{{Short description|Australian tightrope walker}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Use Australian English|date=October 2013}} {{Infobox person | name = Con Colleano | image = Con Colleano on a slack-wire, circa 1920.jpg | birth_name= Cornelius Sullivan | birth_date = {{birth date|1899|12|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Lismore, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|1973|11|13|1899|12|26|df=y}} | death_place = Miami, Florida, U.S. | death_cause = | occupation = Tightrope walker | spouse = Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail | parents = }} '''Con Colleano''' (born '''Cornelius Sullivan'''; 26 December 1899 – 13 November 1973) was an Australian tightrope walker. He was the first person to successfully attempt a forward somersault on a tightrope, and became one of the most celebrated and highly-paid circus performers of his time. He was known as "The Wizard of the Wire" or "The Toreador of the Wire". He performed with his nine siblings and a cousin as a circus troupe, touring Australia as well as in South Africa, Europe, and the United states between 1930 and 1950. A 2025 documentary film about the family by Pauline Clague, ''The Colleano Heart'', premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2025 and was broadcast on NITV and SBS Television in January 2026.
==Early life== Colleano was born Cornelius Sullivan in Lismore, New South Wales on 26 December 1899, the son of Cornelius Sullivan (1874–1952), and Julia Vittorine Sullivan (1878–1953), née Robinson, a woman of partial Bundjalung descent,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-21/sydney-opera-house-cabaret-natives-go-wild-first-nations-talent/11442984|title=Coerced, kidnapped, exploited: Dark side of 'Greatest Show on Earth' explored in new show|date=20 October 2019|publisher=ABC News|location=Australia}}</ref> whose father was an Afro-Caribbean man from St Thomas in the Danish West Indies. Colleano was the third of 10 children. His father (reportedly a freed convict) made a precarious living from sideshow "take-on-all-comers" boxing and gambling.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article195056227 'Yelgun', "'Coleano': World's Champion Wire Walker: Some Interesting Recollections", ''The (Grafton) Daily Examiner'', (Wednesday, 25 June 1930), p.4.]</ref><ref name=heart/>
Around 1907, when Colleano was seven years old, the family settled in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, then a newly established opal mining field, and a fertile ground for the father's talents. Here Colleano received a rudimentary education and learned circus skills from the sideshows present in the town.{{cn|date=March 2026}}
==Career== By 1910, those of the family of sufficient age had formed a small circus troupe,<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244161295 Hetherington, John, "The amazing Colleanos", ''The (Melbourne) Herald'', (Saturday, 15 April 1950), p.15.]</ref> calling themselves the "Collinos" (apparently as an Italian-sounding name befitting the "sable" complexion of the children, in order to cover the "native blood" in their veins). They travelled through New South Wales,<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112482723 Peel Pictures, ''The Tamworth Daily Observer'', (Wednesday, 10 January 1912), p.2.]</ref> and supplemented their income by working for the major travelling circuses of the time.{{cn|date=March 2026}} They also pretended to be Spanish over some periods of time, and also Arab, to hide their heritage.<ref name=heart/>
By 1918, now known as "Colleano's All-Star Circus" (with more of Con's siblings), the troupe was sufficiently established to travel through Queensland on their own hired train. The children became known as "The Royal Hawaiian Troupe" (again to cover for their dark complexions).<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212945202 Colleano's All-Star Circus: Under Vice-Regal Patronage, ''Port Adelaide News'', (Friday, 3 February 1922), p.2.]</ref> All ten of the siblings, as well as a cousin, performed as part of the troupe.<ref name=heart/>
In 1919, Con managed to achieve the foot-to-foot forward somersault he had been attempting for some time, which was destined to secure his subsequent career.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110832150 Circus extends Canberra Season, ''The Canberra Times'', (Tuesday, 26 October 1976), p.12.]</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article187046349 Con Colleano speaks Five Languages: Dances Tango on Tightrope, ''The (Brisbane) Telegraph'', (Friday, 9 July 1937), p.19.]</ref> In 1922 he was engaged by the popular Tivoli circuit, the major outlet for vaudeville in Australia, on a salary of £60 a week. His siblings also appeared at '''The Tiv''' as "Eight Akabar Arabs".<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212251859 The Eight Akabah Arabs, ''The (Adelaide) Critic'', (Wednesday, 23 May 1923), p.23.]</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64118663 The Eight Akabah Arabs, ''The (Adelaide) Register'', (Thurdsay, 24 May 1923), p.13.]</ref>
===International fame=== Having learnt dance moves from his fiancée, soubrette Winifred Constance Stanley "Winnie" Trevail (1900–1986),<ref name=StLeonbio/> which he translated to the wire, Con was ready to move overseas to further his career.{{cn|date=March 2026}}
