Frank Lentini from Rosolini with three legs: from object of ridicule to true showman
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When it comes to having something extra. That extra something that Mother Nature had given to Francesco Lentini: three legs of different lengths, three feet plus one atrophied behind the knee of the third leg, sixteen fingers, and two genitals. Francesco was born in Rosolini on May 18, 1889, and, on that day, his parents Natale Lentini and Giovanna Falco did not jump for joy, nor did the midwife who, as the first witness of his malformations, screamed in fear, hid him in a basket under the bed, and fled. Francesco’s early years – on which Alberto Giuffrè recently wrote the fictionalized biography “Incredible Story of the Man with Three Legs,” published by minimum fax – were not easy at all. Initially rejected by his parents, who had many other children, Francesco was first cared for by his grandmother Peppina Casto and then by his aunt Giacoma, and for a brief period, he found shelter in an orphanage for disabled children. In a rural society poor in education and influenced by rumors and supernatural phenomena, his anomalies were attributed to a “curse” that victimized his mother, who was impressed by having seen, during pregnancy, a carpenter’s table with a hole in the center and three legs. In reality, Francesco’s deformities have a scientific explanation: what remains in his body belongs to a conjoined twin that was not successfully detached and removed during birth.
For the people of Rosolini, that child with an extremely singular appearance, looked at with a mixture of astonishment and terror, is “u meravigghiusu,” or “Ciccinieddu tri pieri”. His parents are tormented by the child who is ridiculed by the villagers and of whom they are ashamed; they even turn to a luminary from Malta to have the third leg amputated, but the medicine of the time is not ready for a surgery considered too risky. However, as almost always happens when one is forced to live with disabilities, ingenuity develops to overcome practical difficulties: Francesco learns to ignore the weight of the third leg – which grew smaller without touching the ground -, manages to sleep without discomfort, and ties it around his waist with a belt. But not only that: the child has a marked and lively intelligence and, under the guidance of his uncle – who makes him perform in the streets of the village -, he reveals an uncommon histrionic talent. And so in 1898, his father, together with Francesco and one Giuseppe Magnano – who declares himself his uncle and has already worked in America – embark, via Liverpool, for the New World. America, for many Sicilians of the time, a destination of hopes, does not disappoint. In a short time, Francesco, now called Frank, becomes a sideshow phenomenon. Shortly after landing at the port of Boston, Frank is hired by the Ringling Brothers circus, and later by the famous Barnum & Bailey in New York, becoming one of its main attractions. Among his acts, there is one where he kicks a ball with the third leg that the assistant sends back to him: such is his agility and skill that he is called the “Three-Legged Football Player,” with posters depicting him juggling with the extra limb or also “The Three-Legged wonder”. America is his fortune, but no one gives you fortune, it must be earned with sacrifices, skills, and flair. Therefore, Lentini will say: “I came to America because I had heard that the streets were paved with gold; when I arrived, I discovered three things: first, the streets were not paved with gold; second, they were not even paved; and third, I had to pave them myself”. Frank is sought after by the best circuses and sideshows, goes on numerous world tours, and his showman career lasts for several decades. In 1907 he marries the beautiful Theresa Murray, three years younger, the daughter of a showman he met at the circus; with her, he has four children, all very healthy, but after about thirty years during which he settles in Wethersfield, Connecticut, he starts living with another woman, Helen Shupe, who will be by his side until his death.
Frank Lentini retires from the circus in 1952 but continues to perform in various shows (in high demand) and dies at the age of seventy-seven in Jackson, Florida, where he moved in his last years, on September 22, 1966, after a long and happy life despite his physical deformities. In addition to being an example of overcoming disabilities, becoming famous, he is a spokesperson for diversity, supporting its cause and fighting against the prejudices that multiply against it. A man with a lovely sense of humor, he jokingly said about his defects (or rather, excesses): “My mother did not give birth to two children. More than one, but not two,” and about the extra leg on which he leaned to sit down: “I am the only one in the world who does not need a chair to sit down”. Forced all his life to buy two pairs of shoes, he told the saleswomen that one was a gift for a friend who had lost a leg in the war. When you have something extra like Lentini did, you also have intelligence and talent.
Frank Lentini, l’uomo di Rosolini con tre gambe: da oggetto di scherno a vero showman
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