Norman barrett ringmaster biography of michael
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For over twenty years, Norman’s budgie act has appeared each winter in Brussels, Belgium—something of a record. It lasted but a couple of month; by June, the Barretts and the Rosaires parted company, and George and Winifred launched the Barrett’s Canadian Circus, a horse-drawn affair with twenty caravans and wagons and up to one hundred horses and ponies.
Guy subsequently became a talented magician and illusionist, and an even more talented maker and designer of magic apparatus. there was the veteran eighty-six-year-old George Lockhart. Norman found he could make as good a living with the birds as in the circus, and he has since taken them around the world into pantomimes, cabaret and television as well as circus, spending two or three months each winter presenting his bird act.
and with his budgerigar act.
See Also
Suggested Reading
- Norman Barrett (as told to Geoff Stevens), Ringmaster — My Life In Showbusiness (Harlow, Aardvark Publishing, 1994) — ISBN 1-872904-05-X
Image Gallery
Norman Barrett and Paul Binder rehearse at the Big Apple Circus (1998)
Norman Barrett, MBE (2010)
Norman Barrett and his budgies at Zippo's Circus (c.2010)
Norman Barrett at Zippo's Circus (2018)
Barrett, Norman, Born 1935
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Dates
- Existence: Born 20 December 1935
Biography
Norman Barrett MBE, is a world famous Ringmaster who spent 25 seasons at the Blackpool Tower Circus and he is especially known for his budgie acts.
He was born in York in 1935 and was the son of George and Winifred Barrett who were circus perfomers and owners.
At the time of the record in 2015, he had been working as a Ringmaster for 56 years. George Barrett died four years later, in 1960.
Norman married Sue Yelding (b.1937), the daughter of Olga and Freddie Yelding, a circus act that was central to the Barrett family circus from its inception. He joined the Blackpool Tower Circus in 1954 and was paired with Harold Holt who was the Equestrian Director.
Norman himself commented, "As well as being over the Moon personally, I am also delighted for the circus industry, and all my friends and colleagues within it. During this time Norman developed his own performing budgerigars' act for the circus, as well as appearing in cabaret and pantomime.
He had last tented in Sweden with Circus Scott, and he found himself a niche with a growing British travelling show, Zippo’s Circus, where he appeared both as ringmaster(American, English) The name given today to the old position of Equestrian Director, and by extension, to the presenter of the show.
Although he would present from time to time ponies or elephants at the Tower Circus, the decision to train budgies was a wise one: Unlike horses and other large animals, they didn’t need any big accommodation to transport, they were comparatively cheap, easily available, needed little space to live, ate little, and didn’t need any grooms or attendants.
Among the cast were Freddie and Olga Yelding and their daughter, Sue, Norman’s future wife.
Dates: 6 December 1980 - 31 January 1981
Found in: National Fairground and Circus Archive / Christopher Palmer Collection / Programmes
Blackpool Tower Circus Fantastic Programme, 1978
Item
Reference code: 178K41.22
Charlie Cairoli and his company clowns, Lilly Yokoi trick cyclist, Yong Brothers balancing act, Mary Chipperfield and her magnificent animals, Norman Barrett ringmaster, The Salvadors ball balancing, Kludsky Troupe tumblers, Miss Wendy and her birds, Burger Sisters, El Gran Rober.
His uncle, Tony Yelding, was the show’s senior Equestrian Director, or Ringmaster. (Also known in French as ''La Poste''.), which he performed during the summer season of 1961 in the Mills’ tenting show. Norman had worn it only once, to get married in—and now he was wearing it to get divorced in.
After their father’s death, George Jnr. and his brother, Arthur, inherited the business, but after Arthur’s death, George lost no time in selling up.
Norman’s first job for this most prestigious of all British circuses was to present Palominos and ponies at the Belle Vue International Circus, Manchester, which were part of the contingent of Mills animal acts featured at this big winter circus.