Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman who launched the enterprise known as 'the greatest show on earth' . He was born in 1810 at Bethel, Connecticut and died in 1891. His career as a showman started in 1835 but met with little success until in 1844 he exploited Charles Stratton - General Tom Thumb. Barnum supplemented this success with in 1847 by engaging Jenny Lind to sing for 150 nights. In 1871 he began the formation of the 'Greatest Show on Earth', a monster combination of circus, menagerie and exhibition of human freaks. With this show, in conjunction with his partners, Bailey and Hutchinson, Barnum amassed a large fortune. The entire concern was later purchased by the Ringling brothers in 1907. Research Phineas Barnum
Wallace Beery was an American actor. He was born in 1880 at Kansas City and died in 1949. A graduate of Kansas City High School, he began his theatrical career as an assistant elephant trainer for the Ringling Brothers Circus at the start of the 20th century. A few years later he was on the stage where, despite his large features his forte was as a female impersonator, and in vaudeville he sang in variety shows, stock companies and Broadway musicals. His film career began at the Essanay Studios in 1914 and he starred in a series of some 30 comedies about a character named 'Sweedie' a preposterous female servant. During the 1920s he switched roles to play rugged, commanding figures. Research Wallace Beery
Abbreviations
Research Phineas Barnum
