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Prince Randian

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Nationality
  
Guyanese American

Movies
  
Freaks

Role
  
Film actor

Name
  
Prince Randian

Known for
  
Film-Freaks (1932)


Johnny Eck smiling while sitting on the chair and Prince Randian with a serious face and mustache. Johnny Eck wearing a long sleeve under a coat while Prince Randian wearing a shirt

Born
  
October 12, 1874

Other names
  
Rardion, The Living Torso, The Caterpillar Man, The Human Cigar, The Human Caterpillar/Worm

Occupation
  
sideshow performer and film actor

Died
  
December 19, 1934, New York City, New York, United States

Spouse
  
Princess Sarah (m. ?–1934)

Children
  
Mary Randian, Richard Randian, Wilhelmina Randian, Elizabeth Randian

Similar People
  
Johnny Eck, Schlitzie, Tod Browning, Koo‑Koo the Bird Girl, Myrtle Corbin

Freaks (1932) Limpless Prince Randian Lights Cigarette HD


Prince Randian (sometimes misspelled Rardion or Randion; October 12, 1871 – December 19, 1934), also nicknamed as The Snake Man, The Human Torso, The Human Caterpillar and a variety of other names, was a Guyanese-born American performer with tetra-amelia syndrome and a famous limbless sideshow performer of the early 1900s, best known for his ability to roll cigarettes with his lips. He was reportedly brought to the United States by P.T. Barnum in 1889, age 18 and was a popular Coney Island carnival and circus attraction for 45 years. Prince Randian (credited "Rardion") was featured in the 1932 film Freaks, his only film appearance, in which he is seen lighting up a cigarette with a match.

Contents

Prince Randian with a cigarette and match in his mouth, mustache, and a serious face while wearing a knitted shirt

Prince randian tattoo by den yakovlev


Personal life

Prince Randian looking afar and standing on a circle wood with a mustache and a serious face while wearing necklace and white shorts

Randian (whose birth name is unknown) was born with no arms and legs in Demerara, British Guyana. He was a Hindu and spoke Hindi, English, French, and German. According to a passenger manifest of SS Parima from April 14, 1917 he had lived previously at Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. With his wife, known as Princess Sarah (apparently a Hindu woman, born circa 1872), he fathered three daughters and a son. Their children were Mary Randian (born circa 1893), Richard Randian (born circa 1901), Elizabeth Randian (born circa 1904), and Wilhelmina Randian (born circa 1904). In the 1920s he was working for Krause Amusement Company and lived in Plainfield, New Jersey. He and his wife lived at 174 Water Street, Paterson, New Jersey, until his death.

Routine

Prince Randian looking at something with a serious face while wearing white shorts

For his act, Randian wore a one-piece wool garment that fit tightly over his body, giving him the appearance of a caterpillar, snake or potato, and would move himself around the stage by wiggling his hips and shoulders. His best-known ability was rolling and lighting cigarettes using only his lips, but he was also capable of painting and writing by holding a brush or stylus with his lips and of shaving himself by securing a razor in a wooden block. He kept all of the props and materials used in his act in a wooden box that he reportedly constructed, painted and affixed a lock to by himself.

His cigarette-lighting ability was featured in the MGM film Freaks.

Death

Randian died at 7:00 PM on December 19, 1934, aged 63, of a heart attack shortly after his last performance at Sam Wagner's 14th Street Museum in New York.

Filmography

Actor
1932
Freaks as
The Living Torso (as Rardion)
Archive Footage
2004
Tod Browning's 'Freaks': The Sideshow Cinema (Video documentary) as
The Living Torso (uncredited)
1987
I Am Not a Freak (TV Movie documentary) as
Self

References

Prince Randian Wikipedia