Charles Blondin
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Charles Blondin (28 February 1824 – 19 February 1897), French tight-rope walker and acrobat, was born at St Omer, France. His real name was Jean François Gravelet. When five years old he was sent to the Ecole de Gymnase at Lyon and, after six months training as an acrobat, made his first public appearance as "The Little Wonder". His superior skill and grace as well as the originality of the settings of his acts, made him a popular favorite.
He especially owed his celebrity and fortune to his idea of crossing Niagara Falls on a tight-rope, 1100 ft. long, 160 ft. above the water. This he accomplished, first in 1859, a number of times, always with different theatric variations: blindfold, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying a man on his back, sitting down midway while he cooked and ate an omelette.
In 1861 Blondin first appeared in London, at the Crystal Palace, turning somersaults on stilts on a rope stretched across the central transept, 70 feet from the ground. In 1862 he again gave a series of performances at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere in England, and on the continent.
In 1873, he crossed Edgbaston Reservoir in Birmingham. A statue built in 1992 on the nearby Ladywood Middleway marks his feat.
After a period of retirement he reappeared in 1880, his final performance being in Belfast in 1896. He died in Ealing, London and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.
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- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
