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Vintage San Diego: Man on a Wire

San Diego Stadium on August 30, 1975

By Erin Meanley | Photo Courtesy of San Diego History Center

Vintage San Diego: Man on a Wire

Vintage San Diego: Man on a Wire

Share your vintage photo of San Diego! Send your pic and story to [email protected].

Share your vintage photo of San Diego! Send your pic and story to

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By the Numbers

1780 – Karl Wallenda’s ancestors began performing circus acts, in the Austro-Hungarian empire

1905 – Karl was born

5,268 – Padres game-day attendance preceding Karl’s act

600 – Steps it took Karl to get across the stadium

6 – Years the Padres had been a Major League team when Wallenda walked

20 – Games Padres left-handed pitcher Randy Jones won that year

The Padres had just lost 5–1 in a game against the Montreal Expos when fans were treated to a special performance. Wearing a tie and slippers, 70-year-old Karl Wallenda walked on a wire across what was then San Diego Stadium (later known as Jack Murphy, and now Qualcomm).

Here, photographer Joe Holly captured the stunt for the San Diego Union. In the postgame radio show, Jerry Coleman narrated with a shaking voice. Wallenda was balancing 130 feet above the ground without a net.

Karl was a fearless member of the famous Wallenda family. Growing up in Germany, he mastered tricks like doing a handstand on top of several stacked chairs before taking up wire walking. He later performed with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Karl Wallenda’s career ended less than three years after this photo was taken, when he fell to his death in Puerto Rico, due to incorrectly connected guy-ropes. Today, Karl’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren still perform high-wire circus acts. As they say, the show must go on.

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