We all know the most magical moment is watching fireworks in Magic Kingdom and seeing Tinker Bell fly from the castle! I remember it as a child and it still gives me chills today as an adult. But I bet you didn’t know who the original Tinker Bell flying from the castle was! I can’t wait to tell you all about her, you will be surprised and intrigued by this incredible little woman, let’s dive in!
Who Is Tiny Kline?
Tiny Kline was born in Hungaria in 1891, originally named Helen Deutsh, and immigrated to the US in 1905 at 15 years old. She started out her performing career as a burlesque dancer in New York City and even had a police charge for an extra risqué performance in 1912! In 1914 she started performing with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus under the name Tiny Duchee.
Tiny met her husband Otto Kline while performing with Ringling Bros. He was a rodeo rider and they had a very short marriage as he passed away from injuries sustained during an accident at a Madison Square Garden show in 1915.
Tiny performed various acrobatic and high flying acts in the circus but eventually trained and perfected a stunt called the Iron Jaw and perfected what she called her “slide of death”. This trick consisted of her sliding down a wire from tall buildings by her teeth! Yikes! Her most favorite slide of death was over Times Square in New York City where she went from the top of the Hotel Edison to the roof of the Prospect Theatre. It was more than 200 yards and a height of 27 stories. Although she was arrested after she performed this act, it still became her signature act and obviously gave some inspiration to Tinker Bells flight. Tiny was 42 years old when she performed this harrowing act over Times Square and you can still find a video of it today. I don’t know about you but at 42, I don’t trust any part of me to hold on while I fly 200 yards 27 storied int he air, much less my teeth! Hahaha!
Walt Disney Finds His Tinker Bell
Walt’s team recruited Tiny to fly as Tink in the 1958 Hollywood Bowl’s Disney night. Then three years later, in 1961 Walt Disney was looking for a Tinker Bell to fly over Disneyland but there weren’t many people out there with expertise in this field. Except a 71 year old Tiny Kline! She was hired to fly again as Tink as part of the Disneyland nightly fireworks show and she continued to do this every night for three years.
Tiny took the bus to Disneyland everyday and was almost 75 years old when she retired. She was actually scheduled to return as Tinker Bell the same year she retired but unfortunately passed away from stomach cancer before she had the chance to fly again. In her memoir, Tiny said that flying as Tinker Bell in Disneyland was the best part of her life besides finding and marrying her husband. The next Tinker Bell would be 19 years old, but Tiny Kline will always be the original and who started the magical memories of Tinker Bell flying over Disney for us all!
Conclusion
I think it is truly amazing that a 70+ year old woman was the original Tinker Bell flying from the castle. Her story is what Disney is all about to me, she had a dream and despite adversity she kept moving forward and finding a way to make it a reality. And now, decades later, we still look to the sky every night to see Tink fly from multiple castles and it still takes our breath away! I read that two guys used to catch her on a mattress when she flew through a Main Street Window, any 70 year olds out there want to volunteer to fly into a mattress every night? Hahaha! I love stories like this and learning the history behind the things we have all come to know and love at Disney!
I hope you enjoyed this weeks post and like these little deep does into Disney history, it’s definitely one of my favorites. Thank you all so much for reading along and I hope you have the most magical day!