The Flying Wallendas

Logo for the group

The Flying Wallendas is the name of a circus act and daredevil stunt performers, most known for performing 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. The name in their native German, "Die fliegenden Wallendas", is a play on the title of the Wagner opera, Der fliegende Holländer ("The Flying Dutchman").

History

Carla Wallenda, Karl Wallenda, Raymond Chitty, and Richard Guzman (Carla's husband), c. 1965

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, performing some amazing stunts. When John Ringling saw them perform in Cuba, he quickly hired them to perform at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 1928, they debuted at the Madison Square Garden. The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.

At a performance in Akron, Ohio, all the group fell off the wire, but were unhurt. The next day, a reporter who witnessed the accident was quoted in the newspaper: "The Wallendas fell so gracefully that it seemed as if they were flying" – thus coining the name "The Flying Wallendas".

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 1962, when, while performing at the Shrine Circus at Detroit's State Fair Coliseum, the front man on the wire 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]

Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Rietta, 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 Wallenda 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 Wallenda 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 complications of AIDS at the age of 36.^[3] He had tested positive for the disease in July 1990.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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.^[7]

There are several branches of the Wallendas performing today, comprising mostly grandchildren of Karl Wallenda. They still perform regularly and have achieved recognition in the Guinness Book of 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.

Notable family members

• 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 and Erendira Wallenda, Karl's great-grandson and his wife now perform with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is a seventh generation Wallenda. Erendira comes from the Flying Vasquez family of trapeze artists. They have three children, sons Yanni, Amadaos and daughter Evita Wallenda, who are also learning the family trade.

Family tree

In film, books and song

• In 1978, The Great Wallendas, a made-for-TV movie about the family, aired.^[8]
• On the November 17, 1997, episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Frank says that he doesn't give a "Flying Wallenda", about a fish that Ray bought for him.
• In August, 2003, on the 8th episode of Sex and the City's 6th season, Stanford teases Carrie by comparing a piece she's writing about the flying trapeze to "her days as a Flying Wallenda."
• In 2004, the Flatlanders album Wheels of Fortune included the Joe Ely song "Indian Cowboy", previously recorded by Guy Clark, Tom Russell, Townes van Zandt, and Kathy Moffett; the song opens with the line "If you ever out to the circus, where the Wallendas walk on the wire".
• In December 2008, TLC aired a one-hour documentary about Tino and the Wallenda family produced by Jen Stocks for Figure 8 Films.
• In 2010, alternative country band Drive-By Truckers recorded a song, "The Flying Wallendas", about the high-wire circus act. It appears on their album The Big To-Do.^[9]
• The Flying Wallendas mentioned in Dead Like Me – "Send in the Clown" (25 July 2004)
• Rietta Wallenda's death is referenced in Mad Men Season 3, Episode 2.
• In a Days of Our Lives episode that aired on July 26, 2012, Nicole Walker quips that she doesn't give a "Flying Wallenda" what Victor Kiriakis thinks, a reference to the circus act.
• Electronic producer Andrew Weatherall wrote the song "Let's Do The 7 Again" from his album A Pox on the Pioneers about the Wallendas' tragic attempt at the seven-person high-wire pyramid in 1962, and their triumph at succeeding when trying again in 2008.
• The Legendary Buck 65 details the family's story in a track about The Flying Wallendas on his free, 3-album Dirtbike project.
• The Wallendas were mentioned in the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

See also

• Tightrope walking
• Circus Flora

References

Further reading

• Wallendas History. The Flying Wallendas. wallenda.com
• Morris, R. Wallenda: A Biography of Karl Wallenda. Chatham, New York. Sagarin Press. 1976.
• Horwedel, L. Reflection: Carla Wallenda. mlive.com. July 6, 2008.

External links

• Rick Wallenda Official Page