Ursula Bottcher, one of the greatest animal trainers of my generation, and one of the act's that made The Greatest Show On Earth great passed away yesterday in Dresden, Germany. With Charly and Gunther gone, and now Ursula it is indeed a sad, sad day. You had to have lived and seen that time, to really comprehend how little is left of animal training greatness.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Ursula Bottcher
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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11 comments:
Had the honor of seeing Ursula not only in the US but on Krone in their building during the winter of '91. In that setting with a full house of truely appreciative fans it was spectacular. The first time I saw Ringling it was during the late '60's and the presentation by Charlie just blew me away and to watch the growth and changing presentations of Gunther over the many years was quite the experience. Like you said to be able to have seen all three of these great animal people during their times in circus history was totally wonderful. Ralph from Baraboo
This is sad.
R.I.P. ,dear Ushi.
Dear Wade,
I had the privilege of working with Ursula, Manfred, and Axel at Circus World in the late 70s. All gone and all missed. Ursula's act was fantastic and I must have watched in hundreds of times and it was always perfect. What a great lady! Rick Faber
A truly remarkable woman. I've seen her act in the late 80's, early 90's on Busch-Roland in Germany and was amazed by her, her style and the way she presented these large animals.
You guys don't know how lucky you were - at least you had the good times.
RIP Ursula.
I was saddened to read about this loss. I never saw her work but was always amazed by the pictures.
Sala kahle Mkhulu
Jim Stockley
rip
emile
This is sad news. I never saw this remarkable woman perform for real only on TV, check out Thomas Bonners website for a clip of her polar bear act. If Gunther is Lord of the Rings,than Ursula Bottcher for me at least is Queen of the Polar bears
Bjorn
The loss of another great from that era that will never be replaced. Was happy to have known her and Manfred as friends.
Bjorn,
Thank you for the tip off of the video clip on Thomas's blog. Greedy little bugger never even said he had found a video. LOL
Darryl,
Manfred had kind of gotten "lost in the shuffle" when this great act is talked about. His input and assistance was invaluable, and a big reason for it's greatness. As I have mentioned in the past, I saw he and Ursula in Bad Connstant one year when I was at Krone, and had made arrangements to go see the new Kodiak bear act they were training, the following weekend. Sadly, three day's later Manfred was killed, and I never got to see it.
Wade Burck
I never saw here working of spoke to here. But saw her work on video's and pictures and she looks great with the polar bears. So respect to her and may she rest in peace.
And to Wade:
just found the video sunday !!
Thomas
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