Mabel Stark
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Mabel Stark (December 10, 1889 – April 20, 1968), whose real name was Mary Ann Haynie, was a renowned
tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
trainer of the 1920s. She was referred to as one of the world's first women tiger trainers/tamers. In its belated obituary, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' lauded Stark as "one of the most celebrated animal trainers in a field dominated by men."


Biography

Stark was born on December 10, 1889 - but where remains ambiguous; as both Kentucky and Tennessee have been given as possible locations of birth. The family later relocated to Cobb near Princeton, Kentucky, where her mother's parents were located. She was one of seven children born to Lela and Hardy Haynie. Stark's parents were farmers, and they died within two years of each other, so that by the age of 17, Stark and her siblings were orphaned. She spent a short period of time with her aunt Kate Pettypoole in Princeton. She then traveled to
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
and became a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital. Soon after, she left Louisville, and her history becomes difficult to trace. Circus friends contend that she worked in carnivals as a "dancer" of some type. (Like many circus performers, Stark did not hesitate to enrich the truth to create an interesting story. She even once told an interviewer that she was born to a wealthy
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
.) She ended up in 1911 with the Al G. Barnes Circus based in
Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. It is mostly surrounded by Los Angeles, but also shares a border with the unincorporated area of Ladera Heights to the ea ...
, California, where she met animal trainer Al Sands. She worked for a brief time there as a "high school" rider (horseback rider) but fervently wanted to work with the big cats. She began work with Louis Roth, a famous "cat man" she would later marry. (Stark was married four or five times.) Soon, she became a tiger trainer in the ring. At first, they had her work a "balloon act", which had her "riding" a lion on a platform and then pressing a pedal to release fireworks at some point in the act. But by 1916, she was presenting the show's major tiger act. On February 18, 1916, Stark was severely mauled by a lion named Louie while rehearsing for the Pacific Electric exhibit of the National Orange Show in San Bernardino, California. Stark's husband, Louis Roth, fired blank cartridges from a revolver into the face of the lion amid the screams of his wife and spectators who had gathered to watch the rehearsal. The lion seized Stark's left arm into its mouth and rolled over a number of times. (Roth had also been mauled earlier that day by a lion named Jeff. He suffered deep injuries to his arm before firing blanks into the animal's open jaws.) Stark was dragged unconscious from the cage and rushed to a hospital where she was treated for a mangled and broken arm. This was Stark's third mauling in as many years. In 1914, while in Detroit, Michigan, she was attacked by her leopards during a parade, and during the winter of 1915, she was mangled in Venice, California. She adopted a mangy, sickly tiger cub named Rajah and raised him to perform a famous wrestling act with her. She accomplished this by romping and playing with the cub at the beach and actually keeping him as a pet in her apartment. According to Stark's autobiography, "Rajah would run straight toward me. Up he went on his hind legs, his forefeet around my neck. We turned around once or twice, I threw him to the ground, and we rolled three or four times. I opened his mouth and put my face inside, then jumped to my feet". In 1922, she was asked to join the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus where she performed in
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
with tigers and a black panther. By the end of that season, of the six wild animal acts featured with the circus, Stark's was clearly the greatest success. In 1923, she starred in the Ringling center ring, but two years later in 1925, the circus banned all wild animal acts. After a sojourn to Europe where she performed in a circus, she came back to the US in 1928 and began work with the John Robinson Show. In Bangor, Maine, she lost her footing in a muddy arena and was seriously mauled by her tigers. She suffered a wound that almost severed her leg, face lacerations, a hole in her shoulder, a torn deltoid, and a host of other injuries. She was rescued by fellow trainer Terrell Jacobs and returned to the ring in a matter of weeks, swathed in bandages and walking with a cane. She suffered numerous maulings and serious injuries over her nearly 60 years of working with tigers. At one point in her career, she would face 18 big cats in the ring. She performed with the Sells-Floto Circus in 1929 and then rejoined Barnes after it had been sold to Ringling in 1930. She stayed there until it was absorbed into Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey during the season of 1938. In 1932, she and her tiger act was filmed for the
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
motion picture ''King of the Jungle''. In the film, Stark is seen putting her tigers through their paces when fire erupts in the big top. She toured with small circuses and lived in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
where she performed her circus act in the '50s. She returned to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and finished her career at the Jungle Compound (later called Jungleland) in Thousand Oaks. Stark appeared occasionally on television in the 1960s. For example, she did a stint as one of the guests with an unusual occupation on ''
What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...
'', the popular Sunday night
CBS-TV CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
program. In 1968, Jungleland was sold to a new owner who disliked Stark and fired her. Soon after she left, one of her tigers escaped and was shot. Stark was angry and hurt about the animal's destruction, and felt that she could have safely secured the tiger if the owners had asked for her assistance. Three months later, she committed suicide by taking an overdose of
barbiturates Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...
. In the last pages of her autobiography, ''Hold That Tiger'', Stark writes: "The chute door opens as I crack my whip and shout, 'Let them come,' Out slink the striped cats, snarling and roaring, leaping at each other or at me. It's a matchless thrill, and life without it is not worth while to me." She died on April 20, 1968.


Legacy

In 2001, a fictionalized biography of Stark's life by author Robert Hough titled ''
The Final Confession of Mabel Stark ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'' was published. The story is based in 1968, the same year that Stark committed suicide. It is a fictionalized account of the events of her life. The screenplay was optioned by director
Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours ...
with the hopes of making a film starring his wife
Kate Winslet Kate Elizabeth Winslet (; born 5 October 1975) is an English actress. Primarily known for her roles as headstrong and complicated women in independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Ac ...
; however, no production schedule has been announced. A documentary titled ''Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer'' directed by Leslie Zemeckis premiered in 2017.


See also

* Irina Bugrimova


References


External links

* Note: IMDB uses the incorrect date of death.
Mabel Stark: The Lady with the Tigers
from
Mental Floss ''Mental Floss'' (stylized as ''mental_floss'') is an American online magazine and digital, print, and e-commerce media company focused on millennials. It is owned by Minute Media, an international digital media publisher based in London, Engla ...

History of Jungleland mentioning Mabel Stark, sponsored by Jungleland skates

Winslet and Mendes team up for Mabel Stark movie

Husband and Wife unite to make film about Circus Tiger Tamer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Mabel 1889 births 1968 suicides American circus performers Drug-related suicides in California Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus people People from Princeton, Kentucky People from Thousand Oaks, California Lion tamers 1968 deaths