He would headline the Blue Unit in the 70s and early 80s, and his single trapeze act won him the Circus Oscar at the 1973 Circus World Festival in Madrid, Spain, as well as the 1976 Gold Clown, given out by the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo for the best circus performance of the year.
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In The American Circus, John Culhane calls Elvin Bale “the greatest circus daredevil of the second half of the twentieth century.” After working with Art Concello’s American Circus in Russia in 1968, Elvin joined the Blue Unit of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1969.
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Elvin is perhaps best known now for his human cannonball act, which he began with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
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After an early childhood touring with European circuses, Elvin and his family moved to the United States in the 1950s when his father took a job as a tiger trainer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
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Elvin performed in the Vatican for Pope John Paul II, under helicopters in the French Alps, and at African soccer stadiums.
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Elvin Bale (born 1945 in London, England) is a former artist and daredevil with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, among many other international circuses.
Elvin Ng | Elvin Bishop | Christian Bale | John Bale | Bale Zone | Qoriniasi Bale | Joe Elvin | Elvin Hayes | Lionel Elvin | (Herbert) Lionel Elvin | Gareth Bale | Elvin Santos | Elvin Eksioglu | Bale Mountains National Park | Gracie Elvin | Elvin Mesger | Edward Turner Bale | Bale sling hitch | Bale Mountains |