Professor Armstrong the weightlifter was a key character in the Lanchester Grand Circus. He was carved by Werner Jackson.
Jackson was born Werner Issacsohn in 1904 in Holzminden, Germany. He entered the prestigious Bauhaus art school in 1924 remaining there for over 4 years. After leaving Bauhaus he set up his own advertising graphics and photography studio in Berlin. Unfortunately, the Nazi persecution of Jews meant that he was no longer able to sustain his business in Berlin, and he relocated to Czechoslovakia. It was at this time however that he heard that a puppeteer in Britain was looking for a puppet maker, that puppeteer was Waldo Lanchester and it was Waldo that secured a visa for him in 1939 so that he could come to Britain to work for them at Foley House. He went on to create many of the iconic characters in both the Grand Circus and prior to this The Underwater Ballet.
