A long time ago in a different America there was not a circus buff or small boy that didn’t know the name of Con Colleano. A tight rope walking acrobat who combined daring, style and more than a little dash of star quality with thrills, he was a Ringling Brothers circus star who in the depths of the Great Depression was paid a thousand dollars a week. Wearing flamboyant toreador like attire like any matador facing a raging bull, he faced death or serious injury.
Even seemingly all-powerful dictators presented him medals after seeing him jump backward on a tight rope. For a time in the 1930s and '40s, he called a family compound near Quakertown home. Among the many things interesting about Con Colleano (1899-1973) is there was nothing Spanish about him at all other than his flamboyant costumes.
That was a carefully created persona. In fact, he was an Australian of part Irish and Aboriginal and Afro Cuban background. His name at birth was Corneilius Sullivan.
His father was Con Sullivan. Said to have been a freed convict, he traveled the mining camps with his family appearing as a “take on all comers” boxer with a little gambling on the side. By 1910 they were old enough to have formed a small circus.
Young Corneilius seemed to have natural athletic ability, and the rest developed several other acts. It was during this time that they adopted the name the Collino, later Colleano. According to one source this was done to give an Italian cover because of the “sable” natu.