A CONVERSATION WITH SAM ALEXANDER

from "Life is a Circus" by Shirley Carroll O'Connor

[Shirley was married to a circus ringmaster in 1945 and went on to become the first woman publicist under the big top for Clyde Beatty, Cole Bros and RBB&B Circuses]

"In the days before medicine made great strides in preventing some of the "freaks of Nature", the sideshow provided a safe and acceptable haven for those who would have been shunned by society. As an example, I remember a conversatiion I had with Sam Alexander, the "Two-Faced Man".  Sam had an accident when he was in his early twenties.  He was  cleaning out an old empty gas tank, and made the mistake of lighting a match.  He received deep burns around his lips which became infected.  The infectioin spread ending with the doctors having to make deeper cuts that took away the

areas around the mouth and nose leaving him with half a face.  After thirteen months in the hospital, he was discharged to what they called the "County Farm", a facility primarily for indigents who had no hope of recovery.  He was fortunate to meet a lady doctor whose husband made prostheses and she made arrangements for Sam to see him.  The result was a facial mask, that in the right light, looked like a real face. Sam felt the only way he could get away from the "County Farm" was to get a job, but where and doing what.  He remembered seeing a large carnival with a sideshow on his trip to pick up his mask, and he managed to get to the manager, who brushed him off with a curt "Whad'ya want?"  Whereupon Sam replied, "Well, I can take my face off and put it back on again."  After the manager recovered from the shock, Sam had a job and a life again. When asked what would have happened to him if he hadn't gone into the sideshow, he replied, "I probably would have ended my days in an institution."  He went on to say, "A whole new world opened up for me.  I belonged. I was independent and that feeling was shared by all the so-called "freaks" who, like me, would have been warehoused in institutions or hidden away by their relatives."

WARD HALL REMEMBERS

"Sam Alexander had more real human oddities in his show than any showman of modern times.  I will always be grateful to Sam for the many times he aided us over the years.  I tremendously admire his courage and strength of character.  When he was a young man with a promising career in legitimate theatre in Chicago, he was a victim of a severe explosion.  On reflex he held his arm to his face which saved his eyes.  The remainder of the flesh on his face was literally blown off the bonal structure.  Over  a year in a hospital followed, then a convalescent home.  A doctor fashioned a mask to cover his wounds.  He was broke but gave no thought to welfare or charity.  He needed to work, to earn a living.  Aware of "The Billboard" a trade publication, which at that time covered all forms of showbusiness, from reading it at the theatre.  He obtained a copy and learned a large carnival would be playing a few miles away.    He made his way to the lot and found the sideshow owner, Pete Kortes.  Asking if they could use him, Pete asked Charley LeRoy his show manager who said the three words which changed Sam's life, "Two Faced Man."  Sam woud  appear on stage wearing the mask, turn his back to the audience, then turn facing them again exposing his fleshless face.  The effect was startling.  Some people would faint, the Phantom of the Opera was pretty in comparison. Quickly learning the business end of sideshows, Sam in time became partners with Charles Cox with the sideshow on Clyde Beatty Circus, and later for some years with Lou DuFour at major amusement parks and fairs.  As he made money, it was spent on plastic surgery to rebuild his face. It took a fortune and over twenty years for over seventy operations.  There had to be a lot of pain and certainly discouragement when progress was slow, but I never heard Sam complain.  If ever anyone had a reason to be bitter or feel sorry for themselves, he would have had that right." from "My Very Unusual Friends" by Ward Hall  (self-pub 1991)