These pictures have fascinated me for some time and I wondered if it was really true.
Nathan Jackley (circa 1850-1923) was an acrobat, who, with his own troupe, the Jackley Wonders, performed all over Europe and the United States. One of twenty-four children fathered with four different wives by the father of the Jackley family of acrobats, Nathan made his debut at four years old. Remembered as being the originator of an act called the “Jackley Drops”, consisting of tables piled eight high, with a ninth placed next to them; standing on the eighth, Jackley dropped backward and landed on his hands on the floor level ninth; then did a backward leap, which landed him on the ground level facing the tables. One of only two acrobatic circus acts to be named for an individual (the Risley act is the other), the Jackley Drops are seemingly no longer performed. Of course it is no wonder, given the stress on the back and shoulders that the performers of it sustained.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.classic.circushistory.org/Thayer/Thayer3k.htm
Nathan's son was George Jackley (1885–1950), a comic actor who was the leading comedian for the Melville Brothers at the Lyceum Theatre during the interwar years. George also performed with the Jackley Wonders.
Nat Jackley (1909-1988), was an English comic actor who starred in revue, variety, film and pantomime from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. His trademark rubber-neck dance, skeletal frame and peculiar speech impediment made him a formidable and funny comedian and pantomime dame. His later years were spent as a character actor in film and television, and appearing in pantomime. Jackley appeared in three Royal Variety shows, topping the bill in summer shows throughout Britain's seaside resorts and in London. In this video, Nat Jackley recalls watching his father and grandfather performing their amazing acrobatics, as well as talk about his life as an entertainer.
https://youtu.be/yuB3H-HELP8
LATE EDIT!
The Jackley Drop is still alive! This video was taken of the act being performed at Zoppe Circus on its tour of California. It's absolutely amazing!
Nathan Jackley (circa 1850-1923) was an acrobat, who, with his own troupe, the Jackley Wonders, performed all over Europe and the United States. One of twenty-four children fathered with four different wives by the father of the Jackley family of acrobats, Nathan made his debut at four years old. Remembered as being the originator of an act called the “Jackley Drops”, consisting of tables piled eight high, with a ninth placed next to them; standing on the eighth, Jackley dropped backward and landed on his hands on the floor level ninth; then did a backward leap, which landed him on the ground level facing the tables. One of only two acrobatic circus acts to be named for an individual (the Risley act is the other), the Jackley Drops are seemingly no longer performed. Of course it is no wonder, given the stress on the back and shoulders that the performers of it sustained.
You can read more about it here:
http://www.classic.circushistory.org/Thayer/Thayer3k.htm
Nathan's son was George Jackley (1885–1950), a comic actor who was the leading comedian for the Melville Brothers at the Lyceum Theatre during the interwar years. George also performed with the Jackley Wonders.
Nat Jackley (1909-1988), was an English comic actor who starred in revue, variety, film and pantomime from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. His trademark rubber-neck dance, skeletal frame and peculiar speech impediment made him a formidable and funny comedian and pantomime dame. His later years were spent as a character actor in film and television, and appearing in pantomime. Jackley appeared in three Royal Variety shows, topping the bill in summer shows throughout Britain's seaside resorts and in London. In this video, Nat Jackley recalls watching his father and grandfather performing their amazing acrobatics, as well as talk about his life as an entertainer.
https://youtu.be/yuB3H-HELP8
LATE EDIT!
The Jackley Drop is still alive! This video was taken of the act being performed at Zoppe Circus on its tour of California. It's absolutely amazing!
