Meet The Legendary Three-Legged Man With 16 fingers

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, freak shows were popular in the United States. Thankfully, they no longer exist. Large crowds of carnival-goers flock to watch amazing performances like sword swallowers, bearded women, and persons as short as Tom Thumb during these kinds of events.

Each person is unique, and Viraltrendzs takes this into consideration always. This is where all of the world’s appeal and attraction comes from. The “Three-Legged Man”, Francesco “Frank” Lentini, is a well-known circus performer. Lentini has a parasitic twin that was present at the time of his birth. Because of his amazing skills, he was able to use the circus to become famous and rich.

In the year 1889, Francesco Lentini was born into a large family in the city of Siracusa, which is located in the region of Sicily in Italy. He was one of 12 children, five sons, and seven daughters. Lentini was born with a very strange defect that left him with three legs. It was evident to Lentini’s parents that their child was unlike other kids.

Frank Lentini’s life as a child.

The fact that Lentini’s third leg has two feet makes it much odd. His legs are also of different lengths due to uneven growth. Lentini has three legs, four feet, sixteen toes, and two genitals that work perfectly.

He developed the third leg from the side of his right hip, and his knee developed the fourth foot at the same time. The existence of a second fetus in his mother’s womb during her pregnancy with him caused Franco’s illness. Franco’s twin could not develop apart from him and become an independent embryo. As a result, Franco’s twins became a part of him.

People said that Lentini was both a “marvel” and a “monster.”

At four months old, Lentini was taken to a specialist. The purpose of the meeting was to talk about the possibility of cutting off his third leg. However, the doctor chose not to continue with the treatment in order to reduce the danger of paralysis or death.

Lentini used to be embarrassed by the fact that he was born with three legs instead of two. Because of his inability to engage in sports, he has always felt isolated. He was also unable to do things that most boys of his age are capable of. As a kid, it was so hard for him to get over the fact that he looks so different from everyone else.

In his hometown, the locals referred to him as “u maravigghiusu,” which translates as “the marvel” in Corsican, or, even worse, “little monster.” So, to avoid more shame, his parents decided that the best thing to do was to send him to live with an aunt who could take care of him. Following that he was put in an orphanage that specialized in caring for disabled children.

The writings he made in his diary in the past show that he once thought of himself as an unhappy person. But when he stayed at the orphanage for disabled children, he realized that there are many people who are worse off than he is. So he believes that life isn’t as bad as he’d previously thought.

Lentini felt embarrassed as a youngster since he was born with three legs.

Lentini’s way of thinking changed because of this. He was certain that he could lead a normal life despite his condition. In spite of the fact that he was unable to walk with his third leg, he trained himself to do activities such as running, jumping, riding a bike and a horse, swimming, skating, rollerblading, and driving.

In 1898, when Lentini was just eight years old, his father took him to the United States of America. All he wanted was to start a new life and get away from the people back in their hometown who teased and bullied him.

In the city of Boston, he became friends with Josep Magnano, who had spent the previous three years performing in a circus. Josep was successful in his efforts to convince Lentini to become a performer in the circus. Lentini went on to do a lot of entertaining acts while making use of his unique physical feature in the time that followed.

Just one year later, in 1899, the world-famous Ringling Brothers circus took notice of Francesco “Frank” Lentini’s remarkable abilities. Because of this, Lentini was ranked as one of the company’s top performers.

The start of Lentini’s career in the circus.

Lentini was billed under a variety of titles during his career. “The Three-Legged Sicilian,” “The Only Three-Legged Football Player in the World,” “The Greatest Medical Wonder of All Time,” and “The Great Lentini” are a few examples.

Like his athleticism, his wit and humor were equally amazing. Lentini was well-known for using his extra leg as a stool during interviews. He was willing to respond to questions of all kinds, from the somewhat amusing to the really obscene. The Three-Legged Man was able to make people laugh by answering personal questions about his extra leg, hobbies, and sex life.

At times, Lentini had a hard time locating all three pairs of shoes. As a result of this, he had bought 2 sets and given the extra shoe to a friend who had just one leg.

Being a three-legged man didn’t stop Lentini from finding happiness.

For him, humor was an art form. He liked to make jokes about the fact that he was the only one there who didn’t use a chair for support. He’d be able to do this because of his third leg.

By the time Lentini was 30, he was able to speak fluent English thanks to his many years spent performing around the United States. In addition, the three-legged man was granted citizenship in the United States. In the course of his career as a circus performer, he has earned a sizable wealth and built a reputation for himself across Europe.

Lentini was very open about his sexual life.

However, Lentini’s uniqueness didn’t stop him from finding happiness. He was able to win over Theresa Murray, a young actress, with his charm. In 1907, the couple got married and had four children.

Their family was full and crowded. Sadly, their struggles in life finally led to their divorce in 1935, which is a tragic fact. There were a lot of rumors going around about their divorce. However, the most widely accepted reason is that Mrs. Theresa couldn’t endure the criticism and judgment of so many people on her love and family.

The three-legged man was able to find love again, despite the fact that he had been divorced. Later on in his life, he tied the knot with a lady whose name was Helen Shupe. They had a wonderful marriage that lasted for the rest of their lives.

Frank Lentini’s professional life was lengthy.

Lentini has always been an actor. He has never taken a break from his profession. Lentini passed away in 1966 as a result of lung failure. Up until that point, he had been performing for Ringling Brothers and had been a performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. His professional career stretches for 40 years.

The year 2016 marked the 50th anniversary of Lentini’s demise. A two-day memorial was held in his hometown of Rosolini, Sicily, as a mark of respect for his passing. The memorial event was open to Frank’s relatives from all across the globe.

Francesco “Frank” Lentini in his elderly age.

It’s a well-known fact that carnivals and sideshows aren’t the most well-liked forms of entertainment in America anymore. However, the public has never ceased being interested in and even romanticizing, that era.

The musical drama “The Greatest Showman,” which was released in 2017, featured a group of characters from the sideshow who were all modeled by real-life actors. Francesco “Frank” Lentini was there, of course. The role of him was portrayed by the actor Jonathan Redavid.

Frank Lentini’s success is a shining example of how amazing and lovely a dream can be when accomplished. There are several reasons why the three-legged man was able to find success and pleasure. The most important thing to take up from this is that he always saw his parasitic twin as a benefit rather than a drawback.