DeWayne Bros Circus
Posted By thecircusblog on October 9, 2010
I remember Ted was always talking about having his own circus. He finely got it and it was a great little show. This photo was taken on the back end of Pan American Show in the early 1960’s or late 1950’s.
Suzie a comment from Mart Jo.
Thank you for your comment…….. Gary Smith
Also Stacy.
About the author
thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
37 Responses to “DeWayne Bros Circus”
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.
i worked with ted @ dewayne bros circus. i started at winter qurts(N. HOLLYWOOD ) on bellaire ave. i lived down the street i was 17 at the time 1972. i stayed for two seasons. i was on the lot when ted died how sad. he was so afraid that we won’t get out of of winter qrts to the first show on time. i am trying to find a few people from those days maybe you can point me in the right direction most of all SUSIE MOSLEY she is the dau. of CLIFF & GERI MOSLEY last i heard she was in canyon country calif.
Hi, Ivan! It’s been YEARS! Hopefully you remember me.
I traveled with the DeWayne Bros Circus and worked with you and your dad (and the chimps!) quite a bit over the years. I was the blond haired girl on the tightwire who also rode a unicycle.
Stanley? You used to swing ladder for me. I was Susie Morris back then.
The last I heard Suzie was living in Canyon Country. She married Barry, had two children, and she going by Suzie Agin as far as I know. You can reach me at alaska.sweetie@yahoo.com
Looking for Susan Mosley ? Have not heard from her in a long time, I was on the show in the early 70s, I worked for Fay Snyder, If someone could help me out, Thank you, Gary Thomas
I am looking for Dave and Richard Smith (brothers) In the early 60’s I’m thinking 61, 62, 63 we were all friends both performed trampoline and acrobats on balance-boards with Dewayne Bros Circus, also work as stuntmen on Disney flims and later had plumming business in California and Las Vegas. Last saw Dave in early 70 in Bell Canyon California. Would love to have contact with them. I have wonderful memories of the Circus, the circus family and Tap-Tap and remember selling lots of cotton candy.. Any info possible is appreciated..Carole Greear-Wolfsen
This is Barry Agin, still married to Suzie Mosley Agin& still living in the same house in Canyon Country. Our e-mail address is circussuzie@yahoo.com
Suzie was very happy to see the comments from these old friends, Stan, Mary Jo, Gary & “Little Suzie”.
Sadly, we lost Gerry many years ago and also Cliff and Marty a few years back. Suzie,s cousins, Ba, Ronnie & Randy Warkmeister are still in Vegas & Jimmy Wade lives on our property-those circus bonds stay strong.
Although DeWayne Bros stopped traveling long ago, you’ve probably seen Suzie,s tent & circus eqpt on TV, movies & commercials. It was her tent in Pee Wee,s Big Top and in an episode of Murder She Wrote and the movie Beethoveen,s Fifth etc.
Hope this finds you all well. It was great hearing from you all.
Suzie! I’m so happy to find you on here! I live up in Cloverdale (Sonoma County) these days. Have been here since ’87. Long time since I performed in a circus. Do you remember the poem I wrote as a present for your 13th birthday? Sure wish I’d kept a copy. It was a good one, if I do say so myself!! lol
Glad to hear Suzie & Barry are still together. Good to see Littlie Suzie Morris is still around too. Sorry to hear about Marty & Cliff. Haven’t seen them in alot of years. Glad the hear all is going well . Sorry for the losses, knew Jeri had passed, but hadn’t heard of Cliff or Marty. Worked with the show for many years. Still have some pictures from the past including Ted bathing Bimbo in the water in his underware, classic picture. Will treasure it always. He nicked named me Kittycat. By for noe
so good to see this website.all of my brothers worked for ted.richard ,david,dana,fred smith an my mother.i remember bimbo,josie the chimp..lots of memories from when i was young.gary smith
hi carol greer.i remember you. david passed away april of this year. i live in bend or.and david and i lived together until his passing. we had many good times with ted and his circus. sorry to hear about cliff. we called him mo. ted was not called tap tap it was tap toe. glad to hear ba is still around , we had a lot of fun. i saw suzie in canyon country a few years back.i was living in agua dulce at the time. richard
HIi this is Fred- Richard, Dave and Gary’s brother. I worked for about 6 years for Ted with my brothers. I did a clown and trampoline act with Darryal and Carol. I remember we did a circus at Lake Isabella and I sat on the back of Bimbo the elephant who waterskied. My brother Richard was Bimbo’s trainer. Some of my favorite memories are from when my brother’s and I traveled with the circus. Would I do it all over again???? YES I WOULD!!!!! LOL I also did an NBC Easter special called “Children are People” Ted helped me get that job. I had a blast working on this special I got to work with Jay North, Jerry Mathers, Cubby from the Musketeers and Angela Cartwright. I am glad this website exsisits to reminese about the old days! -Fred
Just wanted to tell everybody Happy New Year…
Hello – I am trying to track down Ron the Clown of DeWayne Bros Circus group that once toured Alaska. More specifically, I am trying to recall the name of the elephant that would have performed with DeWayne Bros in 1975-1981. She (the elephant) was both in Ketchikan and in Anchorage across those years, as was Ron. Anyone have a photo of her?
