Schlitzie was born microcephalus, a condition characterised by an abnormally small and often pointed cranium. The condition often resulted in retardation and Schlitzie himself was as cognitive as a four year old. Previous to Schlitzie, the display and exhibiting of ‘pinheads’ was nothing new. In the 1800’s pinheads were often exhibited as a species apart from man, as the last members of an ancient race – usually Aztecs – and on occasion they were billed as being from another planet. During his lifetime, Schlitzie was exhibited as all of these things. Schlitzie was most famously preceded by the pinhead Zip, and even today pinheads enjoy popularity as a microcephalus man dubbed Beetlejuice frequents The Howard Stern Show.

For much of his career, Schlitzie was billed as female. This was mostly due to his dress-like attire which was an attire choice based purely on his incontinence. While popular with crowds, Schlitzie’s biggest fans were his colleagues and caretakers. To sum up the reason for this fondness is difficult but the wonderment Schlitzie held for the daily mundane, his childlike exuberance, his eternal innocence greatly influenced those around him. Schlitzie was a ray of sunshine, and his smile and unconditional love shined on all those around him.

During his long career Schlitzie entertained millions of carnival and film goers with his antics. He was perhaps best known for his role in the Tod Browning cult classic film Freaks – though he also appeared in Island Of Lost Souls opposite Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi. As a sideshow entertainer, Schlitzie was employed by every major name in the business. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Clyde Beatty Circus, Tom Mix Circus, West Coast Shows, Vanteen & Lee Circus Sideshow, and the Dobritsch International Circus all had Schlitzie in their shows at some point.

Although Schlitzie had no known biological family, during the 1936 season of the Tom Mix Circus sideshow George Surtees, a chimpanzee trainer, became Schlitzie's legal guardian. Surtees was, by all accounts, a caring and loving guardian but when he passed in the early 1960’s his daughter had Schlitzie committed to a Los Angeles County Hospital.

Schlitzie remained committed for some time, until he was recognized by sword swallower Bill Unks. Unks just happened to be working at the hospital during the off season when he noticed a very sad and depressed Schlitzie. Schlitzie missed the carnival, missed his friends and the adoration of the crowds. Hospital authorities eventually determined that the best care for Schlitzie would be to make him a ward of Unks' employer, showman Sam Kortes, and return to the sideshow.

Schlitzie never truly retired. He was eventually cared for by performer friends and settled in and apartment near MacArthur Park Lake in downtown Los Angeles. In his final years, Schlitzie could be seen feeding the pigeons and ducks with his guardian, performing for people as they passed by.

He continued to enchant crowds until his passing in 1971 at the age of 71.

For a personal account of the life of Schlitzie, click here.

In 1888 in Orissa, India twin girls were born connected in a similar manner. While the birth of conjoined twins was often viewed as highly unusual, the superstitious residents of their village saw the girls as ‘symbols of divine wrath’ and lobbied for their expulsion. Their father, distraught by the appearance of his daughters, moved to physically separate the girls by his own hand but local officials rescued the infants and the monks of a local temple took over their care. The monks named the girls Radica and Doodica.

In 1893 Radica and Doodica were sold to London showman Captain Colman. The sisters began a career exhibiting themselves across Europe often paired with another Colman prodigy, a dwarf billed as the smallest man in the world, Peter the Small. It has been said that Colman treated the girls as an adoptive father and not exclusively as an exploitive promoter. The girls seemed happy and they had each other, until Doodica developed tuberculosis in 1902.

In Paris Dr. Eugene-Louis Doyen separated the sisters in an effort to save Radica. Doyen was a pioneering medical filmmaker and filmed the twins’ surgery as La Separation de Doodica-Radica.

The operation was considered a success initially and Doodica passed shortly afterward from tuberculosis. However, the separation came too late as Radica contracted tuberculosis from her sister and passed on in 1903.

She spent the last year of her life in a Paris sanatorium, alone.

Sections of Doyen’s filmed separation surgery were last shown in the UK documentary series The Last Machine in 1995. Previously, the film was often shown in grindhouse styled sideshows spliced into exploitation ‘freak’ films.

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