Konrad Thurano
Konrad Thurano (born April 4, 1909 in Düsseldorf , † November 20, 2007 in Langeskov , Denmark ; actually Konrad Thur ) was a German tightrope walker . Until his official departure from the ring in 2006, he was the oldest active artist in the world.
Life
Thurano was the son of a doctor. He broke off a bank apprenticeship in 1924 and began his career at the Apollo Varieté in Düsseldorf after the fifteen-year-old was "discovered" by trapeze artists while doing gymnastics on the Düsseldorf Rhine meadows. In 1929 he was hired by the Dominik Althoff circus . Thurano soon had appearances in the Berlin Wintergarten , in Hamburg's Hansa Theater , in Copenhagen and Milan .
In 1938 he emigrated to South Africa before the National Socialists and did not return to Germany until 1958. After the reopening of Bernhard Paul's “Apollo Varieté” under the Düsseldorf Rheinkniebrücke in 1997, Thurano got involved there again. His career as an artist lasted 83 years, until January 2006, in the end he no longer appeared on, but on the rope (for example by "pull-ups" on two fingers); he celebrated his 98th birthday on stage again in April 2007.
Thurano has appeared in the Paris Lido , the Palace in Hong Kong and in casinos in Las Vegas . He met Hans Albers , Marlene Dietrich , Charlie Chaplin , Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra . For the past 55 years he has worked as a duo with his son John. Konrad Thurano's trademarks were a crumpled hat and a black and white checkered suit.
In the summer of 2007, Thurano fell ill with pneumonia. In October of that year he was still in front of the camera with his son John for the program “So lacht NRW” (WDR). On November 20, 2007, according to doctors, he died of old age in his daughter's house in Langeskov ( Odense ), Denmark, with his family.
From 1932 to 2004, Thurano was married to Henriette Althoff († 2004), whom he met at the Althoff circus . The marriage had three children.
literature
- Stefanie Koch: Konrad Thurano. Profession: Artist . Droste, Düsseldorf 2003, ISBN 3-7700-1166-X .
Movies
- The Thuranos (2003) by Kerstin Stutterheim
Web links
- varieteonline.de: As vital as ever ... Konrad Thurano
- varieteonline.de: Konrad Thurano - a variety legend says goodbye
- rp-online.de: Konrad Thurano: 80 years of dancing on a tightrope
- bild.de: The oldest artist in the world is dead
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pull-ups for your 98th birthday. Oldest artist in the world. Süddeutsche Zeitung (April 4, 2007, accessed November 23, 2007)
- ↑ Representations on the pages of the Apollo-Varieté ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and the publishing house ( Memento from March 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thurano, Konrad |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Thur, Konrad (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German tightrope walker, oldest rope artist in the world |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 4, 1909 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dusseldorf |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 20, 2007 |
| Place of death | Langeskov , Denmark |