Thanks for any information from anyone from that team! Michelle
many years ago did Dewayne Brothers Circus had mechanical problems and was parked at a Phillips 66 gas station in Davenport Washington for a couple weeks or so. I was a young girl who fell in love with an elephant and Bimbo. She and I became friends. we became close enough that she would even do what I asked her. maybe 40 years have passed now…but I remember her the feel of her swing as I wrote her the prickly hair and her hug one day after a particularly rough fight with my mother. I often wonder where she is and what has become of her.
Michelle Ridgway @ the name of the elephant was Bimbo…
My brother, Rich and I worked a couple of summers with DeWayne Brothers Circus after our mom’s best friend, LaVonne married Mister Harrison who owned the show in the mid-sixties.
Many years later as a young actor, I was surprised to see one of our old wagons on the set of ‘Circus,’ a TV pilot for a series.
I nosed around the set to find who had brought the DeWayne Bros wagon and and ran into Marty, former cook for the show, who was there with the wagon. It was great to catch up and find that our wonderful elephant had retired to Florida. I believe Jumbo was the 1st elephant, ever, to water ski at Long Beach’s Marine Stadium.
After our mom died, LaVonne Harrison told my brother, sister, Roberta and I that since we were orphans now, she would be Mom. She still is. Mom.
Wonderful memories of our circus days!
Hi folks. I toured with Dewayne Bros. Circus in July and August, 1975.
Phil Ellis, were you my boss in the prop department?
Hello to both Suzies. Michelle, I think that I might have a picture of my dad
riding Bimbo, with Bimbo standing up. Anyone heard from Mike Gerard?
Amazing experience traveling with you all. Not very many people can say that their very
first job was in the circus.
My father and at least one of my brothers worked for the DeWayne Bros. circus in the summer of 1946. My dad was Bob Taber, and he had a monkey show. My bother Bob was about eight, and he worked as a clown. Unfortuantely both are now dead. I’m trying to put together a family history. I am pretty sure that they would have worked for the circus in the summer, when it was in the California area, Does anyone who knows anything about that period of DeWayne? Thanks in advance.
@Bill, yes I was your boss in the props dept. As for Mike Gerard, haven’t heard from him in 20 some years. I lived near his parents in Simi Valley when they moved to Seattle in the late 80’s. And true enough not many people can say they ran away with the circus . Have great memories of my time here and will always treasure them….
Hi I was known as little Tom the summer of 73 I worked in the concession stand and helped set up and take down of the big top. Enick was tent master ,cliff ran the show/owner. Harry Sr. Was organist,Harry Jr. Handled bimbo Edwardo and his bears,Margo balance act. If there’s any body still around from then it would be good to here from you. I joined on in Libby Mt. Went through Canada & Alaska
Phil did you work there in 73? If so do you have any pictures. I was only 14 at the time I worked there. I remember calling Marty mother Marty,because of the way took care of us. And do you remember Enick the tent master and his dog Bruno , well 2 years later I see them in bonners fairy ID.he gave me Bruno .I remember Cliff & Geri in their Airstream trailer,went there ever week for payday & give them cash from concession stand daily. Those were the good Ol days. If you know or remember me it would be good to here from you. O ya and who could forget bunking up with bimbo and the horses,and being rocked to sleep at night. To all that’s left of Dwane brothers family iwish you well. And to those I worked with miss ya!
I joined the dewayne brothers circus summer of ’73 at tok junction, Alaska, while hitchhiking I worked as a helper raising & lowering the circus tent. I remember the people but not their names, except for Marty who was in charge of the concession wagon, I remember Bimbo the elephant, then there were 2 brothers also tent raising helpers, we all shared bunks on the same trailer that had the horses and bimbo, Tom Johnson? I would testify also to the fact that Bimbo was quite a “rock’nroller” shaking the truck trailer at night while we were trying to sleep. I am sure I have known you Tom, if you were there the summer of ’73. I just can’t place you. I am Dan the guy with the accent I also had a german shepherd dog named “tofty”.
Let me hear from you
Dan, did you join up with them on the way up to Fairbanks or on the way back? I remember going threw toke junction on the way up but I did not come back threw. I left the circus about two to three weeks after going up threw toke. There was jay, big Tom Marty was our cook who fed us all. I remember Phil now and I’m hoping he will get back to me if he has any picture’s. Hope to here back soon.
Hi Tom.
Thank you for your response. I got hired by the circus at Tok Alaska, summer of ’73 they were on their way south, I was with them all the while they had shows through the Yukon territories, and British Colombia on their way back to Los Angeles. I left the dewayne bros circus when they arrived in Washington state, and continued hitchhiking all the way back to my town in Mountain view, California. so it seems like that our paths never crossed Tom, but just the same I was very glad to find out from you that you had similar experiences to mine with the circus. Particularly Bimbo. How can anybody forget Bimbo. Then ofcourse there was the circus owner who drove along with his wife in a Cadillac towing a camper trailer which served them as sleeping quarters & also as an office from which he would pay us weekly our earnings in cash. He was a nice guy. Then there was the old dog trainer travelling with his wife. He ran the dog show with his trained poodles, and also doubled as the clown, but in reality he was a “sourpuss”
Yes that was an amazing journey back then.
