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

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

sideshow In North America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, traveling carnival, carnival, fair, or other such attraction. They historically featured human oddity exhibits (so-called “Freak show, freak shows”), pr ...

performer who toured with numerous circuses. Born with a

conjoined twin Conjoined twins, popularly referred to as Siamese twins, are twins joined ''Uterus, in utero''. It is a very rare phenomenon, estimated to occur in anywhere between one in 50,000 births to one in 200,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence i ...

, Lentini had three legs.

Early life

Lentini was born at 8 Gintoli Street,

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

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, 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 his aunt, the wife of his uncle Corrado Falco. At four months old he was sent to be examined by a specialist in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

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

parasitic twin A parasitic twin, also known as an asymmetrical twin or unequal conjoined twin, occurs when a twin embryo begins developing in utero, but the pair does not fully separate, and one embryo maintains dominant development at the expense of the other. ...

. 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, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

, 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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 Germ ...

. 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 Earth ...

and

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age ...

'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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

across the stage—hence his show name, the ''Three-Legged Football Player''. Lentini's normal legs were slightly different in length: one was 99 centimeters and the other 97 centimeters. The third leg was only 91 centimeters and ended in a

clubfoot Clubfoot is a congenital or acquired 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 ca ...

. As an adult, his primary legs remained of different lengths while his extra leg was several centimeters 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 in

Jackson, Tennessee Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee, United States. Located east of Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis and 130 Miles Southwest of Nashville, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population wa ...

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

Legacy

Jonathan Redavid portrayed him in the 2017 film ''

The Greatest Showman ''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American musical period drama film directed by Michael Gracey from a screenplay by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon, based on an original story by Bicks. The film stars Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, ...

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

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

-based rock band

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

' 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