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Alex (Louis Alexander) Picard performed with his brothers Fred, Phil and later Joe. The brothers referred to themselves as the Flying Picards and the Brothers Picard, French Gymnasts, performing with Ringling Brothers from 1899 to 1908.
Alex Picard started performing in 1895 when he was twelve years old. He was twenty years old in 1903 and 25 years old in 1908 when he retired from show business. Alex, was, along with three of his brothers a star gymnast in the circus. The brothers went under different names and also worked with different people. Alex worked with his life-long friend Fred Jenks and his troupe of comedy skaters, Jenks performed in the Great Wallace Show in 1902; Fred Jenks was a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace as late as 1910.[12]
Between 1906 and 1908, the Picard brothers, known at that time as the Four Picard Troupe of aerialists performed with the Norris and Rowe circus. Contemporary newspaper reports described the four brothers as “”. . . The clean-limbed, graceful acrobats, flying through space and accomplishing seemingly incredible feats upon the elevated bars . . .” [13] It is likely that one of the four was not a Picard since Phil by then had retired from the circus due to his injury.
[12] Fort Wayne (IN) Weekly Sentinel, July 30, 1902; Oelwein (IA) Daily Register, June 16, 1910.
[13] Advocate (Victoria, TX), September 22, 1906; Reno (NV) Evening Gazette April 9, 1908; Ad, Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat, April 17, 1908.