Dates

• Existence: Established c1957 - 1957

Biography

Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus was established in c1957 by Frank McClosky, Walter Kernan, Jerry Collins and Randolph Calhoun, the then owners of Cole Bros. Circus, who formed the Acme Circus Operating Corporation. After purchasing Clyde Beatty Circus, they merged it with their existing business to form the combined Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, which they successfully operated for over twenty years.

Randolph Calhoun and Walter Kernan died in the early 1960s and Frank McCloskey in 1979, leaving Jerry Collins as the sole owner of the business. In 1981, in an unprecedented move, Jerry Collins, donated the Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus to the Florida State University with the altruistic desire to benefit the Florida community and academia. A year later the show was sold to long serving Cole Bros. manager Johnny Pugh.

John Wallace Pugh, the son of Digger Pugh, was an internationally renowned circus showman, who became President and CEO of Cole Bros and was credited with reinventing and revitalising The World's Largest Circus Under The Big Top in America. His ingenuity spurred him to design a radically different Big Top arena in American circuses and revolutionised the way circuses travelled in the country. Under Jonny’s management, Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus was renamed Cole Bros. Circus and has been operating successfully for over thirty years.

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