Circus performer Cosby dead at age 92

PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Pauline Penny Cosby, whose tightrope exploits with prestigious U.S. circuses earned her acclaim, has died at the age of 92, her niece says.

Cosby's niece, Dorothy Gravelin, remembered her aunt, who retired to Palm Beach County, Fla., in the 1970s, as a performer who earned the moniker "Queen of the Silver Wire" through her thrilling high-wire acts, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post said Saturday.

Cosby's 30-year tightrope career included stints with the Al G. Barnes Circus and the Downey Bros. Circus.

Gravelin said Cosby, who started performing her daring acts at the age of 17, continued performing even when circuses went on hiatus for the winter.

"She was always an athletic person," Gravelin said of her aunt, who died of unspecified causes last Sunday. "She loved to travel."

In addition to to Gravelin, Cosby is survived by her sister-in-law Patricia Howell; her nieces, Patricia Galbraith, Charlene Moody, Lynne Mercer, Charlotte Van Patten and Carolyn Crawford; her nephew Tim Hoover; and her step-granddaughter Therese Quetone.