10. Many of the characters in Freak Show were based on actual freaks
Freak Show had a whole host of crazy characters, as we have already seen. Here are the stories behind some of the real people that inspired the freaks.
Freak Show had plenty of truth behind it
Evan Peters played Jimmy Darling in Freak Show, and his condition, ectrodactyly, earned him the stage name “Lobster Boy.”
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Lobster Boy however, was actually a real boy named Grady Stiles who was born in 1937 with his toes and fingers fused together!
Evan Peters, aka, ‘Lobster Boy’
His mother, Ethel Darling, portrayed by Kathy Bates, was another star in the Freak Show for being a bearded lady.
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Her bearded lady performance often drew laughs and gasps from the audience, and was a real life circus performer from Kentucky named Madame Devere.
The OG ‘Bearded Lady’
Many of you will also remember the small heads of Pepper and Salty from this season, and they take inspiration from the thousands of children born each year with the tragic condition, microcephaly syndrome.
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