Blondin

orig. Jean-François Gravelet

born Feb. 28, 1824 , Hesdin, Fr.

died Feb. 22, 1897, Little Ealing, near London, Eng.

French tightrope walker.

After training as an acrobat, he achieved fame, first in 1859, with his many crossings of Niagara Falls on a tightrope 1,100 ft (335 m) long, 160 ft (48 m) above the water. Each time he used a different theatrical variation: blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man on his back, and sitting down midway to cook an omelette. He gave his last performance in 1896.

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▪ French acrobat

pseudonym of  Jean-François Gravelet  

born Feb. 28, 1824, Hesdin, France

died Feb. 22, 1897, Little Ealing, near London, Eng.

      French tightrope walker and acrobat who owed his celebrity and fortune to his feat of crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope 1,100 feet (335 m) long, 160 feet above the water.

      When he was five years old he was sent to the École de Gymnase at Lyon, and after six months' training as an acrobat he made his first public appearance as “the Little Wonder.” He crossed Niagara Falls a number of times, first in 1859, always with different theatrical variations: blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man on his back, and sitting down midway to cook an omelette. In 1861 he appeared in London at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept, 170 feet (52 m) from the ground. His final performance was given at Belfast in 1896.

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