[1] She was the wife of the high-wire artist Karl Wallenda, and together they performed daring acts without a safety net.
In 1928, she made her debut as the pinnacle of the Wallenda pyramid during a performance at Madison Square Garden, which earned the troupe a standing ovation that lasted for 11 minutes.
[5] In 1962, an accident occurred when a seven-member Wallenda pyramid collapsed in Detroit, resulting in the deaths of two troupe members and the paralysis of her son, Mario.
In 1964, her sister Rietta Grotefent also died in a fall from the high wire.
[2] Kreis continued to support her family and its high-wire legacy, even assisting her son-in-law, Mike Morgan, in learning the wire act at the age of 72.