Billy Smart's Circus (c1946 - 2006)
Biography
Billly Smart's Circus was established by William 'Billy' Smart (1894-1966). Billy came from a fairground family from London with an interest in horses and circuses. In 1946 Billy came across Cody's Circus and bought the big top.
Billy Smart's New World Circus made its debut at Southall Park, Middlesex, on 5 April 1946, for the first full season after the end of the war. Initially, Billy run his circus in conjunction with his fun fair, which was being run by his children, but by 1952 the fun fair, which was overshadowed by the circus, disappeared. The success of the circus side of the business however continued to increase and in 1955, Billy Smart's Circus grew from its two-pole tentto a 6,000 seat, four-pole round big top with a hippodrome track around the ring, and a vast entrance tent, thus enabling the staging of spectacular parades, which became a Billy Smart's Circus trademark.
Billy's greatest innovation, however, was his relationship with the newly established television networks when he agreed to broadcast his circus live on the BBC in 1947. Over the years, Billy Smart's Christmas Spectacular became a BBC holiday tradition, which ITV took over in 1979 and carried on until 1982. The BBC's first-ever colour broadcast was a 'Tribute to Billy Smart', while Royal Performances took place in London, raising thousands of pounds for charity.
A large part of the success of the circus was the showmanship that Billy brought to the operation of the circus, the large family he could draw upon to run the shows and his ability as a showman to market and capture opportunities to advertise. Whilst other circus proprietors were threatened by the rise in popularity of television and shunned the cameras, Billy Smart embraced them. Smart's Circus grew to be one of the largest in the world, touring every part of the British Isles, and with permanent quarters and an associated zoo at Winkfield, Berkshire, not far from where Smart began his fairground career. His success took the circus through twenty-six tenting tours, winter seasons, frequent TV appearances and the provision of animal acts to other circuses.
Billy died in his caravan on 25 September 1966 and the circus passed onto his sons Ronnie, David and Billy Jr. who continued travelling Billy Smart's New World Circus until around 1971.
In the 1990s Ronnie and his sons Gary and Lord revived the Smart Circus and started to tour a smaller scale version of the original circus. However, the Smart Circus was never the same after the dead of Billy and soon after, the Smart name was rented out to other circus operators until it stopped operating in the early 2000s.
Found in 1051 Collections and/or Records:
Newspaper Cuttings and Scapbooks, 1838 - 2007
A collection of newspaper cuttings on circus, circus proprietors and performers and scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings, posters, programmes and other items of ephemera, covering mainly British circuses and venues such as Belle Vue and also some international circuses.
Newspaper Cuttings and Scrapbooks, 1946 - 1996
Newspaper cuttings and scrapbooks collected and made by the Smart family containing articles on the Smart family, circuses, circus performers, showmen and animal acts.
Newspaper Cuttings on Billy Smart's Circus, 1956 - 2005
Newspaper articles on Billy Smart's Circus.
Newspaper Cuttings on Circus, c1900 - 1999
Three newspaper cuttings relating to circuses, one part of an article by the clown Whimsical Walker, one about a luxury showman's van built for C.J. Birkmyre of Billy Smart's Circus and one about the animal trainer Alexander Kerr.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Birmingham Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Birmingham-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Bristol Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Bristol-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Cheltenham Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Cheltenham-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Coventry Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Coventry-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Derby Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Derby-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Leicester and Richmond Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Leicester-based and Richmond-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Nottingham Press, 1998
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Nottingham-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Big Top 1998 Tour in Portsmouth Press, 1988
Includes newspaper articles concerning Smart's Big Top 1998 tour from a number of Portsmouth-based sources.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Circus 1997 season, 1997
Various newspaper and magazine cuttings relating to the 1997 season of Billy Smart's Circus.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Circus and the Smart Family, 1990 - 1997
Various newspaper cuttings relating to Billy Smart's Circus and the Smart Family.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Circus and the Smart Family, 1951 - 2014
Various newspaper cuttings relating to Billy Smart's Circus and the Smart Family.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to Billy Smart's Death, 1966
Various British newspaper cuttings announcing the death of Billy Smart at his circus in Ipswich.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to the Circus, 1957 - 1992
Subject Content: business of the circus, general circus information, circus animal ban, animal trainers, Orange Bowl (American football). Publications: Circus Historical Society, King Pole, Radio Times, New York Times.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to the Circus, 1959 - 1996
Subject Content: advertisements for the movie 'The Big Circus'; review of circus act; Billy Smart's Big Top returning to Birmingham (cartoon); Gulf War article with a picture of troops and a Billy Smart's diner sign; Royal Windsor safari park cartoon.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to the Circus and Animal Acts, 1962 - 1992
Subject Content: animal cruelty, banning animals, Billy Smart's passing, general circus information. Publications: Saturday Evening Post, Windsor Express, Evening Argus, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail.
Newspaper Cuttings Relating to the Circus and Performance, 1946 - 1986
Subject Content: circus performers, the Smart family, vehicles, theme parks and special events. Publications: Sunday Express, King Pole, Daily Mirror, World's Fair, The Commercial Motor, LIFE magazine. Langauges: English, French, German Spanish.