The man who we have come to know as Martin Laurello was born Martin Emmerling in Nuremburg, Germany in May of 1885.
He began to perform his act in Europe when in his 20's and brought it over to America in 1921, arriving with fellow countrymen Paul Herold and Ludwig Schulten (giants); Eleanor "Londy" Wagner (giantess); Walter, Ernest and Emil Hoehne (fat brothers) and Karl "Habu" Holler to appear at Dreamland.
He appeared several times at Coney Island and worked also for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey's sideshow. He also worked for Dick Best's Royal American Shows and as late as 1945 was appearing with Ripley's shows along with "Popeye Perry" and "Junior Stiles", 7-year old Lobster Boy.
Martin had a wife named Amelia. They were married at least by 1942 but it is not clear how long they had been married by then.
Percilla Bejano, the monkey-girl, remarked in an interview with James Taylor in "Shocked & Amazed", Vol. 6: "He was a Nazi. And he didn't like the American flag. You meet all kinds on the sideshow, worse than me."
But in Martin's defense several prominent American citizens were sympathetic to the ideology of the Nazi party in its early years. Perhaps there was simply some bad blood between the two entertainers. |
