Acrobatic performers
The Flying Wallendas
is a circus act and group of daredevil
stunt performers
who perform
highwire acts
without a
safety net
. They were first known as
The Great Wallendas
, but the current name was coined by the press in the 1940s and has stayed since.
History
[
edit
]
Karl Wallenda
was born in
Magdeburg
,
Germany
, in 1905 to an old
circus
family, and began performing at the age of six. While still in his teens he answered an ad for a "hand balancer with courage." His employer, Louis Weitzman, taught him the trade. In 1922, Karl put together his own act with his brother Herman, Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl,
Helen Kreis
, who eventually became his wife.
The act toured
Europe
for several years, and when
John Ringling
saw them perform in
Cuba
, he quickly hired them to perform at the
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus
. In 1928, they debuted at
Madison Square Garden
. The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.
In 1944, while the Wallendas were performing in
Hartford, Connecticut
, a
circus fire broke out, killing over 168 people
. None of the Wallendas were hurt.
In the following years, Karl developed some of their most impressive acts, such as the seven-person chair pyramid. They continued performing those acts until January 30, 1962, when, while performing at the
Shrine Circus
at
Detroit
's
State Fair Coliseum
, the front man on the wire, Dieter Schepp, faltered, and the pyramid collapsed. Three men fell to the ground, killing Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law; and nephew Dieter Schepp. Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son,
Mario
, was paralyzed from the waist down.
[1]
Dieter's sister, Jana Schepp, let go of the wire to fall into the quickly-raised safety net, but bounced off and suffered a head injury.
Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Yetta, fell to her death in 1963, and his son-in-law, Richard ("Chico") Guzman, was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of the metal rigging. Nonetheless, Karl decided to go on. He repeated the pyramid act in 1963 and 1977. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts.
Karl crossed the
Tallulah Gorge
in Georgia on a high wire on July 18, 1970.
On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in
San Juan
,
Puerto Rico
, Karl fell from the wire and died. It was between the towers of
Condado Plaza Hotel
, one hundred feet high. He was 73.
Nik Wallenda
completed the walk on June 4, 2011, with his mother, Delilah.
[2]
On March 5, 1993, Karl's grandson, Mario B. Wallenda (not to be confused with Karl's adopted son), died from
AIDS
complications at the age of 36.
[3]
He had tested positive for HIV in July 1990.
[3]
On October 15, 2008, Nik broke the world record for the highest and longest bike ride on a high wire live on
NBC
's
Today
.
[4]
Nik Wallenda became the first
aerialist
to walk directly over
Niagara Falls
on June 15, 2012, from the United States into
Canada
. Wearing a safety harness as required by
ABC television
, he crossed at the river's widest point.
[5]
Nik Wallenda is the first aerialist to walk over the
Little Colorado River
Gorge at the
Grand Canyon
. The event was broadcast live on the
Discovery Channel
. He used a 2-inch wire and made the journey without a harness or safety net. The canyon is 1,400 feet (430 m) wide and 1,500 feet (460 m) deep.
[6]
There are several branches of the Wallendas performing today, comprising most of Karl's grandchildren. They still perform regularly and have achieved recognition in
Guinness World Records
. On November 2, 2014, Nik successfully crossed between two
Chicago
skyscrapers: the west tower of
Marina City
and the
Leo Burnett Building
. After accomplishing this feat, he successfully crossed the two towers of Marina City while wearing a
blindfold
in cold conditions with strong winds. He set two world records, one for the highest incline?19 degrees between the west tower and the Leo Burnett building?and one for the highest blindfolded wire walk, between the two towers of Marina City. Both crossings were broadcast live on
Discovery Channel
.
In February 2017, a rehearsal of the troupe's eight-person pyramid high wire act for Circus Sarasota (an attempt at a new Guinness World Record for height) went awry when the pyramid collapsed, plummeting five of the performers to the ground while three others, including Nik Wallenda, managed to cling to the wire. Miraculously no one was killed, but all five who fell were severely injured: Nik's sister Lijana Wallenda suffered the worst injuries, breaking nearly every bone in her face.
[7]
On June 23, 2019, Nik and Lijana became the first individuals to successfully cross
New York's
Times Square
on a tightrope, 25 stories above street level.
[8]
The duo crossed from opposite ends of the wire, which measured 1,300 feet (400 meters) long and was suspended between
1 Times Square
and 2 Times Square.
[8]
The stunt was broadcast live on
ABC
[9]
and marked Lijana's return to her first live performance since her accident.
