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Omar Kingsley
Omar Kingsley
Born	1840; St. Louis, United States
Died	April 3, 1879; Bombay, India
Other names	Miss Ella; Ella Zoyara
Occupation	Circus performer

Omar Kingsley (1840 – April 3, 1879), also known as Ella Zoyara was an American circus performer, equestrian, and female impersonator who was billed as "Miss Ella".

Early life

Samuel Omar Kingsley was born in 1840 in St. Louis, United States.^[1] He was of Creole descent.

Circus life

Kingsley was discovered by Philadelphia's Spencer Q. Stokes around the mid-1850s.^[2]

Apprenticed to Stokes, a circus proprietor, he learned equestrian acts and adopted the stage name Mademoiselle Ella Zoyara.^[3] Stokes outfitted Kingsley in women's attire, allowing him to portray an equestrienne.^[4] Kingsley traveled with Spencer Stokes to Europe, performing as a circus rider in all the major cities.^[5] While in Italy, the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, presented Ella Zoyara with a stallion recognizing extraordinary equestrian talent.^[2]

As early as 1859, Kingsley's act was associated to Dan Rice's Great Show in the American circus scene.^[6] On March 3, 1860, Kingsley appeared in Dan Rice's Great Show billed as Ella Zoyara for the sixth appearance.^[7]

When James M. Nixon brought Cooke's Royal Circus from Astley's Amphitheatre to Niblo's Garden, Ella Zoyara was on the bill on February 11, 1860. Trained in Berlin around 1856, the full-blood Arabian mare Zaidee, given to Zoyara by a member of the Prussian Court, performed under Zoyara's direction for the first time in front of an American audience.^[8] As a lead performer with Nixon's company, the equestrian was offered first-class travel from England and back for self and two servants, full medical care, carriage and horses on request, a benefit every two weeks, and $500 weekly.^[9] Nixon later merged Cooke's circus with P.T. Barnum's Old Grizzly Adams' California Menagerie for a tour of New England.^[10] From March 5 to April 6, 1860, the company travelled to Boston with equestrian acts including Omar Kingsley billed as "Ella Zoyara" among the attractions.^[11]

Kingsley created a sensation after marrying Sallie Stickney, in complete secrecy, in October 1861.^[12]

He only abandoned his female persona when he became a well-paid co-owner of the Wilson Circus, performing his daring tricks on horseback as a man.^[5] In 1863, Omar Kingsley went to California and made his debut in connection with John Wilson's circus. A few years later in 1866, Kingsley travelled to Sydney, Australia as a co-proprietor of Cooke, Zoyara, & Wilson's Great World Circus.^[13] In partnership with Wilson's Circus, Kingsley accompanied the travelling show to India.^[14]

Death

Omar Kingsley died on April 3, 1879 in Bombay, India.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Erheiterungen: 1879,7/12. (1879). (n.p.): Wailandt.
^ ^a ^b Evening star. (December 2, 1861). IMPORTANT - McDonald vs. Spencer Q. Stokes and F. W. Stokes. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-important-mcdonald-vs-sp/135758317/
^ The Boston Globe. (June 1, 1879). Ella Zoyara, f. impersonator obituary. Newspapers.com. Retrieved October 28, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-ella-zoyara-f-imperso/152493726/
^ Steyermark, J. A. (1959). Vegetational History of the Ozark Forest. United States: University of Missouri Studies.
^ ^a ^b Flora: 1879. (1879). (n.p.): Verlag des Augsburger Anzeigbl..
^ The United States Democratic Almanac and Political Register. (1859). United States: Parsons & Chapin.
^ (1860) Dan Rice's great show. Sixth appearance of M'le Ella Zoyara in her unparalleled Scene of equitation. Saturday afternoon, March 3,... Philadelphia U. S. Steam-Power Job Printing Office, Ledger Building. Philadelphia. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.15700200/.
^ Vanity Fair. (1860). United States: Louis H. Stephens.
^ Penny, V. (1863). The Employments of Women: A Cyclopaedia of Woman's Work. United States: Walker, Wise & Company.
^ Broadway Below the Sidewalk: Concert Saloons of Old New York. (1994). United States: Borgo Press.
^ Kotar, S., Gessler, J. (2011). The Rise of the American Circus, 1716-1899. United States: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
^ Slout, W. L. (1998). Olympians of the Sawdust Circle: A Biographical Dictionary of the Nineteenth Century American Circus. United States: Borgo Press.
^ Australasian Drama Studies. (1999). Australia: Australasian Drama Studies.
^ Littlefield, L. O. (1888). Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints: Giving an Account of Much Individual Suffering for Religious Conscience. United States: Utah Journal Company.