12-12-2017, 09:35 AM
This is a summary of the most important events in Leitzel's life. The details are not included. For anyone who prefers to learn about Leitzel's life in a more deliberate way, I recommend that you read the regular messages on this site in the order in which I present them or read a more complete account of your life. I hope to eventually publish my own book, but that is far in the future, if ever. If you have lost some publications, you can use the News page to determine the order of your presentation.
Lillian Leitzel was born Leopoldina Alitza Pelikan on January 2, 1891, in Breslau, Germany. Leitzel was originally a childlike affection derived from his middle name, Alitza. Her mother was Eleanore Pelikan, an aerial artist, who had been acting all her life. The identity of his father is a mystery. Leitzel's brother, Alfred George Pelikan, was also born in Breslau, in 1893. A year after Alfred's birth, Leitzel's mother left her two children in the care of her parents, Edward and Julie Pelikan, while she joined the newly formed antenna of Edward J. Leamy act, the Leamy troupe. She was the only source of support for her children.
Thanks to his mother, Leitzel and his brother received excellent teachings. Leitzel attended the Charlotten Schule. He excelled as an athlete and trained in gymnastics, acrobatics and dance, but his best gift may have been his skills as a musician. She was considered a prodigy and had dreams of a career as a concert pianist. Everything changed in 1905 when family finances forced Leitzel to join his mother as a member of the Leamy troupe. His talent was immediately evident to all.
In the winter of 1907-1908, John Ringling signed the company to appear with Barnum & Bailey for his engagement in the spring of 1908 at Madison Square Garden. They were one of the great characteristics of the show, given the Garden for themselves. It was the first of three presentations over the next four years with Barnum & Bailey, two in New York and one in Chicago. After its appearance in 1911 at Madison Square Garden, the company, now known as Leamy Ladies, disbanded.
While his mother was returning to Europe to pursue a solo career, Leitzel remained in the United States. He joined his aunt Tina to form a vaudeville act, which they called Leitzel Sisters. They scored big in a test at a luxurious burlesque palace on Broadway and were hired at the Orpheum circuit. They quickly earned a reputation as one of the best acts of its kind in vaudeville. Leitzel was the act. Her aunt fulfilled the standard trapeze between Leitzel's dazzling work on rope and rings.
In the middle of his first year in vaudeville, Leitzel married a dancer, Alexis Sousloff. It was a disaster, which, according to all the reports, although Leitzel took two years to get a divorce, it ended in a week. Unperturbed, Leitzel continued his career. She formed a new act with a new partner in 1913. Called Leitzel and Jeanette, the new act was similar to the previous one, Leitzel dazzled while his partner filled the time between the acrobatics of Leitzel.
In November of 1914, Leitzel was discovered by a talent scout from Ringling, while she performed at South Bend Orpheum. He was offered a contract on the spot, but he only accepted the offer after the Ringlings agreed to provide him with a cabin on the circus train.
Leitzel made his debut as a center ring at the Ringling Brothers' Circus on April 17, 1915, at the Chicago Coliseum. In essence, he did the same act he would do for the rest of his circus career, the act that would make her famous. It was an act in two parts. The first part of his performance was a routine of flying rings. In the Roman rings, she would perform a series of the most difficult gymnastic feats in the repertoire of any acrobat, throwing her body, while suspended high above the bark, with a force and speed that kept the audience at the edge of their seats . But it was the second part of his act that became his trademark.
After Leitzel returned to the floor of the arena following his ring routine, all actions on the other rings would stop and the sand would go out, except for a focused focus on it. She would slide her wrist through a coiled rope and it would be hoisted to a high point in the Colosseum. She would then start her swingovers. It was a trick in which, suspended by an arm of the rope that surrounded her wrist, she turned her body into a human pinwheel, using her shoulder as a pivot point. At the beginning of her career, she would make about forty of these swingovers in each performance, but later set one hundred as standard, with the announcer and the audience counting as she turned and the sound of the drums accentuated each revolution. Sometimes, it even exceeded two hundred.
