Wallenda

They were first known as The Great Wallendas, but the current name was coined by the press in the 40s and has stayed since. The name in their native German, "Die fliegenden Wallenda", is an obvious rhyme on the title of the Wagner opera, "Der fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman").
Karl Wallenda was born in Magdeburg, Germany.

in 1905 to an old circus family, and began performing at the age of 6. While still in his teens he answered an ad for a hand balancer with courage.

In 1922 Karl put together his own act with his brother Herman, Joseph Geiger, and a teenage girl, Helen Kreis, who eventually became his wife.
The act toured Europe for several years, performing some amazing stunts. When John Ringling saw them perform in Cuba, he quickly hired them to perform at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The act performed without a net (it had been lost in transit) and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.
It was at a performance in Akron, Ohio that the group all fell off the wire, but were unhurt. The next day, a reporter who witnessed the accident was quoted in the newspaper: "The Wallendas fell so gracefully that it seemed as if they were flying" -- thus coining the name of The Flying Wallendas.
In 1944, while performing in Hartford, Connecticut, a fire started that ended up killing over 168 people (see Hartford Circus Fire).None of the Wallendas was hurt.
In the following years, Karl developed some of the most amazing acts like the seven-person chair pyramid. Three men fell to the ground, killing two of them (Richard Faughnan, Wallenda's son-in-law, and nephew Dieter Schepp).

Karl injured his pelvis, and his adopted son, Mario, was paralyzed from the waist down.
Other tragedies include when Wallenda's sister-in-law, Rietta, fell to her death in 1963, and his son-in-law Richard ("Chico") Guzman was killed in 1972 after touching a live electric wire while holding part of the metal rigging. Karl continued performing with a smaller group, and doing solo acts.
On March 22, 1978, during a promotional walk in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Karl Wallenda fell from the wire and died.

She has been honored with a place in Sarasota's Circus Ring of Fame.
Carla Wallenda Karl's younger daughter, this high flying grandmother is still performing amazing feats on the highwire and swaypole with her husband Mike Morgan.
Richard Faughnan, Karl's son-in-law, was the husband of Jenny Wallenda. Dieter, who was making his first appearance in the Seven, apparently lost his grip on the balance pole.
Jana Schepp, Karl's niece and Dieter's sister, was one of the survivors of the 1962 disaster in Detroit.
Angel Wallenda (20 March 1968 - 3 May 1996), born Elizabeth Pintye, married Steven Wallenda (Karl's grandnephew) in 1985, when she was 17, and began training on the wire.

In 1987 her right leg had to be amputated, and in 1988 parts of both lungs were removed. Her children, by a previous marriage, are Rosemarie Wallenda (born 8 December 1942) and Peter Pfeifer (born 7 August 1938).
Gunther Herman Wallenda (25 June 1927 - 16 March 1996), Herman's son by his first wife, Lucy, began training on the wire at age five, though he was already part of the act.In the Hartford Circus Fire, he helped rescue a number of the spectators. When in 1962 the pyramid fell, Gunther was the only one left standing and was able to help rescue three who were clinging to the wire.

Sheila and Gunther married in the fall of 1963 and settled in Sarasota, Florida where Gunther returned to school. He graduated from high school, got a university degree, and became a history and geography teacher.

While teaching in Sarasota, Gunther continued to train high-wire performers, most notably as part of the Sailor Circus, a Sarasota county sponsored circus school. They had one daughter, Lisa Ellen Wallenda (now Wallenda-Picard) who performed with father as well as Carla Wallenda and was part of Ringling Brothers headquarters management for many years.
Helen (Kreis) Wallenda (11 December 1910 - 9 May 1996), Karl's second wife, was the last surviving member of the original troupe.

Until she retired in 1956, she was balanced at the peak of the seven-man pyramid.
Herman Wallenda (11 June 1901 – January 1985), Karl's brother, was one of the original members of the Great Wallendas troop (Karl Wallenda, Herman Wallenda, Helen Wallenda, and Joe Geiger). Born in Magdeburg, Germany, he began performing at age 2 as an acrobat and clown.Self-taught and without formal education, he was conversant in five languages and played a number of musical instruments. He was the father of Gunther Wallenda.
Karl Wallenda (21 January 1905 - 22 March 1978) was the founder and leader of the group until his death in San Juan in 1978.
Mario Wallenda, Karl's adopted son, was paralyzed from the waist down on 30 January 1962 in Detroit, when the Seven-Man Pyramid collapsed.

He is the family patriarch of the Flying Wallendas and is still performing (2008) the 7-Man Pyramid with his daughters and son, his brother-in-law Sascha Pavlata, son-in-law Robinson Cortes and family friend Jade Kindar-Martin.
Olinka Wallenda, Tino's wife, is descended from the Valla Bertini circus family, and has been performing on the high wire with Tino since 1974. She and Tino have four children, all wirewalkers - Alida, Andrea, Aurelia and Alessandro (Alex).
Mario B.

He tested positive for HIV in 1990 after collapsing after a performance in Canada. He completed the walk that took Karl's life a year after his grandfather' death.

He also broke his grandfathers record at walking 2000 feet without a net. It is the continental record for that walk.
Nikolas & Erendira Wallenda, Karl's great-grandson and his wife now perform with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.She currently works as a successful multi media archivist for a world reknowned television company in London.

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