By David Cain
Lottie Brunn (1925–2008) is generally regarded as the fastest female juggler of all time. She and her brother, Francis, were born in Germany and came to the United States in 1948. She performed eight rings at the age of 14 and had a phenomenal career performing all over the world. She left the act with Francis in 1951 and began working as a solo artist. She is the only solo female juggler to perform in the center ring of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. She worked on many of the world’s top stages, including Radio City Music Hall, The Savoy, and the London Palladium. She toured with the Harlem Globetrotters and the Spike Jones show for a year each.
Lottie performed with numerous celebrities, including the Three Stooges, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Gregory Hines, Milton Berle, Tommy Dorsey, Joey Bishop, Buddy Hackett, Rosemary Clooney, and Diana Ross and the Supremes. She appeared on television many times, including an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. However, she often said that she disliked the pressure of performing on live television.
Lottie Brunn was also one of the first jugglers to work on cruise ships regularly. Her first ship contract was in 1960 on the French ship “Flandre.” She also worked in Las Vegas and Reno often during the 1950s and 1960s. Her act featured ball spinning, combination tricks, and toss juggling with balls, rings, and spring head clubs. She performed from 1939 until her retirement in 1985. Lottie was given the Historical Achievement Award by the International Jugglers’ Association (IJA) in 1992. She passed on her skills to her son, Michael Chirrick. Lottie passed away in 2008.
In this four part series, I will share a large number of photos from Lottie’s personal photo albums and scrap books. Many of these have not been published before. In this first installment, we’ll focus on her early days working with Francis and developing her own act.
Lottie and Francis with Enrico Rastelli’s props
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll start to look at Lottie’s solo career. And if you want to see Lottie Brunn’s props in person, visit the history exhibit at this year’s IJA Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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).