Bird Millman

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Bird Millman (1908)

Bird Millman O'Day (actually Jennadean Engleman ; born October 20, 1890 in Cañon City , Colorado ; † August 5, 1940 there ) was an American high- wire dancer . She was one of the most famous artists of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and performed with them in German-speaking countries.

Life

Jennadean Engleman was the daughter of the circus artists Dyke F. and Genevieve Patton Engleman, who specialize in high-wire dancing and trapeze art, with whom she performed in early childhood and also performed as a high-wire dancer from the age of twelve. From 1904, the family, also known as the Millman Trio, toured vaudeville theaters across the country , where Jennadean Engleman first became known as a tightrope walker. From then on she carried the stage name Bird Millman .

In 1913 Millman became a member of Barnum and Bailey Circus, which in 1919 merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus to form the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In the following years she was able to establish herself as one of the biggest stars in the US circus world. Millman performed worldwide, including in German-speaking countries at the Apollo Theater in Nuremberg and in the presence of Wilhelm II in the Wintergarten in Berlin . Millman's ensemble also included the actress Fern Andra , who later became popular in Germany .

Detour from the circus world made Bird Millman, among others, in 1916 as a dancer with the Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway (where it had previously occurred several times) and in 1920 in a small appearance as a tightrope walker in the silent film The Deep Purple by Raoul Walsh . In the same year a small role in the drama The Law of the Yukon followed . She ended her career in the course of the 1920s. The American dancer Berta Beeson (1899–1969) copied the style and content of Bird Millman's appearances as an homage until the end of her career in 1936 .

Bird Millman was married twice. Her first marriage to John C. Thomas was divorced. Her second husband, Joseph Francis O'Day, died in 1929 shortly after he lost all of his fortune to Black Thursday . The now penniless Millman moved to live with her mother and the rest of the family in her native Cañon City. There she died on August 5, 1940 at the age of 49 of uterine cancer . Writer Dixie Willson spoke at her funeral . Bird Millman was buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Cañon City.

For her services to the circus world, Bird Millman was posthumously inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame in 1961.

Filmography

Bird Millman (1908)
  • 1920: The Law of the Yukon
  • 1920: The Deep Purple

Broadway appearances

The place of performance in brackets. Source:

  • 1909: Miss Innocence (New York Theater)
  • 1916: Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 ( New Amsterdam Theater )
  • 1921: Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic (Ziegfeld Roof)
  • 1921: The Greenwich Village Follies ( Shubert Theater )

Web links

Commons : Bird Millman  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Katherine H. Adams, Michael L. Keene: Women of the American Circus, 1880-1940 . McFarland, Jefferson 2012, ISBN 978-1-4766-0079-6 , 173.
  2. ^ Harriet Brown: A Century of The Circus, Preserved. In: The New York Times . May 15, 1994, accessed April 7, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Millman O'Day, Bird. "Bird Millman". in: The White Tops . June / July 1940 edition, pages 17–19.
  4. ^ Gary L. Parker, Jr.: Bird Millman. In: Find a Grave . August 23, 2011, accessed April 7, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Bird Millman. In: Internet Broadway Database . Retrieved April 7, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Millman, Bird
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Engleman, Jennadean (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American high wire dancer
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Canyon City , Colorado
DATE OF DEATH 5th August 1940
Place of death Canyon City , Colorado