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Carla Wallenda (1936–2021), Flying Wallendas daredevil

by Kirk Fox

Carla Wallenda was a member of the Flying Wallendas high-wire act who was the last surviving child of founder Karl Wallenda.

  • Died: Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Who else died on March 6?)
  • Details of death: Died at the age of 85 from natural causes in Sarasota, Florida.
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The Flying Wallendas daredevil

Carla Wallenda started to learn how to walk a high-wire as a toddler. Her father, Karl Wallenda, started the Flying Wallendas in Germany before moving to the United States. Though she appeared in the family’s shows earlier, she first walked the high-wire in the act in 1951. Both her father and her husband, Richard Guzman, died when they fell walking the wire, but she kept performing until she retired in 2017 at the age of 81.

Carla Wallenda on performing such a dangerous act

“Accidents can happen anyplace…. I have to make a living, and this is the only way I know or want to. I’ve done waitress work and hated every minute of it. Why should I go and do a job that I hate?” – Sarasota Herald-Tribune in 2014

Tributes to Carla Wallenda

Full Obituary: Los Angeles Times

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