Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-07-06
Frederick Pieper Dies;
Ex-Acrobot, Linquist

AA 49,
It never took patrons of the
Uptown Theater long to real
lie they were In the presence
Of an extraordinary doorman
when they handed their tickets
to Frederick Pieper.
There was something about
the stately, whitehaired figure
which made movie-goers glance
again at his wide smile. Many
foreign visitors halted abruptly
in amazement as they were
greeted not only in their Ian
guage but in their own dialect.
Mr.. Pieper, who died of can
Ger Thursday at the age of n,
spoke IA languages, most Of
them fluently.
His was a life Of unique
physical suffering tuberculosis,
cancer requiring a series of
operations which few could
have survived, pneumonia
twice, q serious rupture-even a
snake bite by the deadly fer
de-lance) but 1t was a life of
adventure and broad expert
ence which few movies could
rival.
I Orphaned Early
His parents were show peo-
pie, acrobats who had their
agile son doing flips when most
babies are learning to walk.
When Mr.. Pieper was his
father died; his mother and
two sisters died of smallpox
within the year.
Orphaned in the State Of
Washington, he was adopted
by two acrobats, brothers, and
before long the youth was
more than holding up his end
of a three-member team, THE
Three Bakers - Equilibrists,
AerialistS, Contortionists."
I'VE went everywhere in the
world" Mr.. Pieper would remi-
niSce.
Working the old Kieth's Cir
cult, the team criSs-crossed
this country dozens Of times,
flying through the dusty air
of countless small-town tent
shows.
BY an arrangement with a
similar European circuit,
Kieth's sent the Bakers over
seas in exchange for a foreign
act.
In 1908 they played q COM
mand performance before King
Edward, Kaiser Wilhelm and
Gear Nicholas in London. 1.-THE
King said he liked the show"
Mr.. Pieper said, and when I
told him we were going to
EPSON Downs for the Derby he
said I'll see you there {"
Meets Broke Cowboy
A broke cowboy wandered
into the Capetown, South At
RIGA, theater where Mr.. Pieper
was performing in 1904. The
British Government had been
tardy in paying him for some
steers which he had driven.
But the cowboy said he could
act.
So he brought a horse onto
the stage, twirled a rope and
earned SOS to tide him over.
His name? Will Rogers, who
later became a good friend of
Mr.. Pieper's.
Mr.. Pieper circled the globe
four times. He was in the Klon-
dixie during the gold rush days
and once saw 1900 people sleep
on a Nome beach, all unaware
that the following years others
would pan millions of dollars
worth Of gold from the same
sand.
While travelling on the IS
Valencia from San Francisco to
Seattle in 1906. Mr.. Pieper was
nearly drowned when the ship
sank, taking 100 people to the
bottom. Lashed to a raft with
four others, he was washed
ashore after four days and was
one Of two of that group to sur
vive.
IAN Indian found u.s." he re-
lated. Lucky. He only came
to the beach once a week to dig
CLANS"
Performing in Seattle in 1917
while suffering from food poi
soning, Mr.. Pieper BACKED out
Is feet in the air, fell on a spike
and was severely injured.
Joins with Clown
Forced to give up acrobatics,
he opened a Hollywood restau-
rant and became friends with
many silent screen stars. He
sold the restaurant, teamed up
with a clown for a few years in
a double comedy act, and left
show business for good in 1880
when he married his wife, Har-
riet.
The couple moved to New
York where they operated a
seafood restaurant for three
years until the depression wiped