Review: Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead

Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead by Bill Griffith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ultimately a sad story told in a sad manner. Bill Griffith documents the life of Schlitzie, a disabled/mentally challenged man who was in effect sold to the circus by his parents to be a sideshow exhibit. He worked in circuses for decades, and even appeared in films. He became somewhat famous. Griffith describes the many circus performers and operators that worked with Schlitzie over the years, as well as the few forays into life outside of the circus, including a stay at a mental hospital. Schlitzie was somewhat successful in life given his extreme limitations, living to what appeared to be his fullest while also having bad times and bad things happen along the way. What can anyone ask for? His story comes across as sad but enlightening. You get to see a very different perspective on life.

Griffith is not trying to exploit Schiltzie, like the circus folks and the creators of the movie Freaks which included Schlitzie. Griiffith walks a fine line here, describing how Schlitzie is exploited by these people, but also presenting the alternative world where Schlitzie is not exploited for the entertainment of others, but becomes a ward of the state. In fact, this happens to him for a while later in life, and the experience is chilling. Again, Schlitzie appeared to live a good life given his situation and the times.

Schlitzie’s life is about 70% of the contents of this graphic non-fiction book. About 20% delves into the lives and backgrounds of a few other people in Schlitzie’s life - other sideshow entertainers and circus operators. I thought these vignettes added to the story, helping in my understanding of the circus environment during this time period, and illustrating that this was not considered “just a business” by many of those in the industry. And there were certainly strong personalities involved.

The remaining 10% or so was the story of how Bill Griffith heard of Schlitzie and created his cartoon character Zippy the Pinhead based on this sideshow circus entertainer. This part was interesting for me as a Zippy comics fan. I had always wondered about the way Zippy spoke, and it came in part from Schlitzie, as did his looks and even his outfit (Zippy’s clown costume was dress like, based on Schlitzie often being put in a dress and described as a woman). Griffith includes early drawings of Zippy that are identical to his drawings here of Schlitzie, including the 5 o’clock shadow that doesn’t appear in later Zippy comics. While interesting and explaining the basis for Zippy, this also feels a little sad, like Griffith is admitting to profiting on an unfortunate other, and is documenting the original because, well, no one else really is. He’s not asking forgiveness, he’s just telling the story. In the end, I believe that’s all we can hope as a person – that someone remembers our story and finds it worthwhile enough to tell. With Griffith’s help in this substantial book, Schlitzie fares better than most of us.


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