Carl-gustaf Jernström
Modest Finnish showman who founded the Sirkus Finlandia, featuring many British artistes
CARL-GUSTAF JERNSTRÖM, who has died aged 74, was a Finnish showman who in 1976 founded Sirkus Finlandia, which became the country’s leading circus.
Its annual tour, lasting from April to October, takes the show to a different town almost every day, culminating in a monthlong residency in Helsinki.
Known to all as “Kalle”, Jernström was a bearded, bearlike figure, bespectacled and looking hardly like a showman. But he was wise and knowledgeable, admired by circus directors, artistes and his public alike.
The circus historian Don Stacey recalled: “I first met Kalle at the 1997
International Circus Festival in Warsaw, and I was a member of the judges’ jury which awarded a Silver Clown to his son, Kalle Jnr [Carl Johan], for his juggling act. Kalle Snr and I became friends – and if you were his friend, it was for life.”
He was born on July 31 1944 into a family with no show business connections. But his early interest in the circus led him to the Swedish Cirkus Scala and then to the Cirkus Ray Miller, where he learnt the rudiments of running a show; though reserved, he was an astute businessman.
In 1976 he created Sirkus Finlandia, initially with just a few horses, a camel and an elephant, but year by year the production grew both in stature and in quality, surviving early financial difficulties. Without competition in Finland, the show prospered, and in 1982 he introduced a second unit, Sirkus Finlandia Jnr, running the two until the end of the decade.
While he always tried to promote Finnish talent, Jernström also engaged a number of British acts, including the daredevil Garcias family; the bareback riding team, Gabi and Beverley Donnert; the Endresz family, veterans of the Blackpool Tower Circus; Ingo Stiebner and his sea-lions; and Dave Blundell and his acrobatic cycle act.
There were also hundreds of acts from around the globe, including the Richters troupe from Hungary, fresh from their appearance in the James Bond film Octopussy, alongside artistes from Europe, Russia, China, South America and Mongolia. In 1992 Jernström played host to a company from the Moscow State Circus.
Kalle Jernström was greatly assisted by his wife, Leena (née Jurvakainen), their three daughters and a son, all of whom helped to keep the show on the road. His son Carl Johan became a fine juggler and bareback rider, and, when Kalle had a heart attack, stepped up to become circus director.
Carl-gustaf Jernström’s wife and children survive him.
Carl-gustaf Jernström, born July 31 1944, died July 14 2019