Born Corneilius Sullivan in Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, Con was seven years old when he first began learning circus skills. By 1910 several members of the family formed a small circus troupe named “The Collinos.” The famliy traveled throughout Australia learning their craft.
In 1919 Con managed to achieve a foot-to-foot somersault on a tight wire, and shortly thereafter he began appearing in Australian vaudeville theatres in an act that had him dressed as a Spanish bullfighter.
In September 1924 Colleano appeared at the New York Hippodrome where he was seen by scouts of Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey. His toreador act concluded with a forward somersault, one of the few to ever accomplish that on the tight-wire.
After traveling throughout the United States and Europe he was a headliner on Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Cole Bros. and a few other American circuses.
In 1956 Con and his wife Winnie (also a performer) returned to Australia where they briefly operated a hotel before returning to the United States.
Con Colleano retired to Miami following a performance in Honolulu in 1960. He died at his home there in 1973. – Chris Berry