Circus Boltini (Established c1939)
Dates
- Existence: Established c1939
Biography
Circus Boltini was founded by Wilhelm Marinus Antonius Akkerman (1920-2003) aka Toni Boltini. Toni Boltini was born on February 22, 1920 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, the son of an itinerant variety theatre owner. Toni started working in his father’s theatre at a young age travelling around fairgrounds.
At the outbreak of World War Two, theatre performances were banned by the Nazis, so Toni turned his father’s travelling theatre into a small circus variety show, which allowed the company to continue functioning. Wilhelm’s father was a fanatical supporter of the Nazis and at the beginning of the war, Wilhelm joined the SS.
However, he started to develop anti-Nazi feelings and in 1942 he was arrested and served six months in a labour camp. Upon his release, Wilhelm spent the rest of the war working for the resistance. When the war ended, circuses started to travel once again and under pressure from the competition, Toni started to invest in the development of his small outfit until it became one of Europe’s biggest circus.
Toni run his circus until 1980 when he sold it and bought the Oud Valkeveen amusement park in Naarden. Toni died on 24 December 2003 aged 83 years old.
Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Christopher Palmer Collection
Circus programmes and VHS tapes from Billy Smart’s Circus and Chipperfields’s Circus collected during the 1970s and early 1980s by the TV producer, Christopher John Palmer. There are also a number of promotional photographs of artistes and other ephemera related to the circus.
National Nederlands Circus Toni Boltini Programme, 1976
Karl and Jana company clowns, The Faroa’s illusionist and others, Cut out horse programme. Contains illustration, 12p.p.
Programmes, 1970 - 1981
Programmes for various British and international circuses including Billy Russell's, Blackpool Tower, Fossett's, Chipperfield's and the Toni Boltini's Circus.