Carl Herman Unthan
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Carl Herman Unthan (5 April 1848 — 1929) was a Prussian-born violinist who was born without arms.
Unthan's father was a teacher who insisted he not be "coddled". Whether this was the reason or not, Carl reportedly could feed himself at two and around the age of ten is said to have taught himself to play the violin by strapping it on to a stool. He was sent to a music conservatory at 16 and graduated a couple of years later.
By the age of 20 Unthan was performing to full concert halls. He would go on to perform notably in Vienna with classical orchestras. He began with personal concerts and later added additional tricks to his repertoire. During his maiden performance he broke a string; he replaced it and tuned the new string using only his toes. After this it is said he would deliberately weaken one string before each performance so that it would snap during his recital, giving him an opportunity to repeat his dexterity. He was also a marksman who could shoot the spots out of a playing card with a rifle operated by his feet. He toured Cuba, Mexico, South America, and Europe. Later he married Antonie Neschta, whom he had toured with for a time. He moved to the United States and eventually gained citizenship. He appeared in a German silent film - a fictionalized recreation of the Titanic disaster. Unthan was not a passenger on the ship, but the film is a rare visual record of his act.
In 1925, Unthan published an autobiography, Das Pediscript (instead of manuscript – because he had typed it with his feet, pedally, as opposed to manually). It was published in English in 1935, six years after his death.
There is an oblique reference to Unthan in the dialogue of Charles Chaplin's film Limelight, which takes place in the early twentieth century while Unthan was still performing.
[edit] References
- Unthan, Carl Herman. The armless fiddler, a pediscript;: Being the life story of a vaudeville man (G. Allen & Unwin ltd; 1935)
- Library of Curious & Unusual Facts: Mysteries of the Human Body (1990: Time Life Inc) page 58
- Leroi, Armand Marie. Mutants : On Genetic Variety and the Human Body In Chapter IV-"Cleppies" (On arms and legs), pages 111-112 and 114.
- Drimmer, F. Very Special People: The Struggles, Loves and Triumphs of Human Oddities (Revised Edition), Citadel Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8065-1253-9
