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Introduction
Known in the trade as Pansy Zedora, Pansy made her name as Alar the Human Arrow with a troupe called the Flying Zedoras. In her act she was shot from a giant crossbow, flew through the air into a huge paper target, to be caught on the other side by her sister swinging from a trapeze. The sisters toured across America with Barnum and Bailey’s ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ between 1891 and 1896.
Pansy, whose real name was Francis Murphy, was born in Liverpool in 1879. Her mother was keen for Pansy and her sister to appear on stage and sent them for private dance and acting tuition.
Pansy’s older sister ran away to the circus and when her parents died Pansy went to join her. They began performing as ‘The Zedora Sisters’ and developed their aerial act.
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Souvenir Booklet |
Pansy was very popular on both sides of the Atlantic. American newspapers hailed her as:
“The Crowning miracle of physical and mechanical sensation, surpassing adequate description…the bravest of all living artists”
“The only Human Arrow, a lithe Winsome, living weapon”
When she had an accident in Madison Square Gardens in New York, the event appeared as a cartoon in the paper with the by lines:
“The day the human arrow was stunned”
“Knocked senseless on her lofty perch”
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Pansy Chinery's Accident |
Pansy went on to perform in other acts. These included dancing and teeth spinning with ‘The Mars Trio’.
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