The American-born trapeze artiste Mark David, who once intrepidly swung high above the River Thames from a helicopter for a Jeremy Beadle stunt, died from liver failure at Fort Lauderdale, Florida on September 13, at the age of 47.

He was born Mark David Pilger in Baraboo, Wisconsin, the ancestral home of the famous American circus family, the Ringling Brothers, who amalgamated their show with that of Barnum and Bailey to form "The Greatest Show on Earth".

Mark David's ambition from an early age was to star in the Ringling Circus, and when he achieved his dream at the age of 23, he said: "This is what I've worked for all my life - a spot with the Greatest Show on Earth! And I hope to continue my career with the circus forever." He had been appearing at the Swap Shop Circus in Fort Lauderdale at the time of his death.Mark's mother began his gymnastic training at the age of only four; the former vaudeville performer Margaret Pilger tutored him personally. By the time he was six he was adept at riding a unicycle and was training for the difficult Roman Rings aerial act. Aged 11 he had mastered the flying trapeze.

After touring in Mexico as an amateur, he returned to Baraboo to study acrobatics in earnest at the Circus World Museum's school. While there, he developed skills on the tight wire, perch pole, springboard and the aerial cloud swing, making his professional circus debut at the age of 15.

At one time he appeared in the "Star Ship 3" helicopter aerial act of Jim and Hedi Grogan. Mark appearing on a trapeze suspended from the helicopter while it travelled at speeds of up to 50 mph, and hovered at some 500 feet above the ground.

He followed in the star-studded footsteps of his American idols, Gerard Soules and Elvin Bale - both former Ringling stars- to create a daring and dangerous solo trapeze act featuring risky heel catches 30 feet above the arena floor, the act which earned him his starring role in the Ringling-Barnum show. Ringling showcased his thrilling turn in the centre of the three-ringed extravaganza for its 1984/85 tour of the United States, bringing his boyhood dream to fruition. After touring extensively with other American shows, and throughout Europe, he returned for Ringling's 129th annual production, in 1999/2000.

In his electrifying act, Mark David would perform a 26 feet roll up an aerial rope to his single trapeze bar, then perform a series of single heel hangs, one arm planges, muscle grinds, a half-twist heel catch, and whilst swinging madly, culminated his act with a dangerous forward dive and heels catch which would leave audiences gasping in astonishment.

Performing aloft without a safety wire or device, he would shrug off the danger, saying: "It just takes practice," while admitting that discipline, talent, passion and courage might just also be qualities for any aspiring aerial star. There was undoubtedly a great deal of danger to his act, as witnessed by some serious accidents he sustained during his career. Undeterred, his nerve unshaken, he always returned to the sawdust ring for more challenges.

In Europe he was featured at the famous Circus Krone building in Munich in the winter of 1990, and toured extensively throughout Europe with Enis Togni's famous American Circus from Italy.

Although often in England to see his many friends, his only professional appearance here was for the ITV television show Beadle's Daredevils in 1993, produced by Nigel Lithgow, dreamt up by circus impresario Gerry Cottle, and his friend, the television personality and prankster Jeremy Beadle. Alongside some of the world's leading daredevil performers, Mark David was shown performing on a trapeze slung from a helicopter hovering high above the River Thames in a flashback to one of his early American stunts.

In the 1980s, he made his home base in Sarasota, Florida, the spiritual home of so many circus performers in the United States, and which had been the winter home of The Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus after it left Baraboo.

Mark David Pilger was predeceased by his parents, Margaret and Lee Pilger, and is survived by a brother, Jay. He was unmarried.

Mark David, trapeze artiste, died September 13, 2008, aged 47.