Ephraim Thompson

Ephraim Thompson (October 28, 1859 – April 17, 1909) was a well-known American elephant trainer.

Career Thompson was trained by Stewart Craven, who was inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame in 1979.

Thompson was part of the Adam Forepaugh Show the first great American elephant trainer—and, by all accounts, the most humane. and died April 17, 1909, in Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate, Egypt. He married Dolinda de la Plata née Roba in 1887 and had a son in 1889 named Leo. At the time of his death he was married to the circus performer Jessie Kelly (Leopold), who after Thompson's death married the acrobat/comedian/ringmaster Sam Nagle (Elton), who was best known for his act "Domestic Mishaps," performed at the London Hippodrome before the Shah of Persia, a notoriously dour man who nonetheless laughed throughout Elton's performances.