Francesco "Frank" Lentini (May 18, 1889 − September 21, 1966) was an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. Types There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions: *The Ten-in-One offers a program of ten seq ...

performer who toured with numerous circuses. Born with a

parasitic twin A parasitic twin, also known as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin, is the result of the processes that also produce vanishing twins and conjoined twins, and may represent a continuum between the two. Parasitic twins occur when a twin embry ...

, Lentini had three legs.

Early life

Lentini was born at 8 Gintoli Street,

Rosolini Rosolini ( scn, Rusalini) is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, southern Italy. It is about southeast of Palermo and about southwest of Syracuse. Rosolini was a town in feudal times, and was a settlement in ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, on May 18, 1889. Delivered by midwife Maria Alberino, he was the fifth of 12 children (seven sisters and five brothers) in his family. Disgraced initially, his parents gave him into the care of the wife of his uncle Corrido Falco. At four months old he was sent to be examined by a specialist in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. By age five he was playing with other children and was able to straighten his third leg, but not walk. He became known for having three legs, four feet, and two sets of genitals. Lentini was born with a

. The twin was attached to his body at the base of his spine and consisted of a

pelvic bone The hip bone (os coxae, innominate bone, pelvic bone or coxal bone) is a large flat bone, constricted in the center and expanded above and below. In some vertebrates (including humans before puberty) it is composed of three parts: the ilium, isch ...

, a rudimentary set of male

genitalia A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...

, and a full-sized leg extending from the right side of his hip, with a small foot protruding from its knee.

Sideshow career

He was exhibited in numerous cities, including London, in 1897. When he was eight, Magnano, who ran a travelling

puppet show Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...

, brought him to Middletown and Lentini's family moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Lentini then entered the sideshow business as ''The Great Lentini'', joining the

Ringling Brothers Circus Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a Ge ...

. He gained US citizenship at the age of 30. His career spanned over 40 years and he worked with every major circus and sideshow, including

Barnum and Bailey The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...

and

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

's Wild West Show. Lentini was so respected among his peers that he was often called "The King". In his youth, Lentini used his third leg to kick a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

across the stage—hence his show name, the ''Three-Legged Football Player''. Lentini's normal legs were slightly different in length: one was 39 inches and the other 38 inches. The third leg was only 36 inches and ended in a

clubfoot Clubfoot is a birth defect where one or both feet are rotated inward and downward. Congenital clubfoot is the most common congenital malformation of the foot with an incidence of 1 per 1000 births. In approximately 50% of cases, clubfoot aff ...

. As an adult, his primary legs remained of different lengths while his extra leg was several inches shorter. He complained that, even with three legs, he still did not have a pair. In 1907 he married Theresa Murray, three years younger than him, and they had four children: Giuseppina (Josephine), Natale (Ned), Francesco (Frank) Junior, and Giacomo (James). When Frank and Theresa separated around 1935, he began a new life with Helen Shupe, with whom he lived until his death. Lentini died of

lung failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a rise ...

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 68,205 as of the 2020 United States ...

, on September 21, 1966, at the age of 77.

Legacy

Lentini is closely related to

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

/film-maker Christopher Annino. Jonathan Redavid portrayed him in the 2017 film ''

The Greatest Showman ''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American biographical musical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, ...

''. Frank Lentini is featured on the back cover of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

-based rock band

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

' self-titled 1995 album.Liner notes, ''Alice in Chains''. 1995.

References

External links

*James G. Mundie
"The Life History of Francesco A. Lentini, Three-legged Wonder" pitchbook pamphlet
(with photos) *J. Tithonus Pednaud
Francesco Lentini – The Three-Legged Man
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lentini, Frank 1889 births 1966 deaths People from Castelbuono Sideshow performers People with parasitic twins People with supernumerary body parts Italian emigrants to the United States