At his first performances in South Africa he was billed as Australian, but in April 1924 he adopted the Spanish toreador persona he was to employ for the greatest part of his subsequent career.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-469385139 £260-a-week for Walking on a Wire – and Spinning off a Wire like This!, ''Pix'', Sunday, 29 January 1933), pp.12-15.]</ref> In September 1924 he appeared at the New York Hippodrome Theatre and was soon noticed and engaged by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the largest in the country.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article160502601 Australian Wire-Walking Genius, ''The Sydney Mail'', (Wednesday, 2 June 1937), p.42.]</ref> Colleano close relationship with the Ringling family, especially John and Mabel Ringling.<ref name=nfsa>{{cite web | title=Con Colleano: Circus Home Movies | website=NFSA | date=19 January 2026 | url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/stories/articles/con-colleano | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260323055716/https://www.nfsa.gov.au/stories/articles/con-colleano | archive-date=23 March 2026 | url-status=live | access-date=23 March 2026}}</ref>
Thenceforth, through the 1930s until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Con was the principal star of Ringling Bros, with a salary of US$1,000 per week. At this time the Big Tent could seat up to 16,000 people. In the winter he performed on the vaudeville circuit in Europe to great acclaim.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} Among his greatest admirers was Adolf Hitler, and he performed in Nazi Germany, keeping his Aboriginal heritage a secret.<ref name=heart/> Charlie Chaplin and Benito Mussolini were also fans.<ref name=heart/>
In 1937, he returned to Sydney, Australia, for a series of performances at the Tivoli ("the Tiv").<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229409310 Wirewalking Instinct, ''The (Sydney) Sun'', (Sunday, 6 Jun 1937), p.10.]</ref>
Into the 1940s Colleano continued performing in the United States, and appeared on television on the Texaco Star Theater in 1952. His farm in Pennsylvania became a retreat for his siblings and their offspring between performances and, so established, he adopted United States citizenship together with Winnie in 1950.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}
Colleano was as "The Wizard of the Wire" or "The Toreador of the Wire".<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201438522 "Nijinsky of the Tightwire", ''(Brisbane) Truth'', (Sunday, 10 September 1950), p.25.]</ref>
==Personal life and death== In 1956 Con and Winnie returned to Australia where they purchased the Albion Hotel at Forbes, New South Wales. When the venture failed, they returned to America and he resumed his career on the wire to no great acclaim, ending at Honolulu in 1960.
Con and Winnie had no children; Con was the uncle of American actor Bonar Colleano and the great-uncle of American actor Jack Stehlin.
Colleano died at his home in Miami in 1973, survived by Winifred, who later returned to Australia and died in 1986 in Sydney.<ref name=StLeonbio/> They have descendants in the US.<ref name=heart/>
==On screen== In 1925, Colleano bought a camera<ref name=heart/> and started taking home movies of his family on 16 mm film.<ref name=nfsa/>
The documentary film ''The Colleano Heart'' was created by Yaegl filmmaker Pauline Clague. It premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2025,<ref>{{cite web | title=The Colleano Heart | website=Adelaide Film Festival | date=25 October 2025 | url=https://www.adelaidefilmfestival.org/program/2025/the-colleano-heart | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251217023335/https://www.adelaidefilmfestival.org/program/2025/the-colleano-heart | archive-date=17 December 2025 | url-status=live | access-date=23 March 2026}}</ref> and aired on NITV and SBS On Demand in January 2026. Clague has a family connection to the Colleanos.<ref name=heart>{{cite web | last=McIlwraith | first=Phoebe | title='The Colleano Heart': the story of a world-famous Aboriginal circus family | website=NITV | date=19 January 2026 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/the-colleano-heart-the-story-of-a-world-famous-aboriginal-circus-family/copsq8b64 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260119025005/https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/the-colleano-heart-the-story-of-a-world-famous-aboriginal-circus-family/copsq8b64 | archive-date=19 January 2026 | url-status=live | access-date=23 March 2026}}</ref> Rhoda Roberts was consulting development director for the show.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Janke | first1=John-Paul | last2=Carr | first2=Cameron | title=Rhoda Roberts AO: The cultural warrior who changed the nation | website= SBS News | date=21 March 2026 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/rhoda-roberts-ao-cultural-warrior-who-changed-nation/vy8qrm87j | access-date=21 March 2026}}</ref> <!---partly repeat, and all uncited, so comment out until cited--- ==Ethnicity== Colleano's father was white; his mother the daughter of a West Indian father and part-Aboriginal mother. From Federation Australia aspired to a white society, legislated by the White Australian Policy (1901) concerning immigration, and the ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'', under which "Indigenous people from Australia, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands, with the exception of Māori" were denied voting rights. While unskilled labour was almost the sole employment option for those of mixed race, the circus provided an opportunity.
