Robert Edward Ringling

Robert Edward Ringling (August 16, 1897 – January 3, 1950) was an American opera singer, banker, and circus executive. He was the president of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1943 to 1946 and later chairman of the board.

Early life Robert Edward Ringling was born on August 16, 1897, in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. He was the only son of Charles Edward Ringling and Edith F. Conway.

His early musical ability was inherited from his mother, an accomplished pianist, and his father, a respected amateur violinist and connoisseur with a prized collection of old violins.

Career Beginning around 1916 at nineteen, he trained with Fernando Tanara for five years, then after a concert season, opera coach and voice teacher William S. Brady refined his voice over three more years.

He sang baritone for the Chicago Grand Opera. Robert Ringling appeared in the Grand Opera for the 1921 season in Florida. Robert E. Ringling appeared with the San Carlo Opera Company in Rigoletto and gave solo recitals across many cities before heading to Europe near the mid-1920s. His successful debut in Ulm, Germany led to a Munich engagement. By summer 1925, he returned from a successful run in Munich, holding a contract for the 1925 winter season and 1926 at the Munich Opera. He committed to sing nineteen roles in the upcoming season, ten of them newly learned in German, with the contract ending August 31, 1926. His full-season agreement featured appearances in Stuttgart, Augsberg, and additional cities, with the Munich Opera appointing him leading baritone at its second-largest salary. The bank later liquidated in 1934, paying off all depositors in full. His mother, an owner of the circuses managed by Ringling, transferred him a financial interest in the firm. As a newcomer to the circus, Robert Ringling started out in the publicity department. In 1942, North's five-year term as president came to an end. His presidency included the tragic 1944 Hartford Circus Fire. Ousted as circus president in April 1946, he was succeeded by James A. Haley and remained embroiled in the Ringling family's power struggle. Robert's mother, Edith Ringling, who was the widow of an original Ringling, and Mrs. Aubrey Haley, wife of the new president, each owned 31 percent of the circus. In 1946, his mother Edith willed her 315 shares to him. Robert Ringling was named chairman of the board in November 1947, with John Ringling North as president and Henry Ringling North as vice president. The sale of James A. Haley and his wife's stock to John North and Robert Ringling made it the first time a single individual owned 51 percent of the show's stock. North held 51 percent of the stock, while Robert and his mother held 49 percent. He remained the board chairman until his death in 1950.

Personal life Robert E. Ringling married his wife, Irene, and had two sons, James C. Ringling and Charles J. Ringling. He lived quietly in the Indian Beach neighborhood near the winter headquarters of the circus.

Ringling, who had a passion for motorboating, once raced Garfield Wood, and won several trophies for his speedboat skills.

Death Robert Edward Ringling died of a stroke on January 2, 1950, in Sarasota, Florida, at the age of 52. In declining health for months, he nearly died in a Chicago hospital in the summer of 1949.