Where do you live now Tom?. Let me hear from you, regards, Dan
Hi Dan
I live in Washington state north of spokane. Ya what a experience traveling with the circus at the age of 14. If you would like to call me my phone number is 509-292-0302. It would be great to talk to some body that can understand our experience. I hope to talk soon. Your new old friend, Tom
Dan and Tom — were either of you guys with DeWayne Bros in Ketchikan in 73 – 75?
Do any of you remember one of the horses getting injured in our tiny city park? As I recall, some high school age girls and other horse handlers were grazing the horses. Ron and I were with Bimbo in the opposite end of the park. A girl ran up to us and said a horse had fallen into the creek and possibly broken its leg. Ron handed me the cane and said to watch Bimbo until he returned. Before leaving, Ron scolded a photographer and told him not to feed her or put a camera in her face. Soon as Ron left, thats exactly what the photographer did, and Bimbo was not pleased at all.
It was a frenzied day after that.
I visited Bimbo every minute my mom would allow, every time she visited Ketchikan. Later, we moved to Anchorage. The circus came through in about 1980 or so — I wondered whether Bimbo remembered me at all, with all the traveling and the crowds. Her response was so touching I will never forget it. You can only imagine.
I am trying to locate her, since I travel in the Lower 48 fairly often and would love to see her again. Someone from the circus contacted me and said Bimbo is traveling with the Carden circus, but online reports indicate they are stopping their wild animals shows….. If anyone knows where she is, please let me know.
Hi Michelle.
Sorry about the long delay in my reply.
Apparently our paths never crossed.
I was with the dewayne brothers a relatively short time, from sometimes in july of ’73 through end of august the same year. sorry, I hope your experience with the dewayne brothers circus left you positive memories, like it did to me.
Best of luck to you, Dan
Tom, Yes I did work with the circus in ’73. Started in ’71, Harry Sr. asked myself and my brother to come out in the summer of 71. My brother stayed one year and I worked up till 1979. Worked with Ted, Enoch on the tent, then after Enoch left I took over as canvas boss.
Great years and an experience I will always remember. Dan as for remembering everybody
it’s hard to, meet a lot of great and wonderful people over thee years there. Hope ll is well with everybody…
Phil, I do remember you now. You had a ford pickup and a camp trailer. You taught me how to coil the ropes and cables. Do you remember Enoch’s Great Dane Bruno? He gave him to me when you guys were at Bonner’s Ferry ID. in 1975. He was a great dog and best friend. He lived to be 16 which is good for his breed. Maybe we can get together on the phone. My number is on a previous message with Dan. It’s still the same. Looking forward to hearing from you. That was a life time ago and it would be great to talk to you again.
Hi, I am looking for anyone who remembers Rick Walter with the DeWayne Circus in approximately 1985? He took care of the elephant.
Thank you for any information. There was also an aerial ropes girl named Linda.
looking for copies of pictures and articles for my cousin who is related to Dewayne.. Thank you so Much Lisa
My father, Ted Mckrill worked for your company back in the summer of 1947. Is there any way to get this information? I’m his stepdaughter and am piecing together his life.
This is Marilyn Sorotsky Wade Kirby. I met DeWayne Brothers Circus in North Hollywood when I was working at Sambo’s.I was 18 years old. I had Planned on going to Europe but hell with that I left with the show! The best 6 years of my life. I married Jimmy Wade and even though we didn’t stay married a long time we remained friends until his recent passing. I have spent every Christmas Eve with The Mosley/Agin Family. Unfortunately, Suzie passed shortly after Christmas last year. I am in touch with Barry and his daughter, Kimmie..Barry and Suzie also have a wonderful son, Dylan. I will see them again on Christmas Eve this year because I always bring Marty’s Stuffing!
This is Marilyn again. The year was 1972.
I was watching an old movie with a circus theme and thought I saw Marty on the teeter board. I did run away and joined the DeWayne Bros Circus for s few years in the mid sixties. Geri and Cliff took me in and were awarded the role of my wards by the courts. I traveled with them and tutored Susie while I we completed school through the Extension Program out of Berkeley. Sad to here that Susie passed. While I was there, Cliff worked at a television studio doing sets. He did the Danny Kaye show among others. They were good to me and kept me out of trouble as I grew into a young woman. Very strict and I could not mingle with the “carnies” when we played dates with them. Bimbo was young and They acguirrf her just after her stint with the TV series Circus Boy. She helped raise the tent as we traveled from city to city in California. Lots of positive memories for this grandma of two. Glad I discovered this site.
I am related to Bill Maynard the trainer for Bimbo Jr around 1962. I am curious if anyone has some pictures of the two of them that you would like to share. Please and thank you in advance.
Tedd and Todd Lybarger were the original Dewayne Bros. Circus, as I understand it. They were from Kendallville IN, and they were my dad’s first cousins. I have found pictures of Bimbo, the water-skiing elephant on line.