Orville Stamm

Orville Stamm was born to Bessie Stamm and Louis Stamm.[2] The couple divorced in 1903.[3] He was a vaudeville child star.[4] In 1909, he competed for boys' gymnast contest in Los Angeles.[5] in 1914 he gave a lecture on weight loss in Tacoma.[6]

Stamm performed a variety of tricks as part of his act including singing, floor tumbling, playing a violin with a dog hanging from his arm, playing the fiddle, lifting horses, lifting women, and letting a musician play a piano on top of his body.[7][8][9][10]

Stamm and his wife, Martha Jane Stefanik, were known as the "eugenic couple".[11] They performed internationally together doing adagio dances.[12] The couple also performed routines involving singing, dancing and comedy.[13] The pair performed in Calgary in 1924, in Nebraska in 1925 and Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1927.[14][15]

Stamm and Stefanik were invited to the White House by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his presidency for tea.[16] Stamm later had a piece of exercise equipment named after him called, "The Stamm Foldaway Gym".[17]

Stamm was a physical instructor for the U.S. Navy during World War 1.[18][19] Stamm later held patents on various gymnastic equipment, headlights and animal exercise equipment.[19]

Stamm married Martha Jane Stefanik in 1947. Stefanik was a member of the New York City Ballet and was a regular performer in his act.[20][19][10]