The Human Tripod

Ed Gein · #1 ● 08-26-2009, 06:30 PM

Francesco A. "Frank" Lentini, in his youth, used his extraordinary third leg to kick a soccer ball across the stage, hence his show name, the Three-Legged Football Player. Mr. Lentini actually had double sex organs and a rudimentary foot growing from the knee of his third leg. While his extra leg was several inches shorter than the others, his primary legs were also two different lengths. Mr. Lentini was heard to complain that even with three legs, he still didn't have a pair.
Born in 1889 in Siracusa, Sicily into a family with eleven children, Lentini was raised by his aunt after his parents refused to acknowledge their deformed child. At age nine, after leaving the disabled children's home in which his aunt had placed him, Frank came to the United States to join showbusiness, eventually becoming a U.S. citizen at the age of 30. He married a woman named Theresa Murray and had four children - Natale, Frank, James and Jennie. Frank loved children and was said to be very patient with children who came to view his act and ask him questions. He died in his home in Florida in 1966.

"If you lived in a world where everyone had one arm, how would you cope with two?" -Frank Lentini

"Curiously enough, although Frank was proud of his third leg, he was extremely sensitive about an extra thumb he had growing from his knee. He always took pains to keep it covered and was annoyed if anyone mentioned it." - Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, quoted by Mannix (the "thumb" in question is actually Lentini's fourth foot, attached at the knee of his third leg.)