Sunday, December 7, 2008

Mel Hall, Unicyclist

Melvin Hall (September 11, 1915, Boxville, Kentucky - April 17, 2001, Balch Springs, Texas) was an American unicyclist.

He was the son of Robert Hall, who was at one time a member of "Tiger Bill's Wild West Show" in the early 1900's. Robert Hall built Melvin his very first unicycle when Mel was about ten years old.

Mr. Hall made an uncredited appearance in the film, Sensations of 1945, where he can be seen riding a giraffe unicycle and mounting and riding upside-down on a unicycle pedalling with his hands.

Mr. Hall performed with the graceful and smooth style of a ballroom dancer, always in tuxedo with tails or an eton jacket.

He taught his four children to ride unicycles and they performed in the 1950s and 1960s as the Unicycling Whiz Kids, in many different venues, often as warmup for prominent entertainment headliners of the day.