Fred Bradna

Circus life Once a German Army officer, he reinvented himself as a circus gymnast and rider. He had experience on the horizontal bars before performing alongside his wife in equestrian acts. Arriving in New York in 1903, the couple joined the Barnum & Bailey Circus as riders. During his early days in America, he also pitched in with setup duties, pulling stakes and rolling canvas for the main circus tent.

From 1913 to 1918, he was parade marshal of Barnum & Bailey.

After serving as assistant ringmaster, Fred Bradna was appointed equestrian director of the Ringling Bros. Circus on 31 May 1915. Succeeding Al Ringling, he ran a well-balanced circus program, directing and aligning the various acts.

He escorted American President Woodrow Wilson into the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1916, when Wilson threw his hat into the center ring to announce his intentions to seek reelection. He witnessed the Hartford circus fire on 6 July 1944, in which 168 lives were lost.

While working a 1945 show in Dallas, he was knocked down by a 460-pound quarter pole during a storm, ending his time on the road. Bradna stepped down from the circus that year, earning the title of equestrian director emeritus.

Fred Bradna was posthumously inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame in 1960. He and his wife, Ella, were inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame in 1996.