Bird Millman 002

A photo of Bird Millman (1890-1940) Highwire Artiste born "Jenna Dean Engleman" 20 October 1890 in Canon City, Colorado to high wire performing parents Dyke Frank Engleman (1868-1943) and Genevieve Patton (1869-1941). In 1904 the Millman Family Trio of wire walkers toured the Vaudeville stages. By 1913 Bird became a solo premiere attraction with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Bird Millman's first marriage with Harry Underwood in 1909 was annulled. Her second marriage to ticket agent Charles Thomas (1889-) in 1920 ended in a quick divorce. Her third marriage was to military veteran Joseph Francis O'Day (1893-1931) in 1925, who died in 1931 after losing his fortune in the 1929 stock market crash. Devastated and destitute Bird returned to Canon City, Colorado where she died of uterine cancer at the age of 49.

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Bird Millman appeared in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 and Ziegfeld's Frolics. In 1920, she performed a specialty number in 'The Deep Purple', a silent film directed by Raoul Walsh (1887-1980).