Martin Lacey Jr. (born 8 June 1977) is an English

circus performer A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

and trainer of wild animals who has achieved fame in Germany. He is the son of

Martin Lacey Martin Lacey (born 1947) is a circus ringmaster, company director and trainer of wild animals. He trained most of the tigers that were used in the Esso television advertisements in the 1970s. Professional life He has been breeding and training ...

, the circus ringmaster and animal trainer who bred most of the tigers used in the

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

television advertisements in the 1970s.

Professional life

Lacey is the director of predatory animals at

Circus Krone Circus Krone, based in Munich, is one of the largest circuses in Europe and one of the few in Western Europe (along with Cirque d'hiver de Paris, Cirque d'hiver d'Amiens and Cirque Royal in Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-C ...

, the largest circus organisation in Europe. As well as

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

, he also works with a

rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

. In 2004 he performed in the German television series ''

Anke Late Night ''Anke Late Night'' was a German late night talk show hosted by Anke Engelke and produced by Brainpool. The show first aired on 17 May 2004 on Sat.1, in the same timeslot as ''Die Harald Schmidt Show''. The stage band for the show was the "Elect ...

''. He has frequently appeared on German news and entertainment television shows.

Awards

Lacey's performances with wild animals have won him various circus awards: *Golden Crystal, Animal Trainer Circus Festival, Massy (1999) *Silver Clown award,

International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo The International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo () is an annual circus that takes place every year in the month of January. The festival was created in 1974 by Prince Rainier III of Monaco to recognize and promote circus performers at the pin ...

(2000) *Gold Star, International Circus Festival, Grenoble (2004) *Golden Clown award, International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo (2010 and 2019)

Media coverage

In 2008, Indian newspaper ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) * ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune' ...

'' reported that Lacey was hand-rearing three lion cubs at Circus Krone, as their mother Ruth was unable to provide enough milk.

Personal life

His father,

, is director of the

Great British Circus Great British Circus was a company that specialized in circus entertainment. Unusually for a UK-based circus company, it included wild animals such as tigers, camels and lions in its acts. Martin Lacey was the company's owner and Circus Director. ...

. His mother, Susan Lacey, is a retired animal trainer who performed in the circus industry for many years. He has two brothers’: Alexander, who also works as an animal trainer and performer, and Richard. Martin Lacey Jr. is married to Jana Mandana Lacey-Krone and has a son, Alexis Henry Lacey-Krone.

References

External links

CIRCUS KRONE

The official website of Martin lacey Jr. and Alexander Lacey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Martin Jr. 1977 births British circus performers Lion tamers Living people