Nik Wallenda

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Last Surviving Child of Karl Wallenda Dead at 85

Carla Wallenda kept up with her death-defying work until age 81

(Newser) - Carla Wallenda, a member of “The Flying Wallendas” high-wire act and the last surviving child of the famed troupe's founder, has died at the age of 85, the AP reports. Her son, Rick Wallenda, said on social media she died Saturday in Sarasota, Fla., of natural causes. She...

Flying Wallendas Pull off Dramatic Times Square Stunt

They safely crossed on high wire

(Newser) - Two siblings from the famed Flying Wallendas safely crossed Times Square on Sunday night on a high wire strung between two skyscrapers 25 stories above the pavement. Nik Wallenda is a seventh-generation acrobat, but this time, he was nervous, the AP reports. His sister, Lijana Wallenda, joined him for the...

Wallenda's Teeth-Hanging Record Broken—by His Wife

Erendira Wallenda performs stunt 300 feet above Niagara Falls

(Newser) - Those wild Wallendas: Erendira Wallenda, the aerialist wife of Nik Wallenda, successfully hung by her teeth from a helicopter over Niagara Falls on Thursday, pulling off the stunt precisely five years after her husband walked a tight rope over the falls. The 36-year-old mother of three was tethered to a...

5 Performers Plummet Off High Wire During Wallenda Act

Wallenda not hurt, no life-threatening injuries

(Newser) - A circus act in Florida that featured members of the famed Wallenda family, including extreme stuntman Nik Wallenda , went terribly wrong Wednesday when five performers in an eight-person routine fell 25 to 30 feet to the ground off a high wire, the Herald-Tribune reports. Wallenda was not one of the...

Daredevil Finishes Ferris Wheel Stunt, Snaps Selfie

Nik Wallenda successfully walks the 400-foot-high Orlando Eye

(Newser) - In the days leading up to one of his craziest stunts ever, tightrope walker Nik Wallenda did the following: Dropped his kid off at school. Painted windowsills. Mowed the lawn. "It's not like I'm preparing for the end of my life," the 36-year-old said. "I'...

Wallenda Matriarch Dies at 87
 Wallenda Matriarch Dies at 87 
OBITUARY
Apr 5, 2015 10:03 AM CDT

Wallenda Matriarch Dies at 87

Jenny Wallenda was Nik's grandmother, lost husband and dad to stunt accidents

(Newser) - Jenny Wallenda, 87, the matriarch of the internationally famous family of high-flying circus performers, died late yesterday at her home in Sarasota, family members said. Wallenda's nephew, Rick Wallenda, said his aunt died following a lengthy illness. "She had a great life in entertainment, a very rewarding and...

Wallenda Cheats Death Over Chicago

He breaks two records with back-to-back wire walks

(Newser) - With no harness or safety net, Nik Wallenda's only hope would have been to cling to a cable if things went wrong during either of two death-defying skyscraper walks in Chicago last night—but the daredevil managed to break two world records and survive to tell the tale. For...

Daredevil Readies 2 Tightrope Walks in Chicago, Without Net

Nik Wallenda will be blindfolded for one of them on Sunday

(Newser) - Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda declared today that he's ready to attempt two back-to-back skyscraper crossings in Chicago, one of them blindfolded. For Sunday's televised walks, the 35-year-old daredevil promised to uphold the "Flying Wallendas" family tradition of working without a net or harness. City officials said they'...

Wallenda's Next Tightrope Walk: Chicago

And it will air live on Discovery

(Newser) - Nik Wallenda is taking his high-wire act to Chicago for a tightrope walk to be televised this fall on Discovery, part of the network's strategy to entice viewers with live events. Wallenda's walk across the Grand Canyon last year reached more than 10 million viewers live on Discovery,...

Flying Wallenda Survives Amazing Canyon Stunt

He crosses quarter-mile gorge with no harness

(Newser) - Nik Wallenda has sealed his place in daredevil history with a heart-stopping tightrope walk over a gorge near the Grand Canyon—with no safety harness. The 34-year-old took 22 minutes to cross the quarter-mile, balancing on a 2-inch thick cable 1,500 feet above the Colorado River Gorge, the AP...

Daredevil Plans Grand Canyon Tightrope Walk

Nik Wallenda says he won't be using a safety harness

(Newser) - In a stunt daring even by the standards of the Flying Wallendas, seventh-generation daredevil Nik Wallenda is planning to cross the Grand Canyon on a tightrope—without using a safety harness or net. Wallenda—who made it across Niagara Falls on a tightrope last year—says the death-defying walk 1,...

US Town Wants Daredevil to Pay Up

Tightrope-walker Nik Wallenda calls it 'disgusting and sad'

(Newser) - When daredevil Nik Wallenda walked across a wire spanning Niagara Falls, history was made. But the stunt cost tens of thousands of dollars in overtime for policeman and firemen for two towns, one in the US and one in Canada. Wallenda paid for half the bill in both towns, and...

Daredevil Makes It Across Niagara Falls on Tightrope

Nik Wallenda completes his stunt

(Newser) - Daredevil Nik Wallenda became the first person to walk on a tightrope across the Niagara Falls tonight, taking steady, measured steps for 1,800 feet across the roaring falls separating the US and Canada. Afterward, he said he accomplished the feat through "a lot of praying, that's for...

Tonight: Niagara Falls Tightrope Walk

Nik Wallenda would be first to cross since 1896

(Newser) - It's a once-in-a-century occasion in Niagara Falls, New York: Tonight, for the first time since 1896, a man is set to walk across the falls on a tightrope. "I'm facing Niagara Falls—the wind and the mist and the dark and the peregrine falcons—and I’m...

Niagara Falls' Sad Stigma: Magnet for Jumpers

Figure 20 to 30 a year

(Newser) - Rescuers in Niagara Falls still haven't found the body of the man who jumped Tuesday in an apparent suicide attempt. Meanwhile, the man who jumped the previous day and miraculously survived is still recuperating, reports AP . Two jumpers in two days: Just how common is this? Parks officials don'...

Tightrope Walker Gets OK to Cross Niagara Falls

Nik Wallenda will walk from US to Canada on the high wire

(Newser) - It's official: Nik Wallenda will walk a tightrope from the United States to Canada … over Niagara Falls. The stunt was finally approved by the Ontario Parks Commission after commissioners initially denied the request over concerns about cost, safety, and the beauty of the falls, WIVB reports. "To...

Tightrope Walker's Plan: Cross Niagara Falls

Nik Wallenda's attempt would be the first since 1859

(Newser) - A bill allowing a member of the daredevil Wallenda family to attempt a tightrope walk across Niagara Falls is making its way through the New York Legislature. The measure was passed last week by the Senate and was expected to come before the Assembly as early as today. Supporters say...

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