Dates

• Existence: Born 1929

Biography

Lilly Yokoi was an American bicycle acrobat of Japanese descent. Her early training started with her family, as her parents were themselves bicycle acrobats, who emigrated to America from Japan in the 1920s. Lilly and her three sisters went on to achieve a remarkable technical level in bicycle acrobatics, doing tricks rarely or never seen before.

Lilly’s career set off as part of the family troupe, performing with her siblings, until 1956 when she appeared as a solo act on the popular ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ in the USA. This breakthrough in television helped launch her early career. She later appearanced n major TV shows around the world, including shows hosted by Joan Crawford and Paul Daniels, and a long running TV circus show in France called ‘La Piste aux Etoiles’. She also toured on various occasions with the Harlem Globe Trotters.

By the 1960s and 1970s, Lilly was considered the world's greatest acrobat on bicycle and was in high demand in the circus and variety scene around the world. The technical skill of her performance was matched by her elegance, grace and charisma in stage, which made her very popular with the audience. She became one of the highest paid solo performers in the world and a much sought after act in any quality variety and circus show.

Lilly appeared in some of the greatest stages in the world including Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia, Billy Smart’s Circus, the London Palladium, Cirkus Berny in Norway, Cirkus Schumann in Denmark and Sweden, Circus Knie in Switzerland and the Lido in Paris.

Lilly Yokoi made her last public appearance at Blackpool Tower Circus in 1982. Through her career she became a circus legend and she is still regarded by many as the greatest solo bicycle act that ever existed.

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