Question: What Texan achieved international fame as a trapeze and high-wire performer known as “Barbette”?
Answer: Vander Clyde Broadway. Born in Coleman County in 1897, he was enamored with the circus at a young age, and at the age of 14, he auditioned in San Antonio for a role with an act called The Alfaretta Sisters. He was accepted on the condition that he dress as a woman.
He eventually developed a solo act, adopting the stage name Barbette. At the end of the act, he would remove his wig and reveal himself as a man. During the 1920s and 1930s, he performed throughout the U.S. and in Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris.
