By Dick Mittman
indy500.com
Monday, May 19, 2003
Monday, May 19 was a welcome day off at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 33 drivers qualified for the 87th Indianapolis 500. It also was a day where the Speedway welcomed back the veterans of yesteryear for the annual 500 Oldtimers barbecue.
Club membership is exclusive. To join, a prospective member must either have driven in the "500" or participated in the event in some capacity - mechanic, official, sponsor, safety patrol, etc. - for a minimum of 20 years. Many current members started their involvement with the Speedway in the 1950s or even earlier. More than half date back to 1977 or earlier, when Tony Hulman was the president of the Speedway.
One of these members is John Fugate. He grew up in Terre Haute, Ind., and has come to the Speedway since he was a child. Then after gaining a bachelor's of science degree from Indiana University and a master's degree from Indiana State, he worked for the Speedway for a number of years and still returns each May to the Speedway.
Yet the life of John Fugate has a strange twist to it. He's now one of the world's foremost circus ringmasters. And he just finished acting in a circus movie called "Big Fish" that will be released next December. He has a small speaking role as a sideshow barker.
Fugate also helps run the International Circus Hall of Fame in Peru, Ind. He fell into the acting role when he supervised dispatching of much circus equipment from Peru to the movie site at Montgomery, Ala.
"It was the biggest thrill of my life," Fugate said. "I wanted to be the ringmaster, but Danny DeVito already had the part."
Columbia Pictures produced the movie. Others in starring roles are Ewan MacGregor, Jessica Lange and Albert Finney. Tim Burton directed the movie. Fugate described the film as a Forrest Gump-type story about a man who did many things in his life, but his son never believed he did any of them until at the father's funeral the characters of his life show up.
"After I had my audition, Burton said, 'I want you to speed up a little bit," Fugate said. "All right, sir! He said, 'Oh, by the way, I want you to do it with a Southern accent.' 'Ooooookay!
"I thought, my family, my parents, spent $100,000 getting me two degrees in speech, theater and television to learn to speak middle American English, and I'm going to throw it all away.
"He said, 'Don't worry, I have a dialogue coach to work with you. And she was just great."
So Fugate began to learn to talk with a Southern accent, only almost with too much of a drawl. One day, the coach stopped Fugate and said Fugate was making the word sound "too Jim Naborsish," referring to Nabors' legendary role as television's "Gomer Pyle."
Fugate started laughing, and the coach was puzzled until Fugate explained he knew Nabors quite well from the actor's years of singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500.
"It was a great experience," Fugate said of making the movie. "I just have a small part. I'm glad I got that. I'm now eligible for the Screen Actors Guild. I got my letter of invitation the other day. I'm very excited about it."
Fugate was a protégé of late Speedway President Hulman. After Fugate received his second college degree, Hulman, current Speedway president Tony George's grandfather, asked him what he planned to do in life. Fugate told him he wanted a job in auto racing. Thirty days later, he went to work for the Speedway.
Fugate termed himself as a jack-of-all-trades. He was involved with the Speedway radio network, doing much of the statistical work for legendary anchor Sid Collins. He was deeply involved with Karl Kaiser and the Speedway Museum. He worked with public relations director Al Bloemker, proofreading all of the historical information. He also worked on the staff that compiled the Daily Trackside Report for the media during the month of May.
"I kind of have a pretty good mind for the history of this place," he said. "I got to live in Camelot. I was here for the last nine years of Mr. Hulman's life. It's something I'll never forget."
By 1980, the people Fugate knew best - Hulman, Jo Quinn, Kaiser - had passed away. Fugate decided it was time to try something else. He moved to Peru at the urging of noted circus painter Bob Weaver and ran the city's Chamber of Commerce for the next 10 years. Part of that role included announcing the Youth Circus each year, and this led to his new career as a ringmaster.
Fugate's cousins were circus performers when he was young. In the summers he would travel with the circus for a week or two.
In his role as ringmaster, he's traveled across the United States and to Canada and Mexico, and even appeared at the International Circus Festival in 1994 at Monte Carlo.
"I paid a taxi cab driver a hundred bucks American one night to drive his cab around the Formula One circuit," Fugate said. "Scared him to death, but it was neat for me."
In 1996 at the Circus Festival in Sarasota, Fla., Fugate was presented with the bronze medal as the third-best ringmaster in the world. Two years ago, the Circus Fans of America and Circus Historical Society honored him for his contributions to the circus world. Each July, he conducts the annual Circus Festival in Peru, Ind.
Still, the Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 are foremost in Fugate's mind. While in Houston three weeks ago, he stayed with former car owner John Mecom. He had to miss pole qualifying at the Speedway because he was announcing at the Shrine Circus in Lexington, Ky.
But Fugate definitely will be at the "500" Sunday, sitting in Mecom's Turn 2 suite. He's attended every race since 1950.
"I love this more than life," he said.
| Indianapolis 500 Talkback | Post Comment |
|
|
|