Chester Cable, Known As The The Man With The Educated Feet, Dies At 93

Chester Cable, a world renowned foot juggler and Guinness World Record holder, Army veteran and beloved friend, father and partner died Feb. 5 at the age of 93.

The second of six children, Cable was born June 13, 1931, in the small Pennsylvania borough of Benson — known to locals as Hollsopple — to John J. Cable and Ida Rachel Thomas Cable. His mother died when he was still young, and his father remarried shortly after.

“He was born on a farm, so he had a lot of responsibility, especially after his mom passed away,” Cable’s daughter-in-law, Deb Cable, said.

At about the age of 15, Cable ran away from home to join the circus, a decision that would lead him not only to a lifelong career but also to an extended family he created and cultivated throughout his life.

A few years later, Cable joined the Cole Brothers Circus as an usher, watching and learning from the circus performers and learning how to foot juggle from a neighbor back in Pennsylvania. By 1950, Cable became part of an act known as The Three Bojons, a Risley act where he would foot juggle another person.

But after a handful of years in the circus, Cable decided to join the United States Army just two days shy of his 22nd birthday. He served in the Special Services corps alongside Leonard Nimoy, Ken Barry and Johnny Lux. Between 1953 and 1955, Cable toured Army posts to entertain the troops and performed at colleges to help with Army recruitment.

“That was a really important part of his life,” Wini McKay, Cable’s longtime partner, said. “He didn’t serve in a war or anything, so it’s kind of funny when everybody’s talking about their war experiences, and Chester’s war experiences are foot juggling.”

After he left the army, he continued to improve his act, eventually switching out people for props and launching a solo career where he became most famous for being able to foot juggle large and heavy objects, including a 130-pound metal table and a 48-pound wagon wheel.

During this time, he continued to travel with the circus, bringing his three sons — Chester, Ralph and Alvin — along with him on the road.

“I used to love waking up and popping the door open in the camper, and looking around and trying to figure out where we were at,” Ralph said.

For youngest sibling, Alvin, the best part was getting to work with the animals — elephants, tigers and bears.

“I fell in love with the animals,” he said. “It’s different now, because there are no animals in circuses, but back then there were.”

But being part of the circus was much more than traveling and spending time with giant animals. As McKay put it, “there are no lazy kids in the circus.”

“Sometimes we’d move overnight, so you would get up in the morning, and you’d set up a tent, and then once the tent was up, you would have to get the concessions ready, and then once the concessions were ready, you would have to get the props ready, because your parents were working in the show,” Chester said. “You were always busy.”

All three did school by correspondence while traveling with the circus, being tutored by those around them and learning how to adapt to any environment and fix just about anything — skills they said have been vital as adults.

“You got to pack everything up, you got to drive 200 miles, and you got to set it back up again, and then if something breaks, you fix it on the fly, or you replace it the best you can,” Ralph said. “So I think that that is a very valuable human skill to learn just because it helps people survive and thrive in different environments.”

After more than three decades in the circus, Cable became a Guinness World Record holder in 1981 for the most consecutive foot juggling flips of a table — a title he still holds to this day.

But aside from his work as a performer, Deb said Cable was truly a jack of all trades when it came to the circus. Not only was he able to always find the best spot for the big top, but he could drive the tent stakes by hand (later inventing a tool to make this easier), raise the tent, set up the seats, rig the aerial acts, connect the sound system, troubleshoot issues with food vending equipment, make the cotton candy, coach almost any act in the circus and do it all with his one-of-a-kind flare.

“He always had such a sense of humor,” Kiyomi Hara said. “Sometimes some people got it, sometimes some people didn’t, but he had a quick sense of humor and was really quick at responses.”

Hara, who referred to Cable as her adopted father, met him and McKay after leaving an abusive relationship.

“We took her in for two weeks,” McKay said with a laugh, “and now it’s been 25 years.”

Cable traveled the world, worked on Circus of the Stars for many years, was a featured act with the Harlem Globe Trotters and trained some of the best tent masters in the world. 

Later in life, Cable and McKay founded L.A. Circus, which ran a show, a school and continues to provide movie props, sets and acts for a number of television and movie productions from its Jurupa Valley location.

“We had this great plan to make the biggest and the best prop house, not necessarily in Riverside, but in the whole world,” McKay said. “And, you know, for circus props and real stuff, not a bunch of phony stuff.”

And together they did, working on films such as “Water for Elephants” and “The Greatest Showman,” music videos for artists like Pink, Travis Scott and Blink 182 and television shows like Carnivàle, American Horror Story and Germany’s Next Topmodel by Heidi Klum.

But Cable’s support for the people he worked with and projects he was part of went far beyond his responsibilities on the set.

“He was the oldest [at concerts] for Justin [Bieber] and for T-Pain and Lil Wayne,” McKay said. “I don’t know if he was the oldest when we went to see Tony Bennett. That might have been a toss up there.”

For more than 60 years, Cable was a working foot juggler who has cemented his place in circus history, but his legacy is carried on by those who knew and loved him.

“I would say Chester’s legacy is this place, his knowledge that he’s left with everybody, and his humor,” McKay said, holding back tears.

Cable is survived by longtime partner Wini McKay, his brother Ralph Cable; children Dave Goughenour and wife Su, Barbara Cable, Chester Cable Jr. and wife Debra, Ralph Cable and wife Lynne, Alvin Cable and wife Karen; chosen family Kiyomi Hara and Gary and Kari Johnson; his L.A. Circus family and numerous grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

A celebration of life is scheduled to be held at 2 p.m. April 22 at the Pacific Coast Showmen’s Association, 305 N. Central Ave., in Upland. A more private event for family and friends is set for April 23 at L.A. Circus.

Cable will be interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Hugo, Oklahoma, at a later date.

“It’s going to be difficult,” McKay said. “But we’ll all be OK.”