Joe Jackson, Sr.

Who was Joe Jackson, Sr.?

Joe Jackson Sr. was an Austrian cycling champion and a member of a world champion bicycle polo team before he became an entertainer.

Jackson became a champion racing cyclist of Austria at an early age. Later he became a trick bicycle rider and traveled over much of Europe. While appearing at the Crystal Palace in London, the handlebars of his bicycle came off. He waved the handlebars wildly as a gesture of despair. The laughs from the audience brought down the house and it gave Jackson the idea for his famous act. From then on he was a comedian. In all his years on the stage, Jackson did his act in pantomime. Preferring intimate settings, Jackson worked almost exclusively in vaudeville and European one-ring circuses. His act took him to England, Europe, Russia, Siberia, Turkey, and the United States. During the New York World's Fair, he appeared in the American Jubilee. Shortly afterward, he opened a restaurant and dance hall in Greenwood Lake, New York, where he made his home. In his late years he devoted most of his time to managing his eatery, making only infrequent stage appearances, mostly in New York, when he felt like it. He was also a capable magician.