Mr. and Mrs. Charles Gay, European by birth, were both former circus stars in their youth; he a "lion tamer" and she an aerialist. In the early 20’s, they came to southern California with the idea of raising wild animals for use in the burgeoning southland motion picture industry. Their dream cam to fruition in the Lion Farm which they located in El Monte because of the availability of suitable acreage and the relative proximity to the film centers of Los Angeles.
At its peak, the Farm housed over 200 African lions with the site consisting of a U-shaped compound with separate individual cages for the adult lions, a larger "nursery" cage for the expected population of playful cubs, and, a very large, centrally located arena cage where the trained lions, under the whip and gun of Mr. Gay, performed a spectacular wild animal act for the massed spectators. Many of the lions did, indeed, star in numerous motion pictures during the 20’s and 30’s. Jungle features like the time-honored Tarzan films, from Elmo Lincoln to Johnny Weismuller, utilized the roaring residents of Gay’s Lion Farm. The famous "Lion Logo" which ushers in every MGM motion picture was made with "Jackie", one of Gay’s most famous stars.
Type Gay's Lion Farm in the search bar for more Lion Farm photo's
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment