Gilbert Houcke - Revision history

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 File:Sterne_über_Colombo.jpg|''Sterne über Colombo'' Poster (1953)
 File:Etoiles_sur_Colombo_Poster.jpeg|''Étoiles sur Colombo'' Poster (1953)
 File:Houcke_Die_Blonde_Frau.jpg|Gilbert Houcke in ''Der blonde Frau des Maharadscha'' (1954)
 File:Vojtech_Trubka_Kronebau.jpg|Vojtech Trubka (1954)

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 The only prop used in the act was a huge contraption made of a revolving hoop surrounded by six stools, which was lowered down into the cage from the cupola toward the end of the act: Three tigers jumped one after another through the revolving hoop, in what looked like a beautifully choreographed ballet. Then the contraption was hauled back up and the cage was empty again. The act ended with a spectacular series of standing jumps by one of Houcke’s huge Siberian tigers. The act would remain practically unchanged until the end.
-After his season with Circus Knie, Gilbert Houcke and his tigers appeared in Berlin for the Holiday season in one of Europe’s most prestigious Christmas shows, [[‘’Menschen-Tiere-Sensationen’’]] at the Deutschlandhalle. Then, in February and March, he returned to Wien, Austria, in the no-less prestigious [[“Artisten, Tiere, Attraktionen”]] (or ATA) at the Wienerstadthalle. After these two relatively short engagements, he went on tour for the 1965 season with the French [[Cirque Pinder]], which was then associated with the French national broadcasting company (ORTF)&mdash;and thus, like its predecessor the Radio-Circus, enjoyed an immense popularity. Gilbert shared the bill with his brother Sacha, who presented a liberty act from Circus Knie.[[File:Gilbert_Houcke_and_Tiger_-_Knie.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Gilbert Houcke at Circus Knie (1964)]]
+After his season with Circus Knie, Gilbert Houcke and his tigers appeared in Berlin for the Holiday season in one of Europe’s most prestigious Christmas shows, ''[[Menschen-Tiere-Sensationen]]'' at the Deutschlandhalle. Then, in February and March, he returned to Wien, Austria, in the no-less prestigious ''[[Artisten, Tiere, Attraktionen]]'' (or ATA) at the Wienerstadthalle. After these two relatively short engagements, he went on tour for the 1965 season with the French [[Cirque Pinder]], which was then associated with the French national broadcasting company (ORTF)&mdash;and thus, like its predecessor the Radio-Circus, enjoyed an immense popularity. Gilbert shared the bill with his brother Sacha, who presented a liberty act from Circus Knie.[[File:Gilbert_Houcke_and_Tiger_-_Knie.jpg|right|thumb|400px|Gilbert Houcke at Circus Knie (1964)]]
-In December 1965, Gilbert returned to the Cirque d’Hiver, in a superb program where he shared the bill with [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]] and his wife, [[Jeanette Williams]]. Gunther presented his tiger on elephants and [[Circus Williams]]’s herd of eleven pachyderms, and Jeanette rode in high school and presented, in alternance with her husband, Circus Williams’s spectacular group of twenty-four Lipizzan horses. However, in the cage, Gilbert had the star position, appearing just before intermission after Gunther, whose amazing act was nonetheless the curtain opener!
+In December 1965, Gilbert returned to the Cirque d’Hiver, in a superb program where he shared the bill with [[Gunther Gebel-Williams]] and his wife, [[Jeanette Williams]]. Gunther presented his tiger on elephants and [[Circus Williams]]’s herd of eleven pachyderms, and Jeanette rode in high school and presented, alterning with her husband, Circus Williams’s spectacular group of twenty-four Lipizzan horses. However, in the cage, Gilbert had the star position, appearing just before intermission after Gunther, whose amazing act was nonetheless the curtain opener!
 While the Williamses stayed at the Cirque d’Hiver for the rest of the winter season, Gilbert Houcke embarked with his tigers on a ship to South Africa, where he would spend the 1966 season with [[Circus Boswell-Wilkie]], the African continent’s premier circus and a favorite of European performers because of its two-year, advantageous contracts (although Houcke spent only one year there). During this tour, Gilbert lost a tiger, Madras, to a dental infection; he returned to Europe with seven tigers. (This number would remain the same until Gilbert’s final season in 1972, when a new tiger was added to the act).

