The incredible story of a circus performer turned Leeds zoo owner
She was a circus performer and magician's assistant who became a zoo owner in a Leeds suburb.
Olga Denver was born in Switzerland in 1929 but moved to the UK when she was a baby and settled in Leeds.
She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before performing in revue shows; singing, dancing and performing sketches in theatres across the country.
When she was 18 she answered a job advertisement for ‘a girl with nerves of steel’ to work with her future husband Hal Denver, the stage name of Ralph Norman.
Mr Denver, who had grown up in the circus and was the son of travelling showman Tom Norman who promoted ‘The Elephant Man’ Joseph Merrick, required "a girl with nerves of steel".
She became the assistant for his knife-throwing act among other daring feats, which the couple performed across America in the 1950s.
“I thought that the board was rigged in some way for the knives to either come out or suddenly appear you know.… I was petrified….I never dreamt that they were officially thrown,” she once said.
She returned to her home in Garforth where she opened an animal amusement park and zoo.
She owned Garforth House Junior Amusement Gardens on Selby Road, West Garforth, which delighted local families in the 1960s and 70s with its chimp tea party, performing parrots, and “Chihuahua Town.” The park closed but remains a fond memory for many local residents.
Olga died aged 94 in February 2024 but her legacy lives on today thanks to her son Carl, who appeared in the Guinness Book of Records in 1971 as the youngest animal trainer, and her grandson Beau.
They have been working together to create a series of children’s adventure books that bring school subjects to life. The pair’s latest bilingual titles - “Les Aventures de Beau et Bella” (French) and “Bellus et Bella” (Latin) - will be officially published on Saturday, October 25, a date chosen to honour the birthday of Olga.
Beau, a former pupil at St Benedict’s Catholic Primary School, inspired the very first Beau & Bella stories when his dad began writing short adventures to help him and his classmates better understand subjects taught in the UK primary school curriculum.
The success of those early stories - including Time Travels with Beau, Tiger Trail and Adjectives at the Seaside, has now grown into a colourful educational series designed to help children learn core school subjects, and now French and Latin through immersive storytelling.
“The idea was to help children learn without realising they’re being taught,” said Carl. “If you make language and grammar part of a fun, illustrated story, it sticks.”
Copies of all five titles have been submitted to the UK Legal Deposit Office and Leeds Central Library’s Local Authors Collection, with further copies being donated to local schools including St Benedict’s in Garforth.
* For more information or to explore the Beau & Bella series, visit: www.Crews-Inn.com