George Lippert
George Lippert (1844, Bavaria – July 1906, Salem, Oregon), was born with three legs and, as was discovered during his autopsy, two hearts.[1]
Career
[edit]At about 33 years old, Lippert emigrated from Bavaria to the United States in about 1877, beginning a sideshow career that lasted nearly 30 years.[1][2] He exhibited with P. T. Barnum, where he was promoted as the "Only Three-Legged Man on Earth" and later as the "Original Three-Legged Man".[1]
After exhibiting for more than two decades, Lippert faced competition in 1898 from the younger Frank Lentini, whose performances with the Ringling Brothers Circus attracted widespread attention.[2] By 1899, at about 55 years old, Lippert had retired from exhibition and was living in poverty in Salem, Oregon, where local florist Mary Riggs provided him with a home and financial support during the final years of his life.[2]
Medical condition
[edit]Lippert was born with a rare congenital condition that gave him three legs. His third leg extended from the right side of his body and ended in a foot with six toes, giving him a total of 16 toes.[1][2] During his career, he claimed that the extra leg had once been fully functional but became unusable after it was broken in an accident.[2] Contemporary descriptions indicate that the limb hung motionless while he was exhibited.[2]
Following Lippert's death in 1906, the Daily Capital Journal reported that an autopsy found he had two hearts.[3] The claim was later repeated in secondary sources.[1][2]
Death
[edit]He died of tuberculosis in 1906.[3]
Legacy
[edit]The Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs, held by Syracuse University, includes a photograph of a painting titled "George Lippert three legged man".[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Hartzman, Marc (2006). American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. p. 59. ISBN 9781585425303. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Biography @ Human Marvels
- 1 2 "The Three-Legged Man Dead". Daily Capital Journal. Salem, Oregon. 23 July 1906. p. 8. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
- ↑ "Ronald G. Becker Collection of Charles Eisenmann Photographs". Syracuse University.
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