Smart, Billy (William), 1894 - 1966
Biography
William 'Billy' Smart was one of twenty-three children born into a fairground family from London. Born in 1894, Smart worked with his family on the fairgrounds of London and the South East from an early age up until his marriage to Dolly in 1925, after which he branched out with his brothers to set up his own fair. Billy and Dolly had thirteen children.
By the 1930s he was an established member of the fairground community in the South East and London area and travelled with up to ten rides, with some of his rides featuring alongside Bertram Mills' Circus at Olympia in 1939. More success followed in the war years when he operated some of London's largest morale-boosting Holiday at Home Fairs, supplying entertainment to a war-weary public.
Although always interested in horses, and interested in circuses for some time, it was not until 1946 that Smart came across Cody's Circus and bought the big top. By the time he opened his New World Circus in 1946 he was fifty-two years old, following P.T. Barnum's example in taking on a second career as a circus proprietor.
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. The circus which he had purchased from Cody was run in conjunction with a travelling fun fair and at first he was seen as an interloper by other more established circus showmen. By 1952, the fun fair, which had been increasingly overshadowed by the circus, disappeared to leave room for a bona fide menagerie. Three years later, the two-poler was replaced by a giant 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.
His greatest innovation was his relationship with the newly established television networks when he agreed for Billy Smart's Circus to be broadcast live by 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'. 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, shortly after conducting the Romford Boys' Band in front of his mammoth circus tent at Ipswich, which had been set up that morning for a two-week stand. With his large Stetson hat, inevitable cigar and unique flair for self-promotion and publicity, Billy Smart was a showman of the highest order. One of his greatest stunts was when he rode an elephant through the streets of Mayfair and parked it at a meter before inserting a shilling.
Billy Smart was such a colourful character that on his death his lifelong friend Sir Billy Butlin described him as the greatest showman of our time and probably the last of the great showmen.
In the 1990s, the Smart circus toured again with Billy Smart's Quality Big Top Show and most recently Billy Smart's Circus has been presented by Tony Hopkins and is frequently on tour across the UK.
Found in 837 Collections and/or Records:
Business Records Relating to Olga Sidorova, 1998
Includes work permit applications and permits, travel documents, visas, contracts, travel documentation and a photocopy of a passport for performer Olga Sidorova for the 1998 season of Billy Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to Pete Cooper, 1993 - 1995
Includes correspondence and contracts for the performer Pete Cooper for the 1993 and 1994 seasons of Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to Rene Alberto Alegria Servin, 1996
Includes contracts, correspondence, photographs, work permits and travel documents for juggler Rene Alberto Alegria Servin.
Business Records Relating to Ringling Brothers, 1997 - 1998
Includes correspondence between Smart's Circus and Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows Inc. regarding the sale of Smart's Circus equipment and outfit.
Business Records Relating to Robin Cook, 1998
Robin Cook took notes and wrote about Billy Smart's Circus with the aim of compiling a book. These documents were created by or sent to Robin Cook to aid his research and writing about Billy Smart's Circus. Documents include invitations, tickets, press reviews and articles which mention Billy Smart's Circus, as well as correspondence between Cook and various newspapers, journalists, the BBC and Carol Vordeman.
Business Records Relating to Rosgoscirk Russian State Circus Company, 1996 - 2000
Includes invitations to Russian State Circus performances, correspondence about various Russian acts including The Chernievski Troupe, correspondence about a change in tax and correspondence about the change in General Director.
Business Records Relating to Safety Tests, Structural Calculations and Purchases of Equipment, 1991 - 1994
Business records related to the Smart family and Smart circus.
Business Records Relating to Sally Chipperfield's Samoyed Dogs, 1993 - 1994
Includes photographs, contracts and correspondence regarding the act Sally Chipperfield's Samoyed Dogs performing in the 1993 and 1994 seasons of Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to Sarychev, 1998
Includes work permit applications and permits, travel documents, photocopies of passports and lists of props for the performers who make up the act Sarychev for the 1998 season of Billy Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to ScanArt, 1996 - 2001
Documents to and from ScanArt Scandinavian Entertainment Management Promotion and Booking Agency including correspondence, work permits, contracts, invoices, travel documents and immigration documents for the artists Vorobievi Troupe and the Chernievski Troupe for the 1997 and 1998 seasons of Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to Scotland Leases, 1994 - 1995
Records relating to a lease between the city of Aberdeen District Council and Patio Hotel (Aberdeen) Limited.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus, 1976 - 1994
Includes correspondence with World Distributors Publishing; photographs of the Smart family and Smart's Circus infrastructure; promotional material, photographs, contracts, correspondence, immigration documents and work permits for various artists for the 1994 and 1995 seasons of Smart's Circus including Les Fernandos, Mik and Mak Clowns, Volkovy Duo, Troupe Ben Karim and Trio Paulovitsch.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus, 1993 - 1994
Includes correspondence, contracts, work permits, immigration documents and travel documents for various artists for the 1993 and 1994 seasons of Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus, c1990 - 1994
Includes contracts, work permit applications and correspondence between Smart's Circus and various artists including the Kis Faludy Troupe and the Gladiators Troupe. Also includes photographs and printed images of various acts and artistes collected by the Smart Family for research for performing in Smart's Circus including Jane Whitney speciality acts and Andrew & Jacqueline.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus, 1966 - 2001
Includes Billy Smart's Circus Facts and Figures 1971, press hand out, poster design, promotional material for circuses in other countries, contact lists, blank television contract, canteen menu from 1993, promotional booklet for Guernsey Zoo and information for the sale of a hospitality trailer once owned by Smart's Circus.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus, 1976 - 1997
Includes correspondence from the Variety Club of Great Britain, correspondence to Angelo Munoz, BBC London Letter publication issue no. 1545 which features the killer whale Ramu who once lived at Windsor Safari Park, quotes from the press about Smart's Circus and a letter from Paul Harley-Green to Ronald Smart.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus and the Smart Family, 1966 - 2004
Includes Ronnie Smart's heavy goods vehicle drivers licence, tickets and invitations for Smart's Circus performances, sales brochure for mobile hospitality suite once owned by the Smart family in Surrey, correspondence from Cyril B. Mills, catalogue of Smart's Circus miniature models, information about Kitty Joyce, correspondence from Buckingham Palace and correspondence from the BBC regarding the television show Time Shift special on British circuses.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus Marketing, 1980 - 2000
Includes leaflets from circuses from all over the world collected as research for designing Smart's Circus leaflets and programmes, leaflet designs, programme proofs and mock ups, photographs for potential use in programmes, tickets, 'Reflections of Gary Smart - Man and Boy' draft text and a 'Not a lot of people know that!' document written by David Hibling.
Business Records Relating to Smart's Circus Tours 2000 and 2001, 1999 - 2000
Includes correspondence between Smart's Circus and Birmingham, Southend on Sea, Epsom, Brent, York, Hull, Watford and Brighton Hove Councils requesting permission to use their parks as sites for Smart's Circus the 2000 and 2001 tours.
Business Records Relating to Sonny Hayes & Co., 1993
Includes correspondence, a contract, a photograph and a proposed script for the opening of the 1993 Smart's Circus tour from the act Sonny & Hayes Co.