Circus legend celebrates 104th birthday in Sarasota, reflects on life

SARASOTA, Fla. - Mary Jane Miller joined the circus at just 18 years old with no formal training or family connections.

The backstory:

Miller was from Michigan and on vacation in Sarasota when she made friends with a girl whose parents were clowns.

"They had this big ladder. The girls had to climb up. They had New York show girls," Miller said. "They were all scared to do it. And I said, ‘I can do that.’"

After that encounter, the rest was history.

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Miller was only allowed to leave with the circus after convincing her mother it was a good idea. She said her friends’ parents promised to look after her on the road.

Miller learned everything from the other performers in real time and it changed her life.

"I did trapeze, I rode elephants, I hung by my teeth, I rode a plane with the clowns, I did everything," Miller said.

Life of Adventure:

Miller saw it all, the good, the bad and the ugly.

"The Hartford fire, that was really bad," Miller said. "I was in a dressing room getting ready to go, and we heard somebody say there's a fire. So, we lifted up the tent to look, and this whole thing was on fire on top of the big top."

Miller said she was curious, and the circus allowed her to see the world.

What they're saying:

"I would get up every morning, my friend and I, Kathy, we'd get up to see what town we were in," Miller said. "I was inquisitive, and so I wanted to see the town."

Miller is so ingrained in the circus world she's seen five generations of "The Flying Wallendas" grow up and take to the sky.

"She was also in one of my family's acts right here, this is one of the acts they call the Roman Ladder Act," Ricky Wallenda, a member of the notorious Wallenda family, said. "It was a big troupe of people, they did it with a couple of ladders, and there she is there on the end, right there."

Miller retired in her 30s after she became pregnant with her son.

"My son is 71. He's a young guy. I left the circuit to have my child, and I was so happy I did," Miller said. "He did the best thing in the world for me. He does everything for me."

104th Birthday Party:

Miller celebrated her 104th birthday at the Showfolks of Sarasota Club on Saturday. The party started at 6 p.m. and had popcorn, appetizers, dinner and a cake dedicated to Miller.

"Hardly anybody I know is still alive," Miller said. "I'm the oldest member of Showfolks [of Sarasota], and everybody else is gone. But I had a good life."

Miller was alert and the life of the party. She was happy to be there.

Dig deeper:

Nowadays, the circus is different.

"It's not really the old circus, it's new circus," Miller said. "They don't have animals. But a lot of the smaller circuses, they have animals like it used to be. And I enjoy seeing that."

And so is Miss. Mary Jane Miller.

"My mind's okay, but my little body's wearing out," Miller said. "I can't walk as well as I want to and I have some health problems with my heart, but the doctor is very good taking care of it, but I just keep going. I trust in God to keep going."

Miller shares with us all some parting wisdom.

"Take care of yourself. Try to eat right, do what you have to do, and think positive. That's the main thing. Your thoughts have so much out of your energy. You have to think right," Miller said. "And you've got to trust in God. He has the plan for all of us, but I don't know what it is. But just live every day as much as you can, help people, and be healthy."

Sarasota