The purr-fect leopard-skin accessory - a picture from The Great British Circus - Views of Martin Lacey |
On the walls are paintings of animals. Draped over the furniture are the skins of lions, tigers and zebra. On the mantle-piece are the skulls of two tigers who nearly ate their owner for breakfast. Welcome to the living room of Britain’s last big cat trainer, Martin Lacey.
I wasn’t there, so I’m grateful to biographer David Barnaby for describing Lacey’s home in such detail in his new book The Great British Circus - Views of Martin Lacey (Book Guild).
I have to admit I felt a little let down by the subtitle. I thought it was going to be a book of Lacey’s opinions, which Barnaby had ghost-written. Instead, it’s a straight-forward biography - Barnaby’s views of Lacey, rather than Lacey’s views.
Sadly, too, the book was completed before Lacey’s retirement from the big cat cage at the end of last year.* The closure of his Great British Circus would have nicely rounded off the story of a man who was once one of Britain’s most celebrated animal trainers, having trained the tigers for the Esso adverts and the lions for the London Zoo scene in An American Werewolf in London, and also made regular guest appearances as the animal expert on popular TV show Magpie, but who had become in more recent times one of the most controversial figures of the British circus scene, defiantly presenting the UK’s last big top show with tigers and elephants in an era of continual picketing from animal rights groups.
Personally I found Lacey’s own book, My Life With Lions, a more entertaining read, even though its text is concise and it’s more of a photo collection.
But The Great British Circus nevertheless gives us many anecdotes not in Lacey’s book (including some amusing examples of Lacey’s famously explosive temper) and some nice pictures, including the one above of one of Lacey’s exes taking the circus takings to the bank. I can’t imagine her getting robbed with that cheetah on a lead!
See also:
Read my review of My Life With Lions by Martin Lacey and read my interview with Martin Lacey.
Updated for 2018! |
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Another of Lacey's ladies... and leopards A 1975 publicity shot featured in The Great British Circus -Views of Martin Lacey |
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Thomas Chipperfield and Tsavo the lion take to the ring |
Thanks for the review :) I've also been reviewing some circus books on my blog if anyone's interested...
ReplyDeletehttp://thecircusdiaries.com
Thanks for visiting the Circus Mania big top, and for reviewing Circus Mania (the book) on thecircusdiaries.com, a site I recommend to anyone looking for intelligent discussion of the circus scene.
DeleteAfter having met Martin & Katie on the weekend I have nothing but respect for you both.
ReplyDeleteSteve & Julie