Schlitzie biography

Schlitzie performed in the sideshow for Alexander until Following the end of his circus career, Schlitzie retired to Los Angeles where he occasionally performed on the sideshow circuit, even traveling to Hawaii and London, England. Between shows, he was a popular Hollywood street performer often accompanied by caretakers selling souvenir pictures from his circus days.

One of his favorite spots was Santa Monica Boulevard, close to a local park where he loved to feed the pigeons and ducks. On September 24,Schlitzie died at the age of This was a relatively long life for someone with microcephaly. She's further alleged to have been his twin, though there is disagreement on this, too. The sister's name was supposedly Athelia, and they are said to have both been purchased from their parents by circus owners, who then may have split them up.

Like a great many other things about Schlitzie's life, there's no evidence of this one way or the other. There was another microcephalic sideshow performer named Athelia, and she and Schlitzie did sometimes appear together.

Schlitzie biography: Schlitzie, possibly born Simon Metz and

There are photos of her and reports about her performances from the time. Similarly to Schlitzie, she was presented as being born of the Aztec people, and she does seem to have been around the same age as him. However, it's possible that Athelia was simply another microcephalic person who happened to be touring the same circuits as Schlitzie, and so promoters came up with the idea that they were siblings as an advertising tactic.

Like Schlitzie, almost nothing is known about Athelia's birth and early life, so it's difficult to say if they were actually brother and sister or if the whole thing is a bit of sideshow legend. George Surtees, a chimpanzee trainer, met Schlitzie at some point on the carnival circuit and was quite taken with his friendliness and warmth.

Surtees and Schlitzie became friends and, before long, Surtees began working as Schlitzie's caretaker. Over time, Surtees even legally adopted Schlitzie and is said to have thought of him like a son. They're reported to have had a happy family life together.

Schlitzie biography: Most reports say Schlitzie was born

Unfortunately, Surtees passed away in the s. The courts determined that Schlitzie, unable to care for himself, would be left in the schlitzie biography of George Surtees' daughter. Surtees' daughter had no experience in circus life like her father did. She had never been involved in that world, and was unable to care for Schlitzie herself. It's not clear how or why but, according to The Human Marvelsshe eventually concluded that the best thing to do for Schlitzie would be to have him admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Los Angeles County Hospital, a mental institution.

After being admitted to the institution, Schlitzie reportedly went into a deep depression. While the institution sometimes let him hold little performances for the staff and other patients, he was deeply unhappy being away from the circus. Before long, Schlitzie was clearly not coping well at all with his new life. Schlitzie was in the institution for about three years, and it was during one of his performances inside the hospital that he came to the attention of Bill Unks, a janitor there who took the job during the off-season of his regular profession — a circus sword-swallower.

Together, Unks and Alexander reached out to Schlitzie's doctors and requested that he be allowed to return to the circus. Amazingly, the doctors agreed. Schlitzie's depression had reached a point where they didn't think he'd last much longer in the hospital, so the doctors released him to Unks and Alexander, who soon had him back on the road.

Schlitzie biography: Schlitzie was born as

Schlitzie's mood immediately improved upon his return to the circus, and he went right back to the life he had known for decades. Prior to leaving the hospital, his doctors gave him only six months to live, based on his deep depression. Once he returned to performing, Schlitzie went on to live for several more years. Even as he got older and could no longer travel, he still performed on the streets of Los Angeles, selling his old sideshow photos.

One sad truth about sideshow performers is that a great many of them had shorter-than-average lives. They often had medical conditions that gave them their unique traits, but in many cases, those same conditions claimed them at an earlier age than the typical lifespan of the time. It was not uncommon for sideshow performers to be on the circuit for a few just years, then retire early, or even to die while on the road.

The film became the public's major exposure to Schlitzie, who remains one of the more memorable characters in the film. Schlitzie's iconic image has lent itself to many products, including masks, hats, shirts, models, clocks, snow globes, and dolls. Griffith has recently released Nobody's Foola graphic novel biography of Schlitzie.

Schlitzie biography: Schlitzie (alternatively spelled Schlitze or Shlitze;

The biographic account of Schlitzie will be featured in a new documentary, titled Schlitzie: One of Uscurrently in production and directed by Steve Belgard. Schlitzie facts for kids Kids Encyclopedia Facts. Quick facts for kids. Los AngelesCaliforniaUS. All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles including the article images and facts can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise.

Cite this article:. This page was last modified on 18 Octoberat Suggest an edit. Biography [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Freaks and later work [ edit ]. Hospitalization [ edit ]. Final years [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Cultural legacy [ edit ]. Filmography [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. New York: Jeremy P. ISBN Google booksretrieved Retrieved 7 January New York: Citadel Press.

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