Sunday, April 26, 2009

How the O'Donnells are connected to a famous Aborigine, Hitler and an American Film Actor

My grandfather, Hugh O’Donnell, was 1 of 10 children. One of his brothers, Jim O’Donnell married Ellen O’Donnell (an O’Donnell marries an O’Donnell). Jim and Ellen had 5 children. One of their sons, Jimo O’Donnell, married Katie Sullivan. Katie Sullivan was one of the 10 children of Vittorine Julia Robinson and Cornelius Sullivan. A brother of Jimo O’Donnell, Daniel O’Donnell, also married one of the Sullivan sisters, Coral Sullivan.

Cornelius Sullivan, father of the two Sullivan sisters who married into the O’Donnell family, was an Australian of Scottish-Irish descent and a “take all comers” boxer and gambler. Julia Robinson Sullivan’s mother was part Aboriginal and her grandmother was a full blooded Australian Aborigine. Julia was said to look “unmistakably aboriginal”.

The 10 Sullivan children were trained as circus performers under the stage name Colleano. From late 1918, “Colleano’s All Star Circus” toured Queensland by special train. With their “sable” features, the children endeared themselves as “The Royal Hawaiian Troupe” and performed in the center ring as tumblers, acrobats, jugglers and clowns. Two of the siblings, Con and Winnie, became a famous high wire act. In 1919 Con perfected the almost impossible feet-to-feet forward somersault on the tightwire. Winnie was a famous high trapeze performer and “catcher”, an unusual role for women at the time.

During hard times, the Colleanos joined other circuses. In the early 1920s the Colleanos joined the Tivoli Circuit. It was in the Tivoli Circuit that Con met his future wife, also named Winnie (Winifred Constance) Trevail. She was a vaudeville soubrette (front line dancer) who claimed descent from the Earls of Derby. Winnie helped Con to refine his act by teaching him how to dance on the wire. Before long, Con was the hit of the show, so the Colleanos and Winnie Trevail decided to try their luck overseas.

South Africa was their first port of call after leaving Australia. Here they had to be careful of the Colleano’s Aboriginal background because people of color were treated very poorly and their background was socially unacceptable. This may have explained some of the rationale behind Con developing a Spanish persona. He adopted a name that sounded good for the bills, good for the advertising, good for the public but at the same time, helped to obscure any taint of Aboriginal ancestry.

At Johannesburg, South Africa, in April 1924, Con adopted the Spanish costume that became his trademark. Soon after a successful American debut at the Hippodrome, New York, he joined Ringling Brothers. Entering the center ring, he made the traditional passes of a bullfighter; on mounting the wire, he gracefully performed tangos, jotas and fandangos; he concluded his 12 minute act with the dangerous forward somersault.

In July 1926 he married Winnie, who taught Con elements of style, dress and dancing and was eventually his compere (master of ceremonies at an entertainment). Billed as the “Wizard of the Wire”, Con remained Ringling Brothers principal star into the 1930s. Each winter he toured the vaudeville houses of Europe. The Spanish flavor of his act as well as his Latinate appearance and name, beguiled many into presuming that he was a Spaniard. During the summers he and other members of his family used his farm in Pennsylvania as a practice ground and holiday retreat.

Con Colleano performed before Hitler and he and Winnie were taken to meet him after the show. Hitler reportedly said that Con was his favorite act and could come back to Germany any time. He issued him a special Reichspass to allow Con to enter Germany any time he wished. Hitler would have been surprised to know that his favorite act was far from Aryan.

Con was born December 26, 1899, became a U.S. citizen in 1950 and died November 13, 1973 at his home in Miami, Florida. His last performance was in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1960. Con Colleano is included in the Circus Hall of Fame in Sarasota, Florida since 1966 and the Guinness Book of World Records for performing the first toe-to-toe forward somersault and his famous wire dancing. There is a play about his life called “Skipping on Stars”. The actor who plays Con Colleano is himself Aboriginal. A book, available on Amazon.com about his life is also available: “The Wizard of the Wire: The Story of Con Colleano” by Mark St. Lion.

Jimo O’Donnell and Katie Sullivan O’Donnell had 5 children: Jim, Julie, Winnie, Philip and Kitty. Kitty O’Donnell married John Stehlin. Kitty O’Donnell Stehlin is part of the second generation of Colleanos to join the famous circus act. Under the moniker “The Juggling Colleanos”, Kitty performed a juggling and tumbling act with her two brothers and two sisters. Besides traveling the United States with the Ringling Brothers Circus, the Juggling Colleanos were often seen on popular TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and Sid Caesar’s Hour.

Kitty Stehlin and John Stehlin had a son named Jack Stehlin. Continuing the family’s performance tradition, Jack Stehlin accidentally fell into acting after taking an acting class at the University of South Carolina, where he attended school to play baseball. He quit university and moved to New York where he graduated from the Julliard School.

Jack Stehlin has had roles in the following films/shows:

Weeds (current), Monk, Navy NCIS, Without a Trace, The Practice, JAG, Strong Medicine, Crossing Jordan, Purpose, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Get Real, ER, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue, Blackout Effect, General Hospital, The Client, L.A. Law and others.

This means that my father was a first cousin of Jimo O’Donnell and first cousin by marriage to Jimo’s wife, Katie Sullivan. This would have made my father a distant relative of Jack Stehlin, first cousin through marriage to Con Colleano and, fortunately, no relation to Hitler.

All the facts are straight and gleaned from research Aunt Pat O’Donnell Snyder did, notes I took on conversations and recollections from Libby and Hugh O’Donnell, a document on family ties put together by Father Tom O’Donnell and Con O’Donnell and 4 or 5 online sources. Added to the mix are my own dim recollections of Jimo’s visits and talks with Dad, summer time visits to Con Colleano’s farm and visits by Winnie, Kitty, Coral, and Katie to our house. I’m not sure I have the right designations about the cousins-in-law, am sure there is no relation to Hitler and doubt Jack Stehlin will invite the family to Hollywood, however, I hope you agree that it makes a good story.

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