Walter Cornelius (born Voldemārs Korņejevs, 11 April 1924 – 23 September 1983) was a Latvian

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

, stuntman and philanthropist who escaped the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

and settled in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, England, where he gained notoriety by taking part in a range of bizarre stunts. Cornelius left Soviet-occupied

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and made it to the West by swimming the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. During the swim he was fired at by guards, but despite being shot in the stomach, he made a successful escape. Settling in Peterborough, where he remained for the rest of his life, he worked as a

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and Cardiopulmonary ...

at the city's

Lido Lido may refer to: Geography * Lido (Belgrade), a river beach on the Danube in Belgrade, Serbia * Venice Lido, an 11-kilometre-long barrier island in the Venetian Lagoon, Venice, Italy * Ruislip Lido, a reservoir and artificial beach in Ruisl ...

. He received

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in 1971. Cornelius gained notoriety by exhibiting feats of great strength and stamina, as well as carrying out bizarre novelty stunts such as pushing a pea through the city with his nose, letting people use a sledgehammer to break a slab of concrete that he had on his head, and walking miles on his hands. Perhaps his most famous stunt, as the "Daredevil Birdman", was his annual (unrealistic) attempt to fly across the

River Nene The River Nene ( or ) flows through the counties of Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk in Eastern England from its sources in Arbury Hill in Northamptonshire. Flowing Northeast through East England to its mouth at Lutt ...

by wearing a bird-suit and flapping huge wings attached to his arms. Although doomed to failure, each "flight attempt" gained publicity and drew large crowds. In July 1967, he appeared on BBC's ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'' when

John Noakes John Noakes (born John Wallace Bottomley; 6 March 1934 – 28 May 2017) was an English television presenter and actor. He co-presented the BBC children's magazine programme '' Blue Peter'' in the 1960s and 1970s and is the show's longest-servin ...

used a sledge hammer to break a concrete slab on Cornelius's head.''Peterborough Standard'' 14 July 1967 p. 6 A philanthropist in later life, while working at the Lido he would urge the more proficient swimmers to take up bodybuilding. In 2016,

Peterborough Lido The Lido in the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire was first opened as the Corporation Swimming Pool in 1936 by the Mayor of Peterborough Arthur Mellows, and is one of the few survivors of its type still in use in the United Kingdom. A striki ...

erected a silhouette of Cornelius as a weathercock on the swimming pool's

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

References

1923 births 1983 deaths 20th-century philanthropists Latvian World War II refugees Latvian philanthropists People from Peterborough Stunt performers Defecting sportspeople {{England-bio-stub