Rice Brothers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Rice and Greg Rice, sometimes known as the Rice Brothers or Rice Twins, are identical twin dwarfs, known primarily throughout the Palm Beach, Florida area for their appearances in various commercials and infomercials. Until the death of John Rice on November 5, 2005, the two held the world record for being the shortest living twins, standing only 2'10".
[edit] Biography
John and Greg Rice were born on December 3, 1951 at St. Mary's Hospital in Palm Beach, Florida. Their biological mother abandoned them a few hours after giving birth, purportedly due to the diagnosis of dwarfism. After eight months of being cared for by hospital staff, the infants were taken in as foster children by Frank and Mildred Windsor. Following the loss of their foster mother due to ovarian cancer and the death of their foster father two years later, the two were raised by their foster sister, Betty Windsor. Despite the difficulties of their condition as well as the loss of their foster parents, John and Greg participated in "normal" childhood activities such as the Boy Scouts, took regular classes throughout their education, and even played cymbals in the high school band.
During their senior years in high school John and Greg made money selling cleaning and personal care products door to door. After a number of years practicing their sales skills the two enrolled in community college, and after a year of school were promoted to training other salespeople in the company they worked for.
John Rice died from complications of injuries when he broke his leg coming out of a Palm Beach bank. He was scheduled for surgery and died as they started the anesthesia.
[edit] References
- Legends & Legacies: The Rice Brothers. WPBF-TV. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
- Entry for John and Greg Rice. shortsupport.org. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
- Lomatire, Paul. Rice brothers: Hometown boys. Palm Beach Post. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
- Woo, Elaine. John Rice; at 2 ft. 10 in., he created large legacy. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.