HOWDY, MY NAME IS BILL STRONG, I'LL BE YOUR "24 HOUR MAN", ROUTING YOU INTO THE PAST TO SEE WHAT THE CIRCUS WAS IN DAYS GONE BY. IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, AND MISS WHAT IT USED TO BE, THEN COME ON ALONG AS WE GO DOWN THE ROAD FOLLOWING THE ARROWS BACKWARDS, TO "YESTERDAY'S TOWNS"! IF YOU HAVE CIRCUS RELATED PICTURES YOU WOULD LIKE POSTED, SEND THEM TO,,,,yesterday1@verizon.net,,,,AND WE WILL TRY TO FIT THEM IN. "24 HOUR MAN" WILL HAVE THE FINAL DECISION ON POSTING.
Three years at CWM made me a real traditionalist, and I keep remembering Bob Parkinson saying, "I want the people to see what the circus used to be, not what it is today. That's what this site is about!
One of the boys in this act, I believe the understander is Nicolai Tovarich, now the "Ringmaster",(Sprecher) for Circus Krone. To explain, in Germany the Ringmaster is actually the Prop Boss, & the "Sprecher", is the "Announcer", however, in this case, Nicolai handles both positions, and quite well!
posted by 24-HOUR-MAN | 9:00 AM
8 Comments:
Robbers kill man and stab circus leader in villa raid
By John Steele and Tim Brown
THE British matriarch of an international circus family was critically ill in hospital last night after being stabbed during a robbery in Spain.
A man believed to be either her son or grandson died in the raid, at the family villa. Eva Slivinski, 72, who was a leader of the Tovarich Troupe balancing act with her late husband, Joe, was repeatedly attacked as she went to the aid of 35-year-old Jan Juri Slivinski. Mr Slivinski received fatal stab wounds in the chest when he confronted the intruders, who had broken into the property.
The attack, believed by police to be a robbery which went wrong, happened on the outskirts of Benidorm, in south-east Spain. Mrs Slivinski, who was born in Scotland, is in intensive care at the main hospital in the resort.
A senior police officer in Benidorm said: "These attacks were brutal. There was certainly more than one person who broke into the villa armed with knives. It appears to have been the work of a gang and robbery was the motive. But we believe that after the stabbings they fled."
An official of the British consulate in Alicante said that details had been passed to the Foreign Office. Officials in London and the police are trying to trace relatives.
The Spanish officer added: "We are finding it hard to trace members of the family because they are so scattered."
He said Mrs Slivinski was retired and had lived in Benidorm for some years. Spanish police suggested that the couple were mother and son and the elderly woman was registered in the telephone book as Slivinskas. But circus experts in Britain said the family name was Slivinski and Jan Juri was Eva's grandson - the son of her daughter, Eva junior.
Mrs Slivinski was the second wife of Joe Slivinski, a circus entertainer of Russian-Scottish origin. Three of his children by his first wife worked in a comedy acrobatic act on skates.
With Eva, his second wife, he formed the Tovarich Troupe and toured with the Bertram Mills circus in 1947 and 1948, performing around the world. Joe and Eva had four children - Eva junior, who is now believed to live in Las Vegas, Tamara, Francesca and Tanya. The latter two sisters are believed to live in England.
Other members of the extended family work in circuses in Italy and Germany. Jan Juri is not thought to have been part of the circus.
How horrible! The Tovarich Troupe was in the Tower Circus, Blackpool when we were playing the South Pier ,,,middle 40s. They were very good and she was lovely. One of the sons was visiting the Showfolks Club many years ago, he married an American and retired.
At that time I remember Eva, her husband and two sons in the act...
fatima
RE: sandy said:
I should have clarified when the above comment first appeared that this incident occured in 1996. Eva Tovarich surrvived the attack, & is still living in Spain.
The Tovarich family were Lithuanian. Joseph married, first, another Lithuanian woman and had two daughters and three sons, they lived in Glasgow. Eva came on the scene later. Then there was the divorce and the formation of the Tovarich act. All the original children were trained for the act.The trio in the film is Joseph the father, Joseph the son (probably around 16 years of age) and Eva the second wife. Joseph the son died in Canada about 8 years ago.
That's my granddad Joe at the top there!
Amy:
Thank you for your comment.
While working on Circus Krone in Germany I became good friends with Nicolai Tovarich. I received a call from him yesterday regarding some photos I sent him of "The Tovarich Family ", that I bought off ebay.
My email address is in the header above, if you can send me your address I will send scans of them to you.
Bill
Message for Amy Joe is my great grandad and Jan Yuri is my dad would like to get in touch with you x
Message for Amy and Holly - Joe is my grandad and Jan Yuri was my wonderful uncle (Holly, I think I met you one time when you were very very young), would also love very much to hear from you both.
Anonymous seems to know more about my family history than I do! Would love to hear some more if poss???
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