If you think your family life is a three-ring circus every day of the year, the Gebels can do you one better.
The first family of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has been delighting audiences for many years. Gunther Gebel-Williams started the family tradition back in 1968, when producer Irvin Feld discovered the then-31-year-old German-born animal trainer performing in the Circus Williams in London. Gebel-Williams had been headlining and running the well-known European circus since age 16, inheriting it from the Williams family, who took him under their wing after World War II. Gebel took their name in honor of their kindness to him (the rest of the family goes by Gebel).
“My mother took me to my first circus when I was 10, and I fell in love with it. On the way out, I saw a sign that the circus needed a costume-maker and I begged her to apply. She was a dressmaker and times were tough after the war,” recalled Gebel-Williams, whose father had died several years earlier.
“Mr. Williams hired her and we joined the circus,” he said. “She stayed three years, but I never left. The circus became my home.”
It also became his matchmaker. Performing in Berlin one night, 30-year-old Gunther looked out into the stands and fell in love with the tall, beautiful blond woman in the front row. He arranged a meeting, and Gebel-Williams and Sigrid Neubauer were soon married. His bride left her modeling career to join the circus, assisting her husband in his many animal acts for more than 21 years.
“Sigrid was a very good sport. I put her on horses, elephants, tigers. Once I had her sit on a swing held up by two tigers–that was a pretty short experience as I remember!” Gebel-Williams said, laughing.
The couple agree that their favorite act has been the balancing act of parenthood.
“We are so proud of our children (Tina, 36, from Gebel-Williams’ first marriage, and Mark, 29). We have a good, very close family,” said Sigrid, who now splits her time between traveling with the show and managing the family’s Florida home.
Today, a new generation of Gebels takes center spotlight at the Greatest Show on Earth. Gebel-Williams retired from performing in 1990, after a record 12,000 performances, and now works behind the scenes as the show’s vice president of animal care. At 29, Mark Oliver Gebel is the headliner, following in his father’s footsteps performing with tigers, elephants, horses, zebras and other animals. Tina, now on sabbatical, has been a featured performer for many years.
Mark Gebel is assisted in his acts by his wife, Cristina, a Romanian-born acrobat, who joined the show in 1987, when she was just 16. The two were married in 1996.
“It was pretty much love at first sight for me and Mark, but we were very young, so we took things slowly. The Gebels took me into their family, which was wonderful for it was extremely hard to leave my own family so young,” Cristina said. “The Gebels take a lot of young performers under their wing, so they feel more at home.”
Mark and Cristina’s son, Hunter, born Sept. 22, 1998, is with them virtually all day long, a benefit of circus life that both parents and grandparents love.
“I feel so fortunate to have grown up in this life and be able to raise my son here too. We can spend so much time together and see all of our family and friends every day. Not many jobs allow parents to spend that kind of time with their children,” Mark explained, adding that the circus also offers nursery care, a teacher and the option of private tutoring for children of circus families. There are four performing families, including the Gebels, on their current tour.
“Circus life is not necessarily easy for families. We’re on the road almost continuously throughout the year, and obviously that means we sacrifice. But we also benefit,” Gebel-Williams said. “No family could be closer, and the circus teaches responsibility to one another. It’s a busy life from morning to night and, growing up, my children had many chores and lived by clear rules. Their schoolwork was always their first priority.
“Plus, the animals taught them a lot, including that you have to be the same person every day with animals. There’s no room for selfishness.”
Cristina Gebel said that becoming a first-time mom on tour has had its challenges, from dealing with different pediatricians in each city to finding her way around hundreds of different grocery store aisles. She, Mark and Hunter live in their own train car apartment, nicely appointed but not made for spacious family living. Gunther and Sigrid have the car next door. The cars are parked in a train yard at each city in which they perform, and a bus transports the families from the yards to performance arenas.
“Some things are hard, but overall it’s wonderful, especially having family so nearby to help,” Cristina said. “Maybe someday we’ll take some time off, like Tina and her family (husband Eddie and son Marcos Manwell, 4) are doing now. But right now this is perfect for us — and Hunter loves it!”
Mark Gebel made his circus debut at age 5, assisting his father with the elephants, many of which had been with him since his Circus Williams days. They, too, are like family.
“A lot of the elephants I work with today watched me grow up. I have great respect for them. This is in no way just a job. It’s a big family affair,” Mark said.
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The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus appears at the Allstate Arena today, then moves to the United Center from Tuesday through Nov. 28. Tickets ($5 to $25) are available through Ticketmaster at 312-559-1212 or at www.ticketmaster.com.
