George Levasseur Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

George Levasseur

Posted on Monday, January 30th, 2017 by John Wood

George Levasseur was the strongman for the Ringling Bros. Circus in the early 20th century. Here he is bending a horse shoe, circa 1905.

Levasseur’s Stage Weights

Posted on Sunday, November 30th, 2014 by John Wood

George Levasseur was the resident performing Strongman at the Ringling Brothers Circus during the early part of the 20th century. Levasseur was famous for his backlifting ability but he performed all manner of classical strongman feats, including lifting and/or juggling several of the unusual stage” weights pictured here: globe barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells. Levasseur’s forearms definitely reflect training with the especially thick-handled globe barbells.

The Human Chain!

Posted on Sunday, January 15th, 2012 by John Wood

The Great Levasseur performs 'The Human Link' feat with four horses

One of the well-known traditional feats of Oldtime Strength is the Human Chain. There’s no telling who came up with it first but what we do know is that Strongmen have been performing this feat for well over a century — and because it is very dangerous, always goes over great with the crowd.

Shown here is George “The Great” Levasseur who famously performed this feat for the Ringling Brothers circus in the early 20th century where he was billed as “The Strongest Man that Walks the Earth.” Levasseur was also famous for his backlifting ability. We’ll highlight other great performances of “The Human Chain” in subsequent posts.