[10]
For the stunt, both Wallendas used safety harnesses, despite the family's long-standing objection to the use of safety devices. Although, unlike in Nik Wallenda's earlier Niagara Falls walk, they were not required, he admitted he felt the use of a harness was important for Lijana's first high-wire walk since her 2017 fall.
[11]
Carla Wallenda, the last surviving child of the founder of the troupe, died in
Sarasota, Florida
, on March 6, 2021, at the age of 85.
[12]
Notable family members
[
edit
]
- Karl Wallenda
(21 January 1905 ? 22 March 1978) was the founder and leader of the group until he fell to his death in 1978. He was 73.
- Nikolas
(Nik) and Erendira Wallenda, Karl's great-grandson and his wife, performed with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus until its last performance in 2017. He is a seventh generation Wallenda. Erendira comes from the Flying Vasquez family of trapeze artists. They have three children; sons, Yanni and Amadaos, and daughter, Evita Wallenda, who are also learning the family trade.
Family tree
[
edit
]
| | | | | | | Engelbert Wallenda
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Lucy
| | Herman Wallenda
(1901?1985)
| | Martha Schepp
| | | | Karl Wallenda
(1905?1978)
| | | | | | Helen Kreis
(1910?1996)
| | | | | | | | Willi Wallenda
(1906-1936)
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| | Gunther Herman Wallenda
(1927?1996)
| | | Richard Faughnan
(d. 1962)
| | Jenny Wallenda
(d. 2015)
| | Mario Wallenda
(1940?2015)
| | | Richard "Chico" Guzman
(d. 1972)
| | Carla Wallenda
(d. 2021)
| | Mike Morgan
| | Steven Wallenda
| | Elizabeth "Angel" Pintye
|
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Olinka
| | Tino Wallenda
| | | | Terry Troffer
| | Delilah Wallenda
| Tammy Wallenda
| | Valerie Wallenda
| | Rietta Wallenda
| Mario B. Wallenda
(1956?1993)
| Rick Wallenda
| |
| | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Robinson Cortes
| | Alida Wallenda
| Andrea Wallenda
| Aurelia Wallenda
| Alessandro "Alex" Wallenda
| | Claire Kuciejczyk-Kernan Wallenda-Zoppe
| | Lijana Wallenda
| Nik Wallenda
(born 1979)
| | Erendira Vasquez
| | Lyric
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ysabella Cortes
| Lukas Cortes
| | Zaira
| Michael
| | | | | | | | | | Yanni Wallenda
| Amadaos Wallenda
| Evita Wallenda
| | | | | |
In popular culture
[
edit
]
- In 1978,
The Great Wallendas
, a made-for-TV movie about the family, aired.
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Mario Wallenda, paralyzed in 1962 circus accident, dies"
. 2015-04-13.
- ^
Daniel, K.
Nik Wallenda finishes high-wire act that killed great-grandfather.
cnn.com. June 4, 2011.
- ^
a
b
"Mario Wallenda, Grandson of High-Wire Legend"
.
- ^
"Bike rider sets high-wire record"
.
Express.co.uk
. 16 October 2008
. Retrieved
13 September
2019
.
- ^
"Niagara Falls Stunts & Daredevils: History"
.
- ^
http://skywire.discovery.com/#the-walk
Nik Wallenda walks across the Grand Canyon
- ^
Cox, Billy.
"Video of the 2017 Nik Wallenda accident emerges"
.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
. Retrieved
29 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Waldrop, Theresa (2019-06-23).
"Flying Wallendas make history crossing Times Square 25 stories in the air"
.
CNN
. Retrieved
2019-06-23
.
- ^
Dove, Steve (2019-06-19).
"
"Highwire Live in Times Square with Nik Wallenda," the Live Two-Hour Event Airs SUNDAY JUNE 23 on ABC"
. Retrieved
2019-06-23
.
- ^
WWSB (2019-06-19).
"Nik Wallenda's sister opens up about 2017 injuries before walking the wire in Times Square"
. Retrieved
2019-06-23
.
- ^
Maglio, Tony (2019-06-23).
"ABC's 'Highwire Live': Why Nik Wallenda Is Totally Cool With Wearing a Safety Harness This Time"
.
The Wrap
. Retrieved
26 June
2019
.
- ^
"Carla Wallenda, member of famed high-wire act, dies at 85"
.
The Columbian
. 2021-03-07
. Retrieved
2021-03-08
.
- ^
"The Great Wallendas"
.
IMDb
. Retrieved
1 July
2016
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Morris, R. 1976.
Wallenda: A Biography of Karl Wallenda
. Chatham, New York: Sagarin Press.
External links
[
edit
]