Big Top Boss: JOHN RINGLING NORTH AND THE CIRCUS [Hardcover]

David Hammarstrom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1992

A brilliant, eclectic showman, circus king John Ringling North achieved international fame as a talent scout, booking the likes of Gargantua the Great and Unus, the man who stood on his forefinger. He once engaged George Balanchine to choreograph a ballet for elephants, with Igor Stravinsky composing the music. Big Top Boss explores the remarkable career of North, who ran Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for thirty years. Using as a backdrop North's flamboyant lifestyle and the lavish spectacles he brought to the big top, David Lewis Hammarstrom details in lively and dramatic fashion how North guided the circus through adversities ranging from depressions and wars to crippling labor strikes and rapidly changing trends in American entertainment. This first balanced picture of North's controversial life reveals how his popular image as an impresario was shattered in the wake of his bitterly opposed 1956 decision to strike the tents for good and move the circus indoors. It also shows that North's circus was not artistically run down and losing money when he sold it in 1967 but in fact had been reestablished as a profitable enterprise that earned first-rate critical notices and was attracting larger crowds each year. Hammarstrom has interviewed a host of key circus figures including North himself; his brother, Henry; his famous general manager, Arthur M. Concello; and many performers, directors, and department heads who were involved with the circus when North owned and operated it. Big Top Boss also sheds new light on North's personal life, giving proper significance to his long-term relationship with Countess Ida von Zedlitz-Trutzschler, the onetime ballerina with whom he livedfor nearly thirty years.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Excoriated by the press in 1956 for closing the Big Top--that is, circus acts in tents--North (1903-1985) has never received proper credit for his many contributions to the greatest show on earth. So argues Hammarstrom, author of Behind the Big Top and Those Ringlings , who here makes a strong case in favor of the man who moved the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey circus into the 20th century by commissioning work from the likes of Stravinsky and Balanchine, then hiring Norman Bel Geddes and John Murray Anderson, the reigning stage-design talents of their time. Besides adding ballet and Ziegfeld-style extravaganzas, North signed the best conventional acts, such as ``Bring 'em Back Alive'' Frank Buck and the Wallenda family of high-wire performers; he also hyped the disfigured gorilla Gargantua into a super-attraction. Beginning as a candy butcher in 1915, he worked for the family business until 1967, when he sold it after conquering litigious relatives and the challenge of TV, but not the unions and the collapse of the railroads. A very thorough biography. Photos.

Copyright 1992 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"North was a controversial, almost mythic figure, and Hammarstrom details the bitter family squabble over control of the circus, North's autocratic, arbitrary management of the circus, his playboy social life, and the labor battles and social changes that altered the circus forever... A fascinating piece of Americana." -- ALA Booklist. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; 1ST edition (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252019016
• ISBN-13: 978-0252019012
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,141,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In-Depth, Well Researched, April 8, 2002

By 

plum9195 "plum9195" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Top Boss: JOHN RINGLING NORTH AND THE CIRCUS (Hardcover)

Now know more than I ever wanted to about John Ringling North.

The book was a bit slow in parts due to the excessive detail the author included. Such detail would be of much more interest to a fellow circus history aficionado than someone(like me) with a passing interest.

Well researched, even handed account of the subject matter.

5.0 out of 5 stars A FINE TRIBUTE TO AN UNSUNG SHOWMAN, September 1, 2011

By 

BioReader (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Top Boss: JOHN RINGLING NORTH AND THE CIRCUS (Paperback)

The book in fair, balanced and a delight for any 'circus fan.' For the casual bio-reader it holds its own, but may be to 'circusy' for some.
The real asset is that it is a fine tribute to one of the great showmen of American entertainment. A wizard at mass entertainment, North was an iconoclast, decidely opinionated and it is easy to see he must have made some serious enemies in his long career. Along with Arthur Concello (probably THE greatest circus entertainment innovator that ever lived), North created a commanding empire of mass entertainment. He was a distingushed, powerful, very successful man. This honest biography is a fine read!