FORREST  LAYMAN
Armless Wonder
Forrest was born in 1905 in the small farming community of Finch Hollow, New York not far from the Pennsylvania border.  According to the biographical pamphlet that he sold at his appearances Forrest "felt the call of the road in the show business after a number of my friends persuaded me to do so, so I could show the Public what could be accomplished by perseverance."  That would have been in 1927 which coincidentally enough? was the same year he was married to his wife Mildred.  One small news article mentioned that Forrest quit the business following his appearance at the 1939-40 New York Worlds Fair (where he appeared with Dufour and Rogers highly successful "Strange As It Seems Show") but the article to the right states he was with the Cole Brothers Circus till 1951.
   He owned and operated a small chicken farm for a number of years in Mt.Upton till his years of 
smoking caught up with him and he permanently retired to the Oneonta Nursing Home in 1967 plagued with emphysema.
   Forrest loved to talk about his good old days in showbusiness to anyone who cared to listen.  His travels around the country and overseas to Europe and his brief stint on the Vaudeville circuit provided a life time of anecdotes.
   He passed away at the assisted care facility in 1976.
from his bio pamphlet
April 1939 John Hix syndicated column
"A Night at Coney Island" was the only "freak show" to work Vaudeville. Forrest is seated on the right.
Small article published in a Utah newspaper, 1926