In that first season with the Ringling brothers, it quickly became the audience's favorite. It was an affection that would only grow over the years. Leitzel would spend every summer the rest of his career traveling with a Ringling circus, first with the Ringling Brothers' Circus and later with the combined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. During that time, she would become a legend, the Robert Lewis Taylor woman, in her New York profile, known as "the best star ever produced by her profession" (New Yorker, April 21, 1956, page 45).
During his time with the circus, Leitzel would get married twice. First, in 1920, he would marry the manager of secondary shows, Clyde Ingalls. It was a relationship that made no sense to anyone and ended in a divorce in 1924. Then, in 1928, he married the love of his life, Alfredo Codona. Codona was considered the greatest trapeze artist in the history of the circus. At the time they were married, he was the only man in the world who performed the triple somersault on the flying trapeze.
Leitzel and Codona met when they were teenagers, when Leitzel appeared in the Barnum & Bailey circus as a member of Leamy Ladies. They got involved in a brief flirtation, but it never developed because the Leamy Ladies left the circus after only a month. In 1927, when Codona joined the circus of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, they resumed the place where they had left it even though Codona was married. Codona divorced after the season, and the following year, in Chicago, between performances, Leitzel and Codona were married. It was an event celebrated by circus fans around the world as the union of the "Queen of Air" and the "King of the Flying Trapeze".
The marriage was stormy. While Leitzel and Codona's devotion to each other was unquestionable, they could not overcome their volatile nature. In public, they supported and promoted each other at every opportunity, but in private they constantly clashed. Fred Bradna described their relationship as "a series of climaxes alternating idyllic romance and furious confrontations of temperament." (The Big Top, Fred Bradna, as he told Alden Hatch, Simon and Schuster, page 193).
In the winter of 1930-1931, Leitzel and Codona spent the season out of season abroad. Both appeared in the same bills in November, December and January, first at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris and then at the Wintergarten in Berlin. Leitzel did his solo, just as he did in the circus, and Codona worked as the star of his own act, the Flying Codonas. In February, they separated. Codona continued in the Wintergarten, while Leitzel fulfilled a commitment in Copenhagen at the Valencia Music Hall.
On Friday, February 13, a tragedy occurred. While acting on the flying rings, a pivot failed, from which one of its ropes was suspended. Leitzel was thrown headfirst to the ground. At first, the injuries did not seem so serious, but his condition deteriorated rapidly and two days later he died in a hospital in Copenhagen.
Lillian Leitzel was born Leopoldina Alitza Pelikan on January 2, 1891, in Breslau, Germany. Leitzel was originally a childlike affection derived from his middle name, Alitza. Her mother was Eleanore Pelikan, an aerial artist, who had been acting all her life. The identity of his father is a mystery. Leitzel's brother, Alfred George Pelikan, was also born in Breslau, in 1893. A year after Alfred's birth, Leitzel's mother left her two children in the care of her parents, Edward and Julie Pelikan, while she joined the newly formed antenna of Edward J. Leamy act, the Leamy troupe. She was the only source of support for her children.
Thanks to his mother, Leitzel and his brother received excellent teachings. Leitzel attended the Charlotten Schule. He excelled as an athlete and trained in gymnastics, acrobatics and dance, but his best gift may have been his skills as a musician. She was considered a prodigy and had dreams of a career as a concert pianist. Everything changed in 1905 when family finances forced Leitzel to join his mother as a member of the Leamy troupe. His talent was immediately evident to all.
In the winter of 1907-1908, John Ringling signed the company to appear with Barnum & Bailey for his engagement in the spring of 1908 at Madison Square Garden. They were one of the great characteristics of the show, given the Garden for themselves. It was the first of three presentations over the next four years with Barnum & Bailey, two in New York and one in Chicago. After its appearance in 1911 at Madison Square Garden, the company, now known as Leamy Ladies, disbanded.
While his mother was returning to Europe to pursue a solo career, Leitzel remained in the United States. He joined his aunt Tina to form a vaudeville act, which they called Leitzel Sisters. They scored big in a test at a luxurious burlesque palace on Broadway and were hired at the Orpheum circuit. They quickly earned a reputation as one of the best acts of its kind in vaudeville. Leitzel was the act. Her aunt fulfilled the standard trapeze between Leitzel's dazzling work on rope and rings.
