Hyfler/Rosner
2007-12-01 01:05:49 UTC
From The Times
November 27, 2007
Maryse Begary
Daring French trapeze artist who astonished the crowds in
the world's finest circus
The French trapeze artiste Maryse Begary was widely
considered one of the best in the business; not only was she
a star of the sawdust ring but she was also a noted stunt
double for such renowned Hollywood film stars as Rita
Hayworth and Gina Lollobrigida.
Born in Paris in 1926, Andr?e Maryse Begary worked for most
of her career on the aerial rope, the corde lisse and the
trapeze, perfecting a sensational routine involving 30
massive arm-jerking planges 30 or 40 feet above the ring,
with the help of her French husband, Franz Begary, who was
also her manager and assistant. She also performed the
routine of her idol and predecessor, the legendary Lillian
Leitzel, who had regularly done a remarkable 100 planges
before falling to her death in Copenhagen.
Begary, whose career began in her native France, appeared at
Olympia, London, for Bertram Mills Circus in the winter
season of 1949-50, alongside another legendary aerial
artiste, Alma Piaia. She was twice featured at the
celebrated Kelvin Hall International Circus and Carnival in
Glasgow in 1953-54 and in 1965-66, before her last
appearance in the British Isles at the Blackpool Tower
Circus in the summer of 1966.
She made her debut in America in 1958, featuring as a beauty
in the centre ring of the biggest of all circuses, the
Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus - "The Greatest
Show on Earth" - in a huge spectacular display entitled Up I
Go, surrounded by 32 stunning aerial beauties on ropes.
She also went on to work in other prestigious American
circuses, including Hanneford's, the Clyde Beatty-Cole
Brothers' Three Ring Circus and the Polack Brothers' Shrine
Circus, appearing in a daring, six-minute act without any
safety net or device. In fact, she confessed that the only
time she was ever afraid was when a net was under her. "That
made me nervous," she said.
In 1962 she starred in the The Ed Sullivan Show on American
television, one of the world's leading variety programmes.
In 1956 she appeared as the stunt-double for Gina
Lollobrigida in the film Trapeze made by the British
director Carol Reed in Paris at the Cirque d'Hiver, in which
Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis also starred.
Two years later she doubled in the aerial sequences created
for the great American star Rita Hayworth in Henry
Hathaway's epic film Circus World, which in Britain was
called The Magnificent Showman, and which co-starred John
Wayne and Claudia Cardinale.
In their final years, Begary and her husband Franz lived on
social security in Evansville in the US, a far cry from the
heady days when she had headlined in the great circuses of
the world, the Cirque Medrano as well as the Cirque d'Hiver
in Paris, Cirkus Schumann in Copenhagen, and the leading
shows in America, England and Scotland.
She retired when she was 60 and is survived by her husband
and their daughter.
Maryse Begary, trapeze artiste, was born in 1926. She died
on October 25, 2007, aged 81
November 27, 2007
Maryse Begary
Daring French trapeze artist who astonished the crowds in
the world's finest circus
The French trapeze artiste Maryse Begary was widely
considered one of the best in the business; not only was she
a star of the sawdust ring but she was also a noted stunt
double for such renowned Hollywood film stars as Rita
Hayworth and Gina Lollobrigida.
Born in Paris in 1926, Andr?e Maryse Begary worked for most
of her career on the aerial rope, the corde lisse and the
trapeze, perfecting a sensational routine involving 30
massive arm-jerking planges 30 or 40 feet above the ring,
with the help of her French husband, Franz Begary, who was
also her manager and assistant. She also performed the
routine of her idol and predecessor, the legendary Lillian
Leitzel, who had regularly done a remarkable 100 planges
before falling to her death in Copenhagen.
Begary, whose career began in her native France, appeared at
Olympia, London, for Bertram Mills Circus in the winter
season of 1949-50, alongside another legendary aerial
artiste, Alma Piaia. She was twice featured at the
celebrated Kelvin Hall International Circus and Carnival in
Glasgow in 1953-54 and in 1965-66, before her last
appearance in the British Isles at the Blackpool Tower
Circus in the summer of 1966.
She made her debut in America in 1958, featuring as a beauty
in the centre ring of the biggest of all circuses, the
Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus - "The Greatest
Show on Earth" - in a huge spectacular display entitled Up I
Go, surrounded by 32 stunning aerial beauties on ropes.
She also went on to work in other prestigious American
circuses, including Hanneford's, the Clyde Beatty-Cole
Brothers' Three Ring Circus and the Polack Brothers' Shrine
Circus, appearing in a daring, six-minute act without any
safety net or device. In fact, she confessed that the only
time she was ever afraid was when a net was under her. "That
made me nervous," she said.
In 1962 she starred in the The Ed Sullivan Show on American
television, one of the world's leading variety programmes.
In 1956 she appeared as the stunt-double for Gina
Lollobrigida in the film Trapeze made by the British
director Carol Reed in Paris at the Cirque d'Hiver, in which
Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis also starred.
Two years later she doubled in the aerial sequences created
for the great American star Rita Hayworth in Henry
Hathaway's epic film Circus World, which in Britain was
called The Magnificent Showman, and which co-starred John
Wayne and Claudia Cardinale.
In their final years, Begary and her husband Franz lived on
social security in Evansville in the US, a far cry from the
heady days when she had headlined in the great circuses of
the world, the Cirque Medrano as well as the Cirque d'Hiver
in Paris, Cirkus Schumann in Copenhagen, and the leading
shows in America, England and Scotland.
She retired when she was 60 and is survived by her husband
and their daughter.
Maryse Begary, trapeze artiste, was born in 1926. She died
on October 25, 2007, aged 81
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