile.
+It is on the Sam B. Dill's Circus that she met [[Walter Jennier]], a seasoned performer who was featured in the show with his trained sea lion, Buddy. Walter was a former acrobat and aerialist, and he started working with Ethel to polish her trapeze act and eventually helped her build a new swinging trapeze act&mdash;a grueling and dangerous specialty&mdash;which ended with a spectacular somersault to a web, without any safety or protection. Ethel was a dedicated performer, enhancing her work with endless energy and an amazing smile.
 Inevitably, she and Walter fell in love. They wed on March 15, 1934, while working on the [[Tom Mix Circus]]. Their sea lion and trapeze acts were a good combination for booking agents, and they were featured on many circuses, including Tom Mix, [[Wallace Brothers]], [[Arthur Brothers]], [[Russel Brothers]], and [[Polack Brothers]]. (After the initial success of the Ringling Brothers show, American circuses took on to present themselves as family organizations run by brothers&mdash;although few of them genuinely were!)

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 <Gallery>
 File:Ethel_Jennier.jpg|Ethel Jennier (c.1941)
 File:Ethel_Jennier_and_Fans.png|Ethel Jennier (1943)

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 ===Animal Trainer===
-Walter’s sea lion, Buddy, died during a tour in Central America in 1955. Since Walter considered retiring from performing, Ethel suggested to take over and present a two-sea-lion act trained by Walter, and Walter approved the idea. With his assistance, Ethel worked with the sea lions, and, after two years with the Polack show, she also resumed her swinging trapeze act as Miss Aerialetta. In 1964, her two acts were hired by [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey]].
+[[File:Ethel_Jennier_sealions.jpg|thumb|left|400px|Ethel Jennier and her sea lions (c.1952)]]Walter’s sea lion, Buddy, died during a tour in Central America in 1955. Since Walter considered retiring from performing, Ethel suggested to take over and present a two-sea-lion act trained by Walter, and Walter approved the idea. With his assistance, Ethel worked with the sea lions, and, after two years with the Polack show, she also resumed her swinging trapeze act as Miss Aerialetta. In 1964, her two acts were hired by [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey]].
 Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for Ethel and Walter. They had a huge age difference: Walter was seventy-three, and at fifty, Ethel was still an attractive woman and full of life. They divorced at the end of the season and Ethel married [[Jack Joyce]], a veteran animal trainer, who presented a liberty act in the show (along with [[Charles Mroczkowski]] in the center ring, and Mroczkowski's wife, Gena Lipowska, in the third ring).

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 ===Miss Aerialetta===
-[[File:Ethel_Jennier.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ethel Jennier on her trapeze (c.1942)]]As luck would have it, she was spotted by a representative of the [[Mighty Haag Circus]] doing acrobatics in her front yard; he offered to take her as an apprentice on the show, and her uncle accepted. There she started learning the circus way of life, as well as acrobatics, aerial work, and anything else that rendered her "generally useful," as was what was expected of circus performers in those days.
+[[File:Ethel_Jennier.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ethel Jennier on her trapeze (c.1941)]]As luck would have it, she was spotted by a representative of the [[Mighty Haag Circus]] doing acrobatics in her front yard; he offered to take her as an apprentice on the show, and her uncle accepted. There she started learning the circus way of life, as well as acrobatics, aerial work, and anything else that rendered her "generally useful," as was what was expected of circus performers in those days.
 After her initial training on the Mighty Haag show, she continued her circus apprenticeship on the Sam B. Dill Circus in 1930; she had by now a trapeze act to which she added a cloud swing and iron jaw routines, which she performed as ''Miss Aerialetta''. She also learned horsemanship, taking advice from experts on the show and practicing relentlessly.