Dolly Jacobs (born c. 1957[1] in Sarasota, Florida[2]) is an American circus aerialist. She is the daughter of famed circus clown Lou Jacobs and former New York fashion model turned circus performer Jean Rockwell Jacobs.[1] She began her circus career in 1975. She was a featured performer with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.[1][3] She left Ringling in 1984 for the Big Apple Circus where she worked until 1985 and again during 1987 and 1988.
She and her husband, fellow circus performer Pedro Reis, founded Circus Sarasota in 1997.[2][4]
In 2012, Jacobs received the Florida Folk Heritage Award.[2] She is a recipient of the 2015 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts,[5] which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[6] She is the first circus performer to receive the prestigious NHF award.[2] She has also won a Silver Clown award at the International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo.
References
- 1 2 3 "Dolly Jacobs Is the Hot Star of the New Dynasty of the Circus". People magazine. April 4, 1977. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 "Folk Heritage Awards Recipient: Dolly Jacobs". Florida Folklife Program, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State.
- ↑ Kurt Lassen (February 22, 1977). "Dolly Jacobs Continues A Tradition". The Telegraph.
- ↑ "History of Circus Sarasota". Circus Sarasota. n.d. Archived from the original on March 4, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
- ↑ "NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2015". www.arts.gov. National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
- ↑ "National Endowment for the Arts Announces 2013 NEA National Heritage Fellowship Recipients". US Fed News Service. Washington, DC. June 6, 2013. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.