Circus Performer and One-Time Actress Frances Belle O'Connor: Gone but Never Lost

On September 8, 1914, former Sheridanite Frances Belle O'Connor was born on her grand matriarch's farm in Renville County, Minnesota. Most people remember her as a circus performer and for her role in the landmark 1932 horror film, Freaks. 

Those who met her or saw her performances noted O'Connor's grace and poise--and astonishing dexterity.

Born without arms, O'Connor taught herself to eat, drink, write, and sew entirely with her feet. With her mother as her manager, she signed on with the bigtime big top at age 15 with the Ringling Brothers while living in Sheridan:

From the March 27, 1930 edition of the
Sheridan Post-Enterprise. Click to enlarge.

While the Ringling Brothers was probably the largest circus O'Connor joined, she found her start in the limelight right here in Wyoming, first with the Al G. Barnes Circus, and later finding work for the Sells-Floto and Cole Brothers Circuses, where she was often billed as "The Living Venus de Milo."

Click to enlarge.

O'Connor's act consisted of her doing mostly things spectators took for granted, such as quaffing a glass of wine or beer, having a steak, or crafting a letter. If you were lucky, you might catch the act in which she braced and aimed a rifle with her feet, pulling the trigger with her toes. And, of course, she'd light up a cigarette and give it a puff or two.

In 1932, O'Connor went on to play Frances, "The Armless Girl,"  in Tod Browning's notorious classic, Freaks (trailer). 

From the February 28, 1932 edition of the Sheridan Press.
Click to enlarge.

While she didn't land a starring role in the ensemble film, she stands out among the company with her trademark grace and poise, which you can see in the clip found here.

Image from Read, Seen, Heard. Click to enlarge.

O'Connor returned to Sheridan for an indeterminate time after Freaks, living on Sheridan Avenue*. From there, she resumed her circus and sideshow career**, supporting both herself and her beloved mother.

By the few accounts left to us, Frances O'Connor had a pleasant demeanor and a sharp sense of humor. As her friend and fellow performer, Jeanie Bernice Tomaini, recalled of their dining excursions, O'Connor evaded yokels' gawking by wearing a cape to conceal her method of eating.

O'Connor was a hit with the gentlemen as well. Author Jeremy Tarcher points out in American Sideshow that O'Connor garnered more than her fair share of marriage proposals because her act allowed her "to show a little more leg than was decent at the time." Eat your heart out, Penelope.

Frances Belle O'Connor eventually retired, choosing to not marry, assuming herself too old to do so (or was she simply fed up with the idea of marriage after so many proposals?). She died in Long Beach, California in 1982, aged 67. While her story may exist only in a few scattered fragments, we're grateful for what we can gather of such a talented performer, intrepid personality, and devoted daughter.

From HumanMarvels.com. Click to enlarge.

*According to the Wyoming Room's city directories.

**Calling a sideshow or circus a "career" may sound strange to contemporary ears, but sideshows and circuses, warts and all, were often the only means to an independent life for people with deformities or disabilities in O'Connor's time. Warner Home Video's hour-long documentary on the performer-actors in Freaks highlights this attitude: you didn't feel sorry for yourself, you were grateful for your job, and you didn't think of yourself as "amazing" or "inspiring"--although you probably got sick and tired of the gawking and the slurs darn quickly.