Karl Wallenda (January 21, 1905 – March 22, 1978) was a German-American high wire artist. He was the founder of The Flying Wallendas, a daredevil circus troupe whose members performed dangerous stunts far above the ground, often without a safety net.

Personal life

Wallenda was born in 1905 in Magdeburg, Germany. His parents were Kunigunde (Jameson) and Engelbert Wallenda, and he began performing with his family at the age of six.

The Great Wallendas

The Great Wallendas were noted throughout Europe for their four-man pyramid and cycling on the high wire. The act moved to the United States in 1928, performing as freelancers. In 1947, they developed the unequaled three-tier 7-Man Pyramid. Karl Wallenda had the idea since 1938, but it took until 1946, when he and his brother Hermann developed it and had the right acrobats for it. The Great Wallendas, a 1978 made-for-TV movie starring Karl Wallenda, depicts the act's comeback after a fatal accident involving several family members during a performance. Wallenda was killed in a high wire accident in San Juan, Puerto Rico just 38 days after it was first broadcast.

Daredevil stunts

On July 18, 1970, a 65-year-old Wallenda performed a high-wire walk, also known as a skywalk, across the Tallulah Gorge, a gorge formed by the Tallulah River in Georgia. An estimated 30,000 people watched Wallenda perform two headstands as he crossed the quarter-mile-wide gap. In 1974, at 69 years old, he broke a world skywalk distance record of 1800 ft at Kings Island, a record that stood until July 4, 2008, when his great-grandson, Nik Wallenda, completed a 2000 ft at the same location.

Death

Despite being involved in several tragedies in his family's acts, Wallenda continued with his stunts. In 1978, at age 73, Wallenda attempted a walk between the two towers of the ten-story Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on a wire stretched 121 ft (37 metres) above the pavement. As a result of high winds and an improperly secured wire, he lost his balance and fell during the attempt. Wallenda was pronounced dead after his body arrived at the hospital. This was not viewed on most television stations, but a film crew from local station WAPA-TV in San Juan taped the fall with narration by anchorman Guillermo José Torres.

Family members

In popular culture