1.   His father, a former circus clown, died two months before his birth.

2.   Ron Jenkins, a former circus clown, is a professor of theater at Wesleyan University.

3.   The popular image of Burt Lancaster is that of a handsome, abrasive tough guy, a former circus acrobat who tumbled through action movies with an athletic grace.

4.   When Alberto Ortiz showed up drunk one day, the former circus boy turned his talents to singing.

5.   Garrison wants Benny seized and brought back to spend his days at a U.S. sanctuary for former circus animals.

6.   Miss Indiana is a former circus performer.

7.   Ex-world and Olympic ice skating champion Katarina Witt wants to take over a former east German state circus, the daily Ostseezeitung newspaper reported Thursday.