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 ===The Post-War Years===
-The postwar years were a boon for European circuses and soon, international offers were showered onto Gilbert Houcke: Circus producers quickly understood that the attractive Houcke would provide good press fodder and, consequently, draw large audiences. In the winter of 1946-47, Gilbert crossed the English Channel to star in one of Britain’s top Christmas shows, [[Belle Vue Circus]] in Manchester. A rare occurrence for a single cage act, his was placed at the end of the show&mdash;the cherry on the Christmas pudding! His success was such that Belle Vue Circus hired him again, in the same conditions, for its 1947-48 Christmas season.
+The postwar years were a boon to European circuses and soon, international offers were showered onto Gilbert Houcke: Circus producers quickly understood that the attractive Houcke would provide good press fodder and, consequently, draw large audiences. In the winter of 1946-47, Gilbert crossed the English Channel to star in one of Britain’s top Christmas shows, [[Belle Vue Circus]] in Manchester. A rare occurrence for a single cage act, his was placed at the end of the show&mdash;the cherry on the Christmas pudding! His success was such that Belle Vue Circus hired him again, in the same conditions, for its 1947-48 Christmas season.
 [[File:Gilbert_Houcke_and_Tiger.png|thumb|left|400px|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque d'Hiver (1952)]]Before his second engagement at Belle Vue, he had appeared in London for the first time, at Clapham’s Grand Theatre, with [[Captain Prince-Cox Circus]], a popular stage circus of the time. Other star engagements followed: The [[Belfast Hippodrome]], [[Circus Mikkenie]] in the Netherlands, the [[Coliseu dos Recreios]] in Lisbon, Portugal, [[Tom Arnold]]’s prestigious and huge Christmas Circus at the [[Harringay Circus|Harringay]] Arena in London (1949-50), a return to Circus Busch at Suecia’s circus building in Sweden,  [[Circus Barley]] in East-Berlin, and for the summer of 1950, the legendary [[Tower Circus]] in Blackpool, England.

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 File:Fritz_Schulz_-_Court_Act.jpg|Alfred Court's Mixed Animal Act (1939)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_Courrier.jpeg|Gilbert Houcke's ''Courier'' (1940)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_(1948).jpeg|Gilbert Houcke (1948)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_tigers_(1948).jpeg|Gilbert Houcke (1948)

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 File:Houcke_-_Tigre_de_Colombo.jpeg|''Le Tigre de Colombo'' Poster (1954)
 File:Radio_Circus_Gilbert_Houcke.jpg|Radio-Circus Poster (1954)
 File:Knie_-_Gilbert_Houcke.jpg|Gilbert Houcke at Circus Knie (1955)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_-_Kiss.jpg|Gilbert Houcke at Circus Knie (1955)

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 File:Gilbert_Houcke_and_Tiger.png|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque d'Hiver (1952)
 File:Houcke_on_Tiger.jpg|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque d'Hiver (1952)
-File:Houcke_Kronebau.png|Gilbert Houcke (1952)
+File:Houcke_Kronebau.png|Gilbert Houcke at the Kronebau in Munich (1952)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_-_Colombo.jpeg|Gilbert Houcke in ''Sterne über Colombo'' (1953)
 File:Sterne_über_Colombo.jpg|''Sterne über Colombo'' Poster (1953)

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 File:Gilbert_Houcke_portrait.jpg|Gilbert Houcke (c.1950)
 File:Busch-Berlin_1952.jpeg|Circus Busch Program Cover (1952)
-File:Gilbert_Houcke_and_Tiger.png|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque d'Hiver-Bouglione (1952)
+File:Gilbert_Houcke_and_Tiger.png|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque d'Hiver (1952)
-File:Houcke_on_Tiger.jpg|Gilbert Houcke (1952)
+File:Houcke_on_Tiger.jpg|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque d'Hiver (1952)
 File:Houcke_Kronebau.png|Gilbert Houcke (1952)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_-_Colombo.jpeg|Gilbert Houcke in ''Sterne über Colombo'' (1953)

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 File:Gilbert_Houcke_-_Medrano_Dannes.jpeg|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque Medrano (1955)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_-_Medrano.jpg|Gilbert Houcke at the Cirque Medrano (1955)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_Krone_1959.jpeg|Gilbert Houcke at Circus Krone (1959)
 File:Houcke_Krone_59.jpg|Gilbert Houcke at Circus Krone (1959)

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 File:Houcke_-_Barlay_(1950).jpeg|Gilbert Houcke (1950)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_at_Circus_Barley.jpg|Gilbert Houcke (1950)
 File:Gilbert_Houcke_portrait.jpg|Gilbert Houcke (c.1950)
 File:Busch-Berlin_1952.jpeg|Circus Busch Program Cover (1952)