By David Cain
(Author’s Note: This is a follow up to the recent article on Fudi and Suzanne that focused on photos of the couple. You can read that by clicking here.)
György “Fudi” Zsilák is a Hungarian juggler born in 1942 in Békéscsaba, Hungary. He graduated from the Hungarian National Performing Arts School in Budapest in 1953. He began juggling at the age of nine under the guidance of his father, György Zsilak, who had performed with the Austrian slackwire juggler Schiener under the duo name “Fudi and Detlo and with his wife Gizella Zsilak as The Two Zsilaks. They were known for their act featuring club and ring passing on a slackwire.
Fudi performed up to six clubs and up to eight rings, sometimes working on a rolling globe. In 1969, at the International Jugglers’ Association (IJA) Convention in Los Angeles, California, he won five gold medals and was named the all-around champion.
While touring the United States for six years with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Fudi met his future wife, Suzanne. She was part of an all-female club-passing group called the Six Tündes.
Suzanne was born Zsuzsanna Magyar on October 19th, 1948 in Krasznokvajda, Hungary. Her parents had no connection to show business or circus. Suzanne started ballet school when she was 6 years old and switched to circus school when she was 13 years old. In the circus school, 7 girls were trained to do 2 acts, low wire and juggling act. They began performing in 1966. After the 1968 season, one of the girls got married to a Hungarian circus performer and the act became the Six Tündes. Here are some photos not shown in the previous article of the Tündes.
Fudi and Suzanne married in 1970 and began performing as a duo, performing club passing and steals in addition to Fudi’s solo work.
In 1988, the couple began performing as a trio with their daughter Vicki (Victoria), who was born in 1971. The couple retired from performing in 1997. Fudi then worked as an assistant production manager for the Red Unit of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. In 2001, he was honored with the Historical Achievement Award at the IJA Festival in Madison, Wisconsin. The couple now live in Sarasota, Florida, USA.
We recently published a collection of photos of Fudi and Suzanne. Now we’re delighted to show videos of this famed duo.
David Cain
David Cain is a professional juggler, juggling historian, and the owner of the world's only juggling museum, the Museum of Juggling History. He is a Guinness world record holder and 16 time IJA gold medalist. In addition to his juggling pursuits, David is a successful composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and singer as well as the author of twenty-six books. He and his children live in Middletown, OH (USA).