Who is Rudi And Sue Lenz | Renowned Circus Chimpanzee Act
Ranked #13,414 in Entertainment, #149,285 overall
Circus Ring of Fame Inducts Rudi & Sue Lenz
Sue Lenz spoke about the couple's life in the circus. She is English and her husband hails from The Netherlands. They live in Venice, Florida, where they first settled upon arriving in the United States.
They are the only Ring of Famers to develop an individual chimpanzee act. Rather than repeat an act, they created new acts each season they performed with the Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Hall and his wife, Carol, of Churchville, Pennsylvania, and Sloan and her late husband, Barrie, sponsored the induction of Rudi and Sue Lenz to the Ring of Fame. Hall is a circus producer. The Sloans both were stiltwalkers.
Photo: Elizabeth Wery
Rudi & Sue Lenz
Circus Ring of Fame
Inducted 2010
International Circus Hall of Fame
Inducted 2002
Circus Ring of Fame
Rudi & Sue Lenz
2010 Circus Ring of Fame Inductees
Photo: Elizabeth Wery
About Rudi & Sue Lenz
- The Greatest Showman On Earth | Sports Illustrated
- Contrary to popular opinion, the most fearsome creature in the circus may be the darling little chimpanzee that rides a motorcycle, bangs the cymbals and scratches himself a lot. If dressing-room gossip can be relied upon, the roaring Bengals are caged beauties incapable of doing harm, the huge elephants gentle souls. Chimps? Chimps would just as soon tear your face apart.
"Clear the aisle, chimps coming through," a man screams in the runway, as if mass murderers are on the loose. As the chimps of Rudi and Sue Lenz make their way from the circus ring, Nan Wylder scatters to the wings like all the other terrified showgirls. - For Ringling's Rudi and Sue Lenz, monkey business is a way of life | St. Petersburg Times Manatee Edition
- Interview with The Lenz's by Judy Sedgeman published in the February 1, 1976 issue of The St. Petersburg Times
- Buckles Web Log: From Sue Lenz | Includes Photo
- Buckles posts a photo from Sue Lenz showing one of our chimps doing the "iron jaw."
- Circus Chimpanzee Trainer Loves Cooking Gourmet Food | The Prescott Courier
- Includes a recipe from Sue Lenz who enjoyed preparing Rib Roast and Yorkshire Pudding
- From Cage of Steel to Ring of Fame | SRQ DAILY 12/23
- [S]ix inductees whose name will soon be immortalized on St. Armands Circle.
- Mike Naughton's Page - CircuSpace
- Photo of Rudi & Sue Lenz with their chimpanzee act
- Photo of Rudi & Sue Lenz | Buckles on Flickr
- Buckles posted a photo of Chuck Sidlow inducting Tino Wallenda Zoppe into the Circus Ring of Fame as Ring of Famers Rudi & Sue Lenz look on. David Strong of the Dime Wilson Family is the young man in sunglasses seated behind the Lenzes. The photo was taken at the January 17, 2010 Induction Ceremony for the Circus Ring of Fame held in St Armands Circle Park, Sarasota, Florida.
- Circus Ring of Fame induction ceremony | Photos by Kenyo Krylon on Flickr
- Kenyo Krylon posted photos of Rudi & Sue Lenz taken at the January 17, 2010 Induction Ceremony for the Circus Ring of Fame held in St Armands Circle Park, Sarasota, Florida.
- Rudi Lenz 1959 | Photos by Buckles on Flickr
- Buckles posted an archival photo of Rudi Lenz with five of his chimpanzees proteges taken in 1959
- John Pugh, Sue Lenz, Floyde Kruger | Photos by Buckles on Flickr
- John Pugh (with microphone), Sue Lenz, Floyde Kruger in a photo taken January 16, 2010 at the Circus Museum on the campus of The John and Mable Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida.
- Circus Ring of Fame to induct 6 new members | The Observer Group
- A ceremony will take place at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, on St. Armands Circle.
- Circus greats inducted at Ring of Fame - The Observer Group
- Six new members were inducted into the Circus Ring of Fame Jan. 17, at St. Armands Circle. Photos
- Local performer inducted into Circus Ring of Fame | The Observer Group
- Tino Wallenda, of The Flying Wallendas, [and five other circus greats] was honored during the Jan. 17 ceremony at St. Armands Circle.