In South Africa, Colleano first used his Spanish toreador act; to identify as an Australian or being of African descent would likely have proven unhelpful at the box office. Thenceforth, he retained his assumed racial identity being generally perceived as Spanish. Despite the tenor of ''Skipping on Stars'' and other recent reportage, no evidence suggests that, within the non-discriminatory milieu of the circus, he denied, or was greatly concerned by, his heritage.--->
==Honours and legacy== Circus writer and academic Mark St Leon said of Colleano: "What Australia's Don Bradman was to cricket, Australia's Nellie Melba was to opera, so Australia's Con Colleano was to tightwire". He is a direct descendant of the St Leons, one of Australia’s major circus families from 1847 until the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web | last=Leon | first=Mark Valentine St | title=Matthew St Leon (1826–1903) | website=Australian Dictionary of Biography | date=2005 | url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/st-leon-matthew-13181 | access-date=23 March 2026}}</ref>
*In 1997 Colleano, (together with May Wirth), was honoured by Australia Post on a postage stamp depicting a contemporary poster entitled ''The Wizard of the Wire''.{{cn|date=March 2026}} * Jack Wilson and Joe Keppel met in Colleano's Circus after the First World War; they later formed the act Wilson, Keppel and Betty.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Wilson, Keppel and Betty Story |author=Luke McKernan |url=http://lukemckernan.com/wp-content/uploads/wilsonkeppelbetty1.pdf |year=2007}}</ref> * Con Colleano was inducted into the International Circus Hall of Fame in 1966 and Winifred Colleano in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://circushof.com/halloffame.html |title=International Circus Hall of Fame Inductees |accessdate=22 September 2007 |date=14 April 2007 |publisher=International Circus Hall of Fame |archive-date=17 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917150533/http://circushof.com/halloffame.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Colleano's name was included in the Circus Hall of Fame, Sarasota, Florida, in 1966.<ref name=StLeonbio>Mark Valentine St Leon biography article, "Colleano, Con (Cornelius) (1899–1973)", [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/colleano-con-cornelius-9789] This article was published in ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 13, (MUP), 1993</ref> * He was celebrated in The Flying Fruit Fly Circus show ''Skipping on Stars'' (2004), which was a tribute to his life.<ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald 2004">{{cite web | title=Skipping on Stars, Flying Fruit Fly Circus | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=23 January 2004 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/skipping-on-stars-flying-fruit-fly-circus-20040123-gdi7kw.html | access-date=18 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=de Plevitz | first=Loretta | title='Walking the wire of prejudice': The flying fruit fly circus's 2004 production of Skipping on Stars | journal=Journal of Australian Studies | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=30 | issue=88 | year=2006 | issn=1444-3058 | doi=10.1080/14443050609388080 | pages=111–124| s2cid=216134674 }}</ref> * Artist Karla Dickens celebrated his life and that of Indigenous Australian boxers in her multimedia installation, ''A Dickensian Circus'', which went on display at several art galleries in 2020.<ref name=nma2018>{{cite web| url=https://nas.edu.au/copyright-agency-karla-dickens/| website= National Art School| title= Karla Dickens wins Copyright Agency Fellowship for Visual Art| date= 30 November 2018}}</ref><ref name=ca2018>{{cite web | title=Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund Awards a record $240,000 in Fellowships | website=Copyright Agency | date=28 November 2018 | url=https://www.copyright.com.au/2018/11/copyright-agencys-cultural-fund-awards-a-record-240000-in-fellowships/ | access-date=18 July 2022}}</ref> * In July 2023, as part of NAIDOC Week, performance group Seedarts performed a show called ''The Xrossing'', a tribute to Colleano, in his home town of Lismore.<ref>{{cite web | last=White | first=Leah | title=Wire wizard Con Colleano's incredible legacy celebrated on highwire in Lismore for NAIDOC Week | website=ABC News | date=3 July 2023 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-04/high-wire-artist-con-colleano-legacy-lismore-naidoc-week/102534854 | access-date=23 March 2026}}</ref> * The National Film and Sound Archive holds the Colleano home movies.<ref name=nfsa/> * Filmmaker Pauline Clague created a database of around 4,000 newspapers and photographs, working with Gamilaraay family historian and Colleano family relative Deb Hescott.<ref name=heart/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * Mark St Leon, ''The Wizard of the Wire : the Story of Con Colleano'', Canberra : Aboriginal Studies Press, 1993 {{ISBN|0-85575-246-7}} *{{cite web | last=Leon | first=Mark Valentine St | title=Con (Cornelius) Colleano (1899–1973) | website=Australian Dictionary of Biography | date= | url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/colleano-con-cornelius-9789}}<!---this could no doubt be used as an inline citation}}--->
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Colleano, Con}} Category:1899 births Category:1973 deaths Category:Australian circus performers Category:Australian people of Indigenous Australian descent Category:Australian people of Irish descent Category:Australian people of Cruzan descent Category:People from Lismore, New South Wales Category:Tightrope walkers Category:Bundjalung people