Posted By thecircusblog on March 9, 2009
A great close up of Pat Anthony and his tiger “Bill” on the globe. I think this tiger was named after Bill Johnson who worked for Pat for many years. Bill was Pat’s safety man and took wonderful care of his cats. I think Pat named this tiger after Bill because they both had an attitude.
Posted By thecircusblog on March 9, 2009
This man was my childhood hero. At home in El Monte, Calif. there was a movie theater called the Tumbleweed not to far away from our house. All the kids in the neighborhood would go to the Saturday matinee. There was always a cowboy or a Tarzan movie and the price was right….25 cents. When Dad went to the compound in Thousand Oaks, I went along for the ride. Lucky for me Mr. Weissmuller was visiting there and I got to meet him…… that was special. The World Jungle Compound or the name Jungleland used in later years was a favorite location for motion picture studios and many Tarzan movies were shot there. This photo was taken on location while shooting “Tarzan and his Mate.”
Posted By thecircusblog on March 9, 2009
Buster Crabb played Tarzan in the movie King of the Jungle. He is pictured here with “Jiggs” the chimp. He was as popular as Johnny Weissmuller. Lex Barker also played Tarzan for a brief period of time. Whe you see some of the older Tarzan movies, look closely into the jungle foliage and you will see oak trees…. it’s a give away that many parts of the movie were shot at World Jungle Compound in Thousand Oaks, CA.
Posted By thecircusblog on March 7, 2009
This photo of Chet Juszyk during a performance on the Dobritch International Circus. Chet was a nice, easy-going guy. Some trivia about him includes that he was a paratrooper in the Korean War and went to Jungleland in Thousand Oaks to learn how to be a cat trainer under the GI Bill.
Posted By thecircusblog on March 7, 2009
This picture was taken just before Chet Juszyk was mauled by Brutus, one of his lions. This occurred during a performance at Jungleland. Chet survived the attack but needed months of medical attention and rehabilitation. I saw him months later and was relieved that he was doing well.
Posted By thecircusblog on March 7, 2009
Thanks to Lou Regan and Dick McGraw who went into the arena and fended off the lion Brutus.
Posted By thecircusblog on March 6, 2009
A great photo of Clyde Beatty with Albert Fleet at the safety door. This photo was taken before Mr. Fleet had a chimp act. He started his career with the Clyde Beatty Circus and stayed with it for years. Clyde Beatty was noted for having a fighting lion act. His use of chairs, whip cracking etc. was mainly for audience entertainment, but there were those times when there were real problems between the cats or with one of the cats trying to bounce him. Beatty knew that it was necessary to have a good man on the door. In the original picture you can see Albert Fleet with a prod pole. Albert also was a lion trainer at the World Jungle Compound.
Posted By thecircusblog on March 6, 2009
In the bottom left corner is Joe Metcalf with Jenny 0ne of the zoo’s elephants. This photo taken in the early 1930’s at Luna Park formerly called Selig Zoo. The owner was WillIam Selig. Thoughout the years there were other wild animal trainers such as Olga Celeste, Louis Roth and Melvin Koontz. The park was located in Lincoln Heights, Calif. The first time I met Joe Metcalf and his wife Anna was on the 101 Wild West Circus. Thanks to Jack Badel for this photo.
