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The Mickey Mouse Club Show: Circus Acts

The tables below contain all known circus acts appearing in the first two seasons of the original Mickey Mouse Club, by order of appearence. Circus Day shows, especially those involving animal acts, were the most expensive and difficult to produce. They were dropped after the first two seasons, though one first season act, George Keller's Feline Fantastics, part of the original Mickey Mouse Club Circus at Disneyland in 1955, returned as Talent Winners in the third season. There were only sixteen different acts the first season. To fill up the schedule, the film editors often split performances into two or three shows.

Where available, images have been provided from the act's actual performance on the show. Failing that, general publicity photos or images from other appearences have been used. Many photos and much information here come courtesy of Bill Strong. For the vast majority of the acts there is simply no picture available. Only original broadcast appearences are listed; reruns are excluded.

Most of the information below was extracted from original research done by Bill Cotter, however, any errors of fact or mistakes in interpretation are my own.

  Season 1   (1955-56)     Season 2   (1956-57)  
Ted DeWayne Troupe with Mouseketeers. Ted (2nd from viewer's right) coordinated the acts for the Mickey Mouse Club Circus at Disneyland   Ted DeWayne Troupe  
  Acrobats  
  Oct 6, 1955  
These chimps were reportedly rather ill-behaved. They gave little Karen the creeps by continually leering at her   The Scipilinis  
  Chimps  
  Oct 4, 1956  
Tumbling and balancing act, with Junior even getting a chance to hold up his dad. At the end, the Mouseketeers themselves try a tumbling run. Boys and girls alike go sprawling, landing on their rumps, losing their caps, with the girl's careful hairstyles falling apart.   Bill Henry and  
  Bill Henry Jr  
  Acrobats  
  Oct 13, 1955  
Three person family balancing act   The Boginos  
  Acrobats  
  Oct 11, 1956  
  The Black Brothers  
  Clowns  
  Oct 20, 1955  
The troupe members were George, Innquen, Gitman, Eileen, Gitchuen, and Richard   The George Wong Troupe  
  Acrobats  
  Oct 18, 1956  
  Professor Keller and  
  His Feline Fantastics  
  Big Cats  
  Oct 27, 1955  
  Max Morris  
  Seal Act  
  Oct 25, 1956  
This was Louis W. Chaudet Sr (deceased) and his son Bill   The Chaudets  
  Magicians  
  Nov 03, 1955  
Kumar Pallana, born 1918, has acted in several recent US films   Kumar of India  
  Acrobatic Juggler  
  Nov 01, 1956  

  More Info
An Australian family act   The Sullivans  
  Acrobats  
  Nov 10, 1955  
This photo has not yet been confirmed as showing the act listed   The Atomics  
  Tumblers  
  Nov 08, 1956  
No telling if this was the reknowned animal and bird trainer of the same name   Ray Berwick  
  Rope Tricks  
  Nov 17, 1955  
This was a comic performer named A. Robins   The Banana Man  
  Variety & Magic  
  Nov 15, 1956  
  Robbins and Bono  
  Clowns  
  Nov 24, 1955  
  The Carlssons  
  Jugglers  
  Nov 22, 1956  
Can be seen on MMC Video Volume 9   Florence Honey Girls  
  Acrobats  
  Dec 01, 1955  
French-born clown from a circus family, this photo comes from a 1960 stint hosting a children's tv show in St Petersburg FL   Nicky Francis  
  Clown  
  Nov 29, 1956  

  More Info
This was an act put together by Tony Gentry   Gentry's Chimps  
  Animal Act  
  Dec 08, 1955  
  Boy Foy  
  Unicyclist-Juggler  
  Dec 06, 1956  
  The Leroy Marionettes  
  Puppets  
  Dec 15, 1955  
  The Mandarins  
  Tumblers  
  Dec 13, 1956  
  Musical Horse Serenade  
  Animal Act  
  Dec 22, 1955  
They did a slack wire and juggling act, and also used a unicycle   The Marcellis  
  Tumblers  
  Dec 20, 1956  
  Bert Nagle  
  Big Cats  
  Dec 29, 1955  
The MMC blurb says they were a human pyramid act, but other tv show logs describe them as unicyclists. Much earlier photo of the troupe showing them on bicycles; sometimes billed themselves as the 'Freelanes'   The Frielanis  
  Human Pyramid  
  Dec 27, 1956  
Worked with the California-based Yankee Patterson BigTop circus; had three seals named Sissy, Joe, & Slicker   Captain Winston and  
  His Seals  
  Animal Act  
  Jan 19, 1956  
  The Platos  
  Equestrians  
  Jan 03, 1957  
This was the second half of their earlier performance   Chaudets  
  Magicians  
  Jan 19, 1956  
  Tippy and Cobina  
  Chimps  
  Feb 07, 1957  
This was the second half of their earlier performance   The Black Brothers  
  Clowns  
  Jan 26, 1956  
Nita and Peppi Borza were sister and brother. They started with a tumbling act as kids, then added dancing to their acrobatics as they got older   Nita and Peppi  
  Acrobatic Dancers  
  Feb 07, 1957  
This was the second half of their earlier performance   The Sullivans  
  Acrobats  
  Feb 02, 1956  
Jugglers from South America; used indian clubs, hoops, and unicycles in their act   The Half Brothers  
  Jugglers  
  Feb 14, 1957  
The troupe included Ted DeWayne, Bobby Yerkes, Don Johnson, Mel Warkmeister, and Cliff Mosely. This was the second half of their earlier performance   Ted DeWayne Troupe  
  Acrobats  
  Feb 02, 1956  
Charlie Allen and his daughter Kay, shown here in a sixties era photo. Wife Beverly Allen was also part of the act.   The Allen Bears  
  Animal Act  
  Feb 21, 1957  
They were really scraping the bottom of the barrel with this one. Don't know who the young lady is, but you know an act is weak when it relies on eye candy to hold viewer's interest   Pansy the Horse  
  Costume Horse  
  Feb 09, 1956  
Teeterboard act, this photo is probably from the early sixties. Finn, Helen, Gunnar, Finn's wife, and Werner   The Amandis  
  Tumblers  
  Feb 18, 1957  
This was an act put together by Tony Gentry   Gentry's Elephants  
  Animal Act  
  Feb 16, 1956  
  Bill Dedrick's Pranksters  
  Animal Act  
  Apr 25, 1957  
This was the second half of their earlier performance   Robbins and Bono  
  Clowns  
  Feb 23, 1956  
Don S. Davis (not to be confused with the actor of same name) kept his one-man band act going through to the eighties, appearing on tv shows like 'Sanford and Son' and 'Fantasy Island', as well as in 'Cheech and Chong's Next Movie' (1980)   Don Davis  
  One Man Band  
  May 02, 1957  
This was the third third of their earlier performance   The Black Brothers  
  Clowns  
  Feb 23, 1956  
   
Paulette Nelson, on viewer's right, was also a participant in early female bodybuilder contests   Paula and Paulette  
  Trampoline Artists  
  Mar 01, 1956  
   

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