Circus Medrano (Cirque Medrano, Cirque Fernando), located at 63 Boulevard Rochechouart, in Paris, France , was founded in 1873. Circus Medrano (Cirque Medrano, Cirque Fernando) closed down in 1963.
The Cirque Medrano was located at 63 Boulevard Rochechouart, at the corner of rue des Martyrs, on the edge of Montmartre in Paris. It was originally called Cirque Fernando. The name Robert Austens Mediterrean Circus became MedRAno. Medrano was also the name of a Spanish clown employed at the Cirque Fernando in Paris.
inherited the most charming and fascinating circus in Paris. During his 35 years as head of Cirque Medrano - from 1928 to 1963 - he promoted all the great stars of the circus world, and many from the theatre including Josephine Baker, Charles Trenet, Maurice Chevalier, Jean Marais, Mistinguett, and Jonny Hallyday. Prince Rainier was a frequent visitor, and Medrano cultivated friendships with the painter and designer Vertes and with Jean Cocteau, who designed a programme cover for one of his seasons. In 1936, Jerome Medrano was successfully running three circuses under the Medrano title, one in Paris, one in a semi-permanent construction in leading provincial towns, and one in a vast big top which toured France. In 1940 his circus in Paris was taken over by the occupying Germans, who installed a German circus to entertain their troops. Three years later, Medrano was back in charge. By a cruel stroke of fate, Medrano lost his circus to his arch-rivals, the Bougliones of Cirque d'Hiver, who had acquired the ground lease of the building, and eventually reclaimed it from him. It closed as Cirque Medrano on 7 January 1963, and the Bouglione family ran it as Le Nouveau Cirque de Montmartre for a few years as well as turning it into a restaurant. Finally, it was demolished in November 1972 and has been replaced by an apartment block, Le Bouglione. Jerome Medrano, circus owner: born Paris 18 May 1907; married firstly Rachel Baquet (marriage dissolved 1937), secondly Denise Baillard (divorced 1958; two sons), 1958 Violette Schmidt (one son, one daughter); died Monaco 14 November 1998.
