Horn, Rudy, 1933 - 2018
Dates
- Existence: 14 February 1933 - 12 October 2018
Biography
Rudy Horn was born on 14 February 1933 in Nuremberg, Germany in a circus family. His father was Rupert Horn who performed as a strongman and later as an aerialist with his mother Brigitte forming the Duo Rupertis.
Rudy started his training in the circus as a child practicing acrobatics, tap dancing and juggling, all of which he will use in his future performances. Rudy gained his first professional contract in 1942 at the Winter Garten Christmas show in Nuremberg, although a successful debut, his career was paused by the Second World War until 1945 when he started to perform for the Allied troops in Germany. Rudy soon developed his trademark cup and saucers juggling routine on unicycle, which will make him famous worldwide. In 1948 he was engaged by Circus Krone for three years and started to travel widely around Europe. In 1951, he was engaged by Bertam Mills Circus to appear at Olympia, where he worked for four seasons, while also appearing at the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium in 1954. During the course of his career, Rudy became an international star travelling extensively around Europe, America, Australia and South Africa and received various awards including the Rastelli Prize and the Order of Merit cross from the Federal German Republic government.
Rudy retired from the circus in 1975 and become a tennis coach. He died on 12 October 2018 aged 85 years old.
Found in 3 Collections and/or Records:
Blackpool Tower Circus Poster, 1961
Blackpool Tower Circus Posters, c1930 - 1990
Posters for Blackpool Tower Circus including shows by Knie's Circus, Circus Krone, Circus Schumann, Bertram Mills Circus, Robert Brothers Circus and performances by Charlie Cairoli, Doddles, Coco the Clown, The Rosaires, Lilly Yokoi, Alfred Court, Vojtek Trubka, The Great Wallendas and Mary Chipperfield among others.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses