Trampoline History

Larry Griswold - The Diving Fool

"I'd better take off my jacket. I said, I'd better take off my jacket." In doing so, the inebriated individual on top of the 10 foot high diving board, gets first one arm, then the other arm caught in the sleeves of his jacket. His final attempt at yanking an arm free sends him flying down the diving board, over the edge of the hand railing. His knees catch on the railing before he plummets to the ground. Pulling himself up to a stand, the momentum sends him reeling farther down the board. When he comes to rest, leaning against the rail, he thumps his hand over his heart with relief. Laughter resounds from the audience!

He smiles at the crowd. Relaxing, he leans forward onto the other hand rail. It breaks away under his weight, and he tumbles downward, only to find himself hanging from the supports. With an arm wrapped around one pole and his foot wrapped around another, he discovers that his right index finger is caught in a supporting shock cord. In attempting to free his finger, he throws his body into a series of spastic gyrations. The non-stop laughter reaches a deafening pitch. There is no question that this agile performer is very special. He is the "Diving Fool," the greatest acrobatic clown in the world. He is Larry Griswold.

Like so many youngsters of his day, Griswold grew up dreaming about becoming a professional acrobat. When the circuses came to town, he was captivated. He was enthralled with the high trapeze performers, promising himself that he would one day perform in such an act. When his family moved from Arkansas to Chicago, the first step in making his dreams become a reality took place as he participated in tumbling classes at the local YMCA. His strong, compact body became adept at developing specific skills out of typical childhood gyrations. But, it was at his grandparents farm, in Iowa, that he developed his extra special sense of awareness and timing. It was here, during the summers, that he cavorted in the barn. He threw tricks into the hay that, even as a skilled performer later in life, he would hesitate to repeat.

Griswold's active and athletic background led to great success in his athletic endeavours. At Fort Madison High School in Iowa, Griswold was a champion wrestler. When he enrolled at the University of Iowa, in 1927, he capitalised on his athletic abilities by participating on four varsity athletic teams: Diving, wrestling, track & field (he lettered as a javelin thrower), and gymnastics. Eventually, he decided to concentrate within the gymnastics area; specifically, in tumbling.

After his third year of gymnastics competition at the University of Iowa, Griswold took some time off and travelled eastward, enrolling in dancing and acrobatics classes in New York City. After several months, he returned to the University of Iowa to complete his final year of gymnastics competition. He was selected the men's gymnastics team captain, and won the 1931 Big Ten Tumbling Championship.

But, the excitement of performing lured him back to New York City where he was appointed Acrobatics Coach, at Michael's Acrobatic School. During his five-month stay in New York City, he secured his first vaudeville engagements. He was billed at many New York and Pennsylvania theatres in a comedy adagio trio, combining acrobatic dance and clowning.

Griswold eventually decided to leave the big city behind, recognising his love for teaching, and his desire to finish his degree and become a teacher of physical education. Although returning to the more predictable life of a university student, nothing could have predicted the vast accomplishments and influence that Griswold would have during the next five years in this small Iowa community.

In 1932 Griswold enrolled in graduate school at the University of Iowa, and was appointed as a graduate teaching assistant. His responsibilities included teaching tap dancing, tumbling, and working with the intramural program. At the time, the Department of Physical Education was headed by E.G. Schroeder, a famous name in athletics, as he was the 1902 National Gymnastics Champion. Putting their talents together, they came up with a unique offering for the university students; a circus, to be performed for the entire community, using the talent found on campus.

The First Annual Iowa Circus took place April 20, 1933. Entitled "Rain or Shine," it included performances in tumbling, bicycle racing, roller hockey, Indian clubs, tap dancing, apparatus, flying rings, tight wire, clowning, teeter board, and many other activities. It was an unequivocal success! As the supervisor, Griswold discovered talented university students and developed their talent into outstanding acts. This was the beginning of a memorable period at the university, and the creation of a legendary individual.

As if his expert production of the Iowa Circus was not enough, Griswold's participation in the long-standing "Dolphin Show," was highly acclaimed. The Dolphin Show was one of the oldest traditions on campus, starting in 1919. This amateur aquatic production, held in the fieldhouse pool, had many exciting, funny and skilled acts. It became one of the most highly touted amateur productions in the country with Larry's high trapeze act, and his "Drunken Clown" act. Swinging from a trapeze hung 42 feet above the Iowa pool, Griswold performed such tricks as a full-twisting triple somersault, and a quadruple somersault. But it was his Drunken Clown act that really brought the house down. As Griswold explained, the act "is not just a string of tricks....it is the story of an eccentric gentleman who is attempting to conquer the diving board. But the board is vicious to him - it's mean. Finally, he conquers the board at the end." It was this act, which he developed during his years at the university, that he eventually made into his lifetime professional career.

During the next five years, Griswold became a hero at the University of Iowa. His Annual Iowa Circus, collected accolades from around the country. It was said to be the foremost collegiate event in the entire nation in the entertainment field. An Iowa newspaper wrote: "The rise of this event to its present status in the brief period since its creation in 1933 is nothing short of phenomenal. Credit for the success of the big Iowa show must necessarily be given to Larry Griswold who introduced it to the Iowa campus and who nursed it in its infancy and guided it in its youth."

The success of the Dolphin Show continued as well, giving Larry ample opportunity to experiment with his clown act which was to eventually make headlines around the world. Outside of the academic arena, he also found opportunities to try out his entertaining skills. For 17 weeks, during the summer of 1934, Griswold became the lead member of a comedy diving trio that proved to be one of the biggest attractions at the Chicago World's Fair. It was evident from the start that he had the talent for show business.

Step by step, Griswold was developing a level of distinction which was not only being recognised, but was being lauded. The personal side of Griswold's life was shining, too. On April 23, 1934, Griswold married Susanna Wilson in Iowa City, Iowa. In the ensuing years, it was she who provided the love and support that made it possible for Griswold to achieve eminence.

In 1935, Griswold was officially appointed the assistant gymnastics coach, working with head coach, Albert Baumgartner. Griswold's excellent coaching influence had already been felt by many on the university gymnastics team. Among them, one of his protégés, George Nissen, went on to win the National Intercollegiate Tumbling Championship three years in a row.

During this period of time, Griswold and Nissen made regular jaunts to Bloomington, Illinois where numerous circus people had their winter homes. Among them were the "Flying Wards", some of the finest trapeze performers in the world. Griswold and Nissen worked out with them at the local YMCA, and frequently helped them make or mend their large trapeze nets. Nissen remembers the hours they spent in the basement of the YMCA, threading the long cords of the nets, using large javelin-head needles. This experience, one of several, led them to the idea of creating a trampoline.

One day, with the help of the wrestling coach at the University of Iowa, Griswold and Nissen bolted together an angle iron frame. A piece of canvas, in which they had inserted grommets along each side, was then attached to the frame by using springs. This was the first trampoline.

Since Nissen was still training for tumbling, they decided to move the trampoline to a YMCA camp where he was an instructor. There, during his free time, Nissen used it for his tumbling training. Immediately, he found that the children loved it. This was the first realisation that the trampoline could be more than a piece of equipment to use when performing, or seriously training. It was something that many others could enjoy.

At the University of Iowa, Griswold continued to teach activity classes through the Physical Education Department. One of the most popular classes on campus was a tap dancing class which he taught. His enthusiasm and teaching skills drew 116 students into the class. Another very popular class was entitled "Stunts." This class included learning skills in trapeze, juggling, rope spinning, tight-wire walking, barrel walking, revolving ladder, tumbling and trampoline (this was the first time that a trampoline class had ever been taught).

Finally, as if Griswold didn't have enough other responsibilities, he worked, under contract, for the newly created "Silver Shadow," the first university night club in the country, located in the Iowa Memorial Union. As the floor show director, he had the task of selecting and coaching entertainers and organising the program. There was tap dancing, blues singing, swing music, and other suitable nightclub acts. One of the most popular acts was a hand balancing trio consisting of Jack Brown, George Nissen and Xavier Leonard, attired in black trunks with gold lacing!

By 1937, Griswold's fine reputation in acrobatics and clowning had spread far. The famous "Water Follies of 1937" made him an offer that he could not resist. As he said, "I decided that instead of running into debt during the winter and crawling out of it via show business during the summer, I'd go into show business with both feet." So, Griswold set off for Chicago, where he joined with other nationally known swimmers, divers and acrobats in presenting a water show "much" larger than the Iowa Dolphin Show. This show was performed in the largest portable pool in the world. At 75 feet long, 25 feet wide and a depth of 6 1/2 feet, it held 80,000 gallons of water.

More aquatic shows offered him work, and within a year he was being billed as the "World's Greatest Comedy Diver." A professional break-though came in 1939 when Mr. Billy Rose hired him for twenty-six consecutive weeks performing in Billy Rose's Aquacade at the New York World's Fair. Aquatic greats, Johnny Weissmuller and Eleanor Holm, headlined the show, while famous diving stars included Pete Desjardins, Sam Howard, Jack Sullivan, Charlie Diehl, Alf Phillips, Jim Patterson, Tommy McKee, and, of course Griswold himself.

Billy Rose's Aquacade was so successful that, following the New York World's Fair, it went on a tour of North America. In every city in which they performed, Griswold stole the spotlight - on the diving board, in the water, and even in the audience. Griswold's feigned inebriated state was so convincing that, several times, he almost ended up in the city jail. Planted in the audience in Oklahoma City, he purposely caused a disturbance. Dutiful, but uninformed ushers escorted him outside, where the justice of the peace was waiting to see that the drunk had a proper place to sober up. And, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, his staggering through the crowd led to the bouncers getting rough with him. He was taken to the Milwaukee police station before talking his way back.

In 1941, due to a faulty springboard, Griswold suffered a severe knee injury during a performance and was forced to rest for several months. It was during these months of recovery, that Griswold made history by writing Trampoline Tumbling, the first textbook ever written on the sport of trampoline. Published in 1942, this 120-page manual of instruction, included contributions by many of Griswold's colleagues, including George Nissen. Detailed diagrams showed each phase of the numerous movements that could be performed on the trampoline. At the same time, Griswold and Nissen decided to formalise their small operation of making trampolines. They created the Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Company, and history was made once again.

By 1942, the Griswold's had four children; Sandra, Victor, Mary Jane and Donna. During the summer time, Griswold insisted the whole family travel together. The children remember staying in a big family tent from the 1st of June to the 1st of Sept. They grew up thinking that their family was nothing out of the ordinary. When they got older, and realised that their father was famous, they knew they had grown up in an incredible family.

In 1945, a major change took place in Griswold's professional clown diving act, and therefore his opportunities for entertainment. Due to acute sinusitis, Larry's immersion in water had to be limited. But Griswold used this hindrance to avail, and created an act even more marketable than it's forerunner. Rather than diving into water, Griswold now became a "dry diving clown." A trampoline, erected at the end of a portable, three-meter, springboard, was camouflaged to resemble a pool of water. Griswold performed his usual comic spills and falls on the springboard, interspersing them with antics on the trampoline. As a dry diving clown, Griswold was no longer dependent upon performing at aquatic shows, but could broaden his base to include a much greater variety of entertainment. Business boomed-he performed at all the leading sport shows from coast to coast. He performed in Shrine Circuses and Police Circuses. He performed at corporate shows for Phillips Petroleum, Continental Steel, Hiram Walker & Sons, Ford Motor, and United Steelworkers. He performed in the famous Hippodrome of 1954, a travelling show patterned after the massive productions staged in the old Hippodrome in New York City during the first part of the century. And to top it off, he became a television star. He performed on the Ken Murray Show, the James Melton Show, the Frank Sinatra Show, the Jackie Gleason Show, and the Ed Sullivan Show.

At the age of 50, Griswold had become known as a top draw in the entertainment industry. Working an average of 44 weeks of the year, he was a smash hit wherever he performed. Not only did he draw a greater crowd response than any other performer, but he drew a greater entertainer's response. An Iowa newspaper wrote: "Other entertainers come out from their dressing rooms to watch Larry Griswold's act. That's a rare show business tribute. It stamps a performer as an entertainer's entertainer."

Many people are close to retirement at this point in their lives. But Griswold felt that he had many more years of performing in him. He once remarked, "I'm afraid I'll fall off the board before I climb off. I've been thinking of retirement for seven years, but I never seem to get around to it. I love this life too much."

In 1958, a new stage opened up for Griswold-the international stage. He was one of the stars of "Pardon My French," an exciting Parisian Revue. Unsurpassed in the variety theatre anywhere in the world, it featured some of the world's greatest comedians, a leading lady direct from Paris, ten top variety acts and, of course, "thirty of the world's most beautiful girls in twenty-one glittering scenes," wrote a New Zealand newspaper. It was Larry, billed as "The Clown Prince of the Diving Board," who left the audience breathless.

The international circuit was big and spectacular. No money was spared to put on the most lavish of shows. There was Le Theatre De L'Etoile, the Blackpool Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow, Le Moulin Rouge, and the Mikado, in Tokyo. There was London, performing for the Queen of England. There was Monte Carlo, performing for Prince Ranier. Comedy of the lofty, noble, philosophic sort of which only great clowns are capable," is how a Glasgow newspaper described Griswold's act.

The discovery of the foreign market, its long engagements and lucrative pay, dismissed any thought of retirement for Griswold. He had spent years travelling and performing one-night stands. He had worked long and hard to develop his act to be seen and heard, meaning that he put as much emphasis on the gab as on the acrobatics. Neither the sight nor the language barrier deterred people from enjoying his performance. It was once reported that even a blind man in the corner was applauding after Griswold's third "fish dive." Griswold had found that he could be just as entertaining without being as energetic and without doing as much strenuous work as he had once done. He was funnier, yet exerting himself less. His act had become richer to audiences. With maturity, he had become a master of timing and humour. As Newt Loken, one of Griswold's friends and colleagues, says: "Larry Griswold's sense of timing and comedy while he performed on his unique trampoline and diving rigging was truly superb."

At the age of 59, Griswold was ready for some well-deserved golden time. A four and one-half year contract with the Follies Bergere in Paris, highlighted this period. Now that his children were grown, his wife, Sue, was able to be by his side, enjoying a rich and resplendent Parisian lifestyle. Still in excellent shape, his wiry, well-developed 140 pounds had seen more than their share of injury. Yet always the entertainer, Griswold continued to unfold a variety of whirlwind gyrations, acrobatic stunts and comic turns.

In Feb. 1969, Griswold departed the Parisian scene and returned to the United States. Although he was 63 years old, he was still intent on performing. So, it was back to the more rugged entertainment life which he had left years earlier, touring the country and entertaining people at popular sport shows.

In 1973, Griswold performed his act at Shea Stadium in Chicago. Gravel on the stage caused him to lose his footing, and he hit his head on one of the diving board supports. Unbeknownst to him, he had suffered a serious injury. The next day, while practising his routine in his back yard, he lost consciousness and fell from the trampoline. Rushed to the hospital, the diagnosis was clear. Griswold had suffered a subdural hematoma There would be no more entertaining for "The Greatest Acrobatic Clown in the World."

Griswold felt a tremendous loss. Performing was his life. Each time he walked on stage he actually became the Diving Fool. Like other great entertainers, he was totally engrossed in the moment when performing. As George Nissen said, "Griswold lived the act. He was one of the great performers of our day. When performing in front of an audience, he was so intense that he was almost oblivious to reality. Sometimes, he didn't even realise that he was hurt." Now, without the act, Griswold's life was empty.

Griswold knew that at some point in his life he would retire. In preparation he trained several people who performed his act under contract. They included Bob Parry (1947-58), Willy Keough (1955-75), Don Dunfield (1975-87), and Don Zasadny (1983-present). But, when Griswold's career ended so abruptly, the training of Dunfield took on a special purpose. It gave Griswold an opportunity to feel alive again Still enmeshed in the character of the Diving Fool, he lived through Dunfields performances.

Dunfield travelled internationally, performing the act for 13 years. He kept Griswold well informed, sending him newspaper articles regularly. This helped quench Griswold's thirst for entertaining. Nothing could replace doing it himself, but at least Griswold knew that his famous act would survive, and he could share in the excitement and glory of it.

In 1982, the Clown Prince of the Diving Board was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Two years later, he underwent heart by-pass surgery. Then, in Dec. 1986, yet another blow struck. Griswold suffered a stroke severe enough to make it impossible for him to live at home. From 1986 until his death on Aug. 24, 1996, Griswold lived in a nursing home, visited frequently by family and friends.

Griswold was proud of his contributions to gymnastics, which were many. He helped create the first trampoline; he wrote the first textbook on trampoline; he co-founded the first trampoline company; he was one of the first to be inducted into the Trampoline Hall of Fame; he was inducted into the Diving Hall of Fame; the list goes on and on. But, Griswold preferred to be remembered for his one-liners and hilarious routines. "As I got older, I wondered why people kept hiring me," he said. "It wasn't because I was a gymnast, or an acrobat-even a funny acrobat. It was because I was a comedian."

He's the oldest man I know, but he's just my age. He's the only grown-up who has time when everyone else is too busy. He's the only baby sitter who can break the "bed by eight" rule. He is brave - he once gave us ice cream and peanuts ten minutes before Mom served Sunday dinner. His love transcends long hair and sandals and dirty jeans. When I win I tell everyone; when I lose, I tell him. I love him! - by Mary Jane Griswold (daughter).

WAS is very pleased to pay tribute to this great comedian; a hero to his immediate family, and a true legend to his acrobatics family. - by Lani Loken-Dahle

The author would like to express a special thanks to the Griswold Family for providing her with all the family's scrapbooks, in which most of the information for this article was found.

(From: World Acrobatics Society Newsletter; Fall 1997; Issue 2; by Lani Lokendahle)