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GERRY COTTLE: 1945 - 2021
We are all totally shocked & saddened by the passing of our great friend & the undoubted greatest showman Gerry Cottle
who passed away from Covid19 on the 13th January 2021.
His father was a stockbroker in leafy Surrey & Gerry went to the same school as John Major.
He became entranced by the circus from the age of eight when he saw his first show at Earls Court, and
in his early teens he completed the age old adage & ran away & joined the circus.
This began a life long love affair with the greatest show on Earth.
He decided early on that rather than perform he wanted to be the boss: “I never wanted to be the greatest juggler or trapeze artist – I wanted to be the big boss.” he explained to BBC Desert Island Discs on 1984 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mh64
He married the Circus Queen Betty Fossett who came from the Fossett dynasty, the oldest Circus family in the UK.
His first Circus had just 5 people in it, including his business partner & life long friend Brian Austen.
Together they expanded their show until it became the largest Circus in the UK, before they went their separate
ways.
Gerry then formed 'Gerry Cottles Circus' and the TV spectacular Seaside Specials were filmed from his Big Top every Saturday during the summer months, it was a modern variety show and had the slot that the X Factor has now, it was prime time TV & Gerry became a household name. It was often hosted by Radio 1 DJs, and included top comedians of the time including Ronnie Corbett & bands including Abba.
In the 80s Gerry created the UKs first ever non animal Circus and went on to experiment with other more contemporary ideas such as Rainbow Circus & a Rock n Roll Circus. He also took his Circus to Hong Kong & the Middle East.
He did reunite with Brian Austen & they performed two huge Circuses in London at the same time, one with Jeremy Beadle as ringmaster in Wembley Stadium & one in Battersea Park.
The 1990s saw more experimentation with Gerry & Brian presenting The Moscow State Circus & Continental Circus Berlin before teaming up with rock singer Dr Haze to create the ground breaking Circus of Horrors making it's debut at the Glastonbury Festival 1995.
Shortly after, Gerry & Brian also toured the Chinese State Circus & recreated Cottle & Austen Electric Circus.
Three major Circuses touring the UK at the same time, making Gerry & Brian's company undoubtedly the largest Circus operation in the UK if not Europe.
While all this was happening the Circus of Horrors was going from strength to strength, touring Germany, Argentina, Uruguay & Chile before returning to the UK, this time to London's Roundhouse, where it performed for 28 week's, the longest a circus had performed in the same venue in London for over 100 years.
The show then performed in Holland, Japan, Ireland & as well as a return to the UK for a 2nd visit to the Glastonbury & Edinburgh Festivals.
In the early 2003 Gerry sold his half of Circus equipment to Brian Austen & auctioned everything else including a human cannon ball and bought Wookey Hole Caves, he always had the Circus bug though & created a very successful Circus school in Wookey.
In 2005 Gerry sold his shares in the Circus of Horrors to Dr Haze but the two remained great friends & spoke to each other only two days before his passing.
Gerry certainly wasn't finished with Circus though & created Gerry Cottles WoW Circus & Gerry Cottles Magic Circus, in fact right up to his death on Wednesday 13th January 2021 he was planning more Circus adventures.
If anyone ever had sawdust flowing through his veins it was Gerry Cottle.
Everyone at the Circus of Horrors would like you remember Gerry in a positive way, he was such an influential person our lives may never be the same again.
We were very proud to have Gerry as a friend & part of the Circus of Horrors dynasty.
He leaves behind his loving family, Betty, Sarah, April, Gerry Jnr, 7 grand children & 2 great grand children.
GERRY COTTLE - THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. RIP. XXXX
who passed away from Covid19 on the 13th January 2021.
His father was a stockbroker in leafy Surrey & Gerry went to the same school as John Major.
He became entranced by the circus from the age of eight when he saw his first show at Earls Court, and
in his early teens he completed the age old adage & ran away & joined the circus.
This began a life long love affair with the greatest show on Earth.
He decided early on that rather than perform he wanted to be the boss: “I never wanted to be the greatest juggler or trapeze artist – I wanted to be the big boss.” he explained to BBC Desert Island Discs on 1984 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009mh64
He married the Circus Queen Betty Fossett who came from the Fossett dynasty, the oldest Circus family in the UK.
His first Circus had just 5 people in it, including his business partner & life long friend Brian Austen.
Together they expanded their show until it became the largest Circus in the UK, before they went their separate
ways.
Gerry then formed 'Gerry Cottles Circus' and the TV spectacular Seaside Specials were filmed from his Big Top every Saturday during the summer months, it was a modern variety show and had the slot that the X Factor has now, it was prime time TV & Gerry became a household name. It was often hosted by Radio 1 DJs, and included top comedians of the time including Ronnie Corbett & bands including Abba.
In the 80s Gerry created the UKs first ever non animal Circus and went on to experiment with other more contemporary ideas such as Rainbow Circus & a Rock n Roll Circus. He also took his Circus to Hong Kong & the Middle East.
He did reunite with Brian Austen & they performed two huge Circuses in London at the same time, one with Jeremy Beadle as ringmaster in Wembley Stadium & one in Battersea Park.
The 1990s saw more experimentation with Gerry & Brian presenting The Moscow State Circus & Continental Circus Berlin before teaming up with rock singer Dr Haze to create the ground breaking Circus of Horrors making it's debut at the Glastonbury Festival 1995.
Shortly after, Gerry & Brian also toured the Chinese State Circus & recreated Cottle & Austen Electric Circus.
Three major Circuses touring the UK at the same time, making Gerry & Brian's company undoubtedly the largest Circus operation in the UK if not Europe.
While all this was happening the Circus of Horrors was going from strength to strength, touring Germany, Argentina, Uruguay & Chile before returning to the UK, this time to London's Roundhouse, where it performed for 28 week's, the longest a circus had performed in the same venue in London for over 100 years.
The show then performed in Holland, Japan, Ireland & as well as a return to the UK for a 2nd visit to the Glastonbury & Edinburgh Festivals.
In the early 2003 Gerry sold his half of Circus equipment to Brian Austen & auctioned everything else including a human cannon ball and bought Wookey Hole Caves, he always had the Circus bug though & created a very successful Circus school in Wookey.
In 2005 Gerry sold his shares in the Circus of Horrors to Dr Haze but the two remained great friends & spoke to each other only two days before his passing.
Gerry certainly wasn't finished with Circus though & created Gerry Cottles WoW Circus & Gerry Cottles Magic Circus, in fact right up to his death on Wednesday 13th January 2021 he was planning more Circus adventures.
If anyone ever had sawdust flowing through his veins it was Gerry Cottle.
Everyone at the Circus of Horrors would like you remember Gerry in a positive way, he was such an influential person our lives may never be the same again.
We were very proud to have Gerry as a friend & part of the Circus of Horrors dynasty.
He leaves behind his loving family, Betty, Sarah, April, Gerry Jnr, 7 grand children & 2 great grand children.
GERRY COTTLE - THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. RIP. XXXX
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