Everyone called him Schlitzi. The real name of this funny little man was irretrievably lost - either Smith or Simon. Place of Birth? He was born somewhere in the state of New Mexico, and maybe in New York. Year of birth? Let's just say: the end of the XIX - the beginning of the XX century.
Nothing is known about Schlitzi's parents. After all, both they and his blood relatives were not delighted with the birth of this child and were never interested in his future fate, and therefore did not advertise themselves.
The thing is that Schlitzi was born with microcephaly - nature awarded him with an ugly pear-shaped head with huge protruding ears, a narrow forehead, a meaningless smile and an awkward figure (Schlitzi's height did not exceed 1.22 meters). Plus to everything - a small brain and, as a result, mental development, which stopped at the level of a 3-4-year-old child.
So the unfortunate freak would have disappeared in some shelter, if the owner of one of the traveling circuses had not become interested in him. Schlitzi was either bought or simply taken from his parents, formalized custody and decided to try it in one of the freak circuses popular at that time.
As it turned out, the owners of the circus were right - Schlitzi performed excellently. His appearance in public always caused laughter, and the reason for this was not only his appearance, but also the man's ability, as they say, to present himself. By the way, those who communicated with the little freak close enough quickly became convinced that he was not at all as stupid as the doctors say. Schlitzie perfectly understood what was required of him, worked conscientiously, often improvising.
His success was also based on the fact that Schlitzie himself liked it all very much - fairs, carnivals, illuminations, crowds of discharged people, and they all came to see him, Schlitzi. And he tried his best. Even just walking down the street and noticing that they were looking at him, Schlitzi could immediately organize a whole performance. Perhaps he was completely devoid of those feelings, events and experiences that are characteristic of ordinary people.
But at the same time he did not consider himself either ordinary or flawed. His life was a holiday, and Schlitzi was completely satisfied with this for a long time.
Promotional video:
Very soon, Schlitzie had his own image of a "boy-girl": a bright and spacious Hawaiian shirt or no less bright girlish dress, a shaved head with a rat tail and an unpretentious bow on the back of the head. In the 1920s-1930s, he performed in various groups and was successful everywhere.
But the film "Freaks", filmed in 1932, made him truly famous all over the world, which told about such as Schlitzi - artists working in traveling circuses, at fairs and in booths. The film is full of great humor and subtle jokes.
The actors did not evoke pity, on the contrary, they were perceived simply as different, different from ordinary people. The purpose of the film is to show that a handsome, physically complete person is who can turn out to be a real, true "freak" and a scoundrel.
Schlitzi played himself there, and although the film itself caused a lot of controversy and as a result not only failed, but was also banned from showing in America, England and Australia for 30 years, this role brought microcephalus worldwide fame. Schlitzi became a professional actor and after that he starred in several more films, albeit in more modest roles.
In 1935, George Surtis, a trainer who worked in one of the thriving circuses, became closely acquainted with the newly-minted actor. George liked Schlitzie so much that he not only took custody of him, but even gave him his last name.
George treated his ward like his own son. And so, when Surtis died in 1965, Schlitzie fell into severe depression. In addition, his life changed dramatically - the daughter and heiress of Surtis had no idea how to handle microcephalus and what to do with it in general, and therefore simply got rid of it, assigning Schlitzi to the state account in a Los Angeles psychiatric hospital.
For Schlitzi, these are really gray days. The former guardians appreciated him, and therefore the little artist was always well-fed, shod, well-dressed and lived in quite decent, home conditions. In the hospital, no one cared about him. He became one of the "psychos", even if not violent, but also unnecessary patients - because no one will give an extra dollar for caring for him.
The holiday atmosphere is over. There were no more lights and crowds dressed up. No one came to see Schlitzi's performances, applauded or praised him. Microcephalus sat for days on the dirty floor, huddled in a corner of the room, a meaningless but good-natured smile no longer appeared on his face. Life gradually left his body.
But miracles do happen. The sword swallower Bill Unks, who worked as an orderly in this hospital, somehow recognized Schlitzi and decided to take him out of the psychiatric hospital under his own responsibility. So for microcephalus it was a holiday again. Now he not only performed again in the street circuses in Los Angeles, but also toured the UK and Hawaii.
Schlitzie died on September 24, 1971 at the age of about 70 from pneumonia. His death certificate records that his name is Schlitzi Surtis, born in 1901, although this is a rather controversial date.
He was buried in a grave for the homeless in a grave for the homeless in a cemetery in Rowland Hay, California - no monuments are erected on these, and the names and dates of life and death are not written. But after a few decades, Schlitzi found fans who raised money, and in 2009 a real monument appeared on the grave of microcephalus.
Konstantin Karelov