Hide Article Text (OCR)
Color Spreads In Comeau Family From Daughters To Father,101By DOROTHY STANICH NEWS Staff WriterYou’d have to draw straws inthe Comeau family to decide who’s led the most colorful life.Toussaint Comeau has never spun high in the sky like his two aerialist daughters, hut he’s packed a lot of living into his 101 years.Hi* daughters are AntoinetteCon cello, former flyer with Ring*ling Bros and Barnum Bailey Circus, and Mickey King, onetime member of the “Original Flying Wards” and an expert at one-arm swings.★ ★ itComeau, who will be 102 next Jan. 6, is pretty proud of h i s daughters* feats— “I oughta be” — but he has plenty of scars to show for his own derring-do.He has been a backwoods lum«berm an. an animal trapper, borsetrader, a railroad and soldier’s camp cook, — and I even dug graves.”He’s been struck by lightning, hit on the head with an axe, and had gunpowder blasted into his eyes, which left him blind in the right eye for many years.But Comeau is still spry and chipper and fast with a quip. How' does he do It?“Good r * and good courage.”downh-layftand die, but I get up and kick.Daughter Mickey’s career in the circus began like a movie script says it should — she ran away from home at the age of 14..The family was living in Holyoke, Mass.. in the 1920s when the Sells-Floto Circus came totown for a onenight stand.Mickey said she went to the ballet master and got a job as a ballet girl, singing and dancing in production numbers.★ . ★ ★In between shows, she said, she practiced on the ladders, hoping to become a flyer. One day, she recalled, a member of the “Flying Wards” saw her practicing and said, “If you’re that strong, why don’t you join our act?”Mickey did ,and stayed with the Wards about five years. She then went out on her own with a one-arm swing act, playing in vaudeville, at fairs, and at sponsored events all over the world.Her specialty Is climbing up a web (rope), performing one-arm swings, rolling down the web and finishing on her toes— “the only one to finish that way.” She works without a net, as high up as 125 ft.She appeared in a Command Performance before the king andis r%44queen of England traveled for 18 months with Sally Rand’s show.Among her mementoes medal from Billboard Magazine, received in 1939 as “best performer,” voted by Circus Fansof America.Mickey got sister Antoinette her first job with the circus, but says she didn’t encourage her although she “hoped” Antoinette would want to join.Antoinette was 16 at the time and a student in a convent school In Vermont. She decided to quit school and join the circus during a visit to Mickey in DetroitMickey got her a job with theFlying Wards” and Antoinettewent on to become selected tothe Show-Biz Hall of Fame in St. Paul. Minn.★ ★ *Before her retirement in 1953,Antoinette performed feats never duplicated by any other woman flyer. These included the triple somersault, the double full twister and the double cutaway.And what did Mother and Father Comeau think of all this?“Mother didn’t like It until Antoinette came in,” Mickey said. “Then you couldn’t keep her away. As for Dad, anything we do is all right with him.” Mickey says she doesn’t takeCOME A Uwas 101 years old in January, poses with his two aerialist daughters, Mickey King, right, and Antoinette Concello. The family is now reunited in Sarasota after many years of traveling in their separate careers.many show dates now because of her father’s advanced years, but she still practices every sunny day in Fruitville. Her father lives with her at 3236 Seventh St.Antoinette lives at 4851 Primrose Path. She returned recentlyfrom a visit with her son Randy, 17, who attends school in Switzerland. r»
Newspaper Details
Sarasota News
Sarasota, Florida, US
Thu, Jun 07, 1962
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Maureen B.
IL, USA 23 Aug 2019
Other Publications Near Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota Herald Daily Tribune
Sarasota Herald Sunday Tribune
Sarasota Herald
Sarasota Journal
Sarasota News
