John Pugh — A Lifetime with the Circus, Part II

From Trampoline Performer to Circus Management

Any dreams that Johnny Pugh may have harbored about attaining American stardom were quickly extinguished during his first season on the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus.

Receiving scant listing as the Two Wallabies on the trampoline in the 1962 program and placed at one end of the massive, three-ring big top, John and his performing partner, Neil Eagles, found themselves in an all-too-familiar situation experienced by other European circus imports. They now had to compete for circus-goers’ attention with The Titos, another troupe of acrobatic trampoline artists at the opposite end. The center ring, designated for feature acts, remained vacant while the two muscular athletes demonstrated one energetic trick after another.

Moreover, Pugh’s realization that performing might not be in the best interests of his evolving career, came by observing and befriending a longtime performer as the season unfolded.

“Louis Nagy was a pretty famous clown on the show,” Pugh recalled. “He also was a pretty good acrobat in his time. Louie and I used to talk about that. And that got me thinking, ‘I don’t want to become an old acrobat.’”

As if to punctuate that reasoning, young Pugh suffered a career-ending leg injury two years later. He seriously considered returning to England where he could continue working with his father, international booking agent Digger Pugh.