Career
Beeson was stage struck at an early age. According to several sensational anecdotes, he learned to dance upon the wire by imitating the routine of a young girl in the circus. The truth probably was not as good a story.
As a teenage grocery clerk in Summitville, Indiana, Beeson moonlighted at the local vaudeville house.
Though he was working behind the scenes, he was one step closer to realizing his dream of performing upon the wire. In 1917, the Sells Floto Circus billed him as “Mademoiselle Beeson, Marvelous High Wire Venus.” During his performance in the center ring, the side rings were clear.
In 1925, following Bird Millman’s retirement from circus life, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus featured Beeson as “The Mad-Cap Whirlwind of the Mid-Air”. He retired from performance in 1936, but later reemerged as an advance man, traveling ahead of the show to make necessary arrangements.