- Weekend in Sarasota | Kenyo of Pensacola
- On Friday, January 15 we headed for Sarasota. We wanted to see our friends, famed chimpanzee trainers and presenters, Rudi and Sue Lenz, be inducted into the Sarasota Circus Ring of Fame.
- Center Ring Act | The Evening Independent January 11, 1971
- Two Plus Seven's a Family
- 2009 SHOWFOLKS CIRCUS | Pat Cashin's CLOWNALLEY.NET
- Includes photo of Circus legends and friends of clownalley.net, Sue and Rudy Lenz with Barry Phillips
2010 Circus Ring of Fame Plaque
Inscription Transcribed Below
RUDI & SUE LENZ
PRESENTING A HALF-DOZEN OR MORE CROWD-PLEASING CHIMPANZEES,
THEY DELIGHTED EUROPEAN AND U.S. AUDIENCES FOR THREE DECADES.
AFTER STARRING ON SUCH HERALDED EUROPEAN CIRCUSES AND KNIE,
KRONE, WILLIAMS, AND BERTRAM MILLS, THEIR GREATEST ACCLAIM
CAME ON RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY FEATURED IN
RINGLING'S CENTER RING FOR A REMARKABLE 12 CONSECUTIVE YEARS
AND 14 YEARS IN ALL. THEY BECAME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR
ANIMAL PRESENTATIONS EVER TO APPEAR ON THE GREATEST SHOW ON
EARTH. THEY ALSO HEADLINED MANY TOP AMERICAN CIRCUSES.
BARRY & SHELAGH SLOAN
CAROL & WILLIAM B. HALL, III
International Circus Hall of Fame Inducted Rudi & Sue Lenz in 2002
- International Circus Hall of Fame Inductees, Peru Indiana
- International Circus Hall of Fame located in Peru, Indiana, lists the Circus Hall of Fame Inductees from 1958 to present. Rudolf & Suzette Lenz, Chimpanzee Trainers, were inducted in 2002.
- Circus City - The World's Greatest Amateur Circus | Home of International Circus Hall of Fame
- In the late 1800's and early 1900's the circus was a very popular form of entertainment. Traveling from town to town, they brought their shows filled with exotic animals, daring performers, and rousing music to adoring crowds.One town in Indiana, USA proudly celebrates it's circus heritage every year.
2010 Circus Ring of Fame Induction Ceremony
St Armands Circle Park
Emcee Chuck Sidlow reads the Ring of Fame Plaque to 2010 Inductees Rudi & Sue Lenz. Photo: Elizabeth Wery
Rudi & Sue Lenz Perform with Knie Circus
Before Moving to USA
The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top
By Janet M. Davis
The Circus Age: Culture and Society under the American Big Top
Amazon Price: $23.92 (as of 02/16/2012)
List Price: $27.95
Arguing that circuses "helped catapult a 'nation of loosely connected islands' into a modern nation-state with an increasingly shared national culture," Davis traces how this continues today, in different forms, in places like Disneyland and Las Vegas. Smart and impressively researched, this is an important contribution to the literature of popular culture and U.S. cultural history.
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Program for Circus Ring of Fame Induction
Click on thumbnail to read each page
Front cover of program for 2010 23rd Annual Circus Ring of Fame Induction Ceremony
Please Add Your Congratulations
Applause for Rudi & Sue Lenz
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Mrs Violet Yelding. Scotland
Dec 31, 2011 @ 11:08 am | delete
- I would like to congratulate Rudi&Sue on their wonderful achievement well deserved. I had pleasure of meeting them both with my in-laws George and Kath Yelding in the sixties when Judy the chimp was little.
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natural-healing-remedies
Feb 2, 2010 @ 1:30 am | delete
- Awesome lens - Thanks 5*****
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remedies-for-dry-scalp
Feb 2, 2010 @ 1:23 am | delete
- I really enjoyed your lens 5***** Thanks
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Feb 1, 2010 @ 9:07 am | delete
- Thanks for this great lens 5*****
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Janet Chipperfield
Jan 22, 2010 @ 11:43 am | delete
- Congratulations Sue & Rudi, both my sons had the pleaure of working with you on Ringlings, you are truly first class performers, who diserve this award.
Janet,Richard,and Graham Chipperfield
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