William Coetzee

There are two people by this name, both circus performers.

William Coetzee Snr

A lion tamer.

Husband of Hester C. Coetzee, they had five children Andre (Coetzee) Baenhoff, William Coetzee Jr, Johanna P. (Coetzee) Gould, Dolly J. (Coetzee) Netto and Dawn P. (Coetzee) Struwig.

Died about July 4, 1954 in Durban ,

who tragically died during a live performance in Durban in 1954.

William Coetzee Jnr

(19*-) A circus performer.

Also known as Willie Coetzee, he was the son of the lion tamer William Coetzee, and he worked in various capacities in circuses for a number of years. His stage names where The Human Ostrich, Prince Ben Alli Kassiem, Don Montenegro and Willie the Clown. He a;lso worked as a ringmaster under the name Willie Coetzee.

Sources

Private correspondence from Roslyn Lord, granddaughter and niece of the performers (2015-03-08)

Townsville Daily Bulletin Monday 5 July 1954, from Trove Digitised Newspapers [1]

The Billboard Amusement Industry's Leading NewsWeekly Published in 1954 Circuses pg52[2]