In the middle of his first year in vaudeville, Leitzel married a dancer, Alexis Sousloff. It was a disaster, which, according to all the reports, although Leitzel took two years to get a divorce, it ended in a week. Unperturbed, Leitzel continued his career. She formed a new act with a new partner in 1913. Called Leitzel and Jeanette, the new act was similar to the previous one, Leitzel dazzled while his partner filled the time between the acrobatics of Leitzel.
In November of 1914, Leitzel was discovered by a talent scout from Ringling, while she performed at South Bend Orpheum. He was offered a contract on the spot, but he only accepted the offer after the Ringlings agreed to provide him with a cabin on the circus train.
Leitzel made his debut as a center ring at the Ringling Brothers' Circus on April 17, 1915, at the Chicago Coliseum. In essence, he did the same act he would do for the rest of his circus career, the act that would make her famous. It was an act in two parts. The first part of his performance was a routine of flying rings. In the Roman rings, she would perform a series of the most difficult gymnastic feats in the repertoire of any acrobat, throwing her body, while suspended high above the bark, with a force and speed that kept the audience at the edge of their seats . But it was the second part of his act that became his trademark.
After Leitzel returned to the floor of the arena following his ring routine, all actions on the other rings would stop and the sand would go out, except for a focused focus on it. She would slide her wrist through a coiled rope and it would be hoisted to a high point in the Colosseum. She would then start her swingovers. It was a trick in which, suspended by an arm of the rope that surrounded her wrist, she turned her body into a human pinwheel, using her shoulder as a pivot point. At the beginning of her career, she would make about forty of these swingovers in each performance, but later set one hundred as standard, with the announcer and the audience counting as she turned and the sound of the drums accentuated each revolution. Sometimes, it even exceeded two hundred.
In that first season with the Ringling brothers, it quickly became the audience's favorite. It was an affection that would only grow over the years. Leitzel would spend every summer the rest of his career traveling with a Ringling circus, first with the Ringling Brothers' Circus and later with the combined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. During that time, she would become a legend, the Robert Lewis Taylor woman, in her New York profile, known as "the best star ever produced by her profession" (New Yorker, April 21, 1956, page 45).
During his time with the circus, Leitzel would get married twice. First, in 1920, he would marry the manager of secondary shows, Clyde Ingalls. It was a relationship that made no sense to anyone and ended in a divorce in 1924. Then, in 1928, he married the love of his life, Alfredo Codona. Codona was considered the greatest trapeze artist in the history of the circus. At the time they were married, he was the only man in the world who performed the triple somersault on the flying trapeze.
Leitzel and Codona met when they were teenagers, when Leitzel appeared in the Barnum & Bailey circus as a member of Leamy Ladies. They got involved in a brief flirtation, but it never developed because the Leamy Ladies left the circus after only a month. In 1927, when Codona joined the circus of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, they resumed the place where they had left it even though Codona was married. Codona divorced after the season, and the following year, in Chicago, between performances, Leitzel and Codona were married. It was an event celebrated by circus fans around the world as the union of the "Queen of Air" and the "King of the Flying Trapeze".
The marriage was stormy. While Leitzel and Codona's devotion to each other was unquestionable, they could not overcome their volatile nature. In public, they supported and promoted each other at every opportunity, but in private they constantly clashed. Fred Bradna described their relationship as "a series of climaxes alternating idyllic romance and furious confrontations of temperament." (The Big Top, Fred Bradna, as he told Alden Hatch, Simon and Schuster, page 193).
In the winter of 1930-1931, Leitzel and Codona spent the season out of season abroad. Both appeared in the same bills in November, December and January, first at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris and then at the Wintergarten in Berlin. Leitzel did his solo, just as he did in the circus, and Codona worked as the star of his own act, the Flying Codonas. In February, they separated. Codona continued in the Wintergarten, while Leitzel fulfilled a commitment in Copenhagen at the Valencia Music Hall.
On Friday, February 13, a tragedy occurred. While acting on the flying rings, a pivot failed, from which one of its ropes was suspended. Leitzel was thrown headfirst to the ground. At first, the injuries did not seem so serious, but his condition deteriorated rapidly and two days later he died in a hospital in Copenhagen.