| Frances O'Connor | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 8, 1914 Granite Falls, Minnesota |
| Died | January 30, 1982 (aged 67) Long Beach, California |
| Occupation | circus sideshow |
Frances Belle O'Connor (8 September 1914, Granite Falls, Minnesota, – 30 January 1982, Long Beach, California) was born without arms. She made her living by appearing in various circus sideshows as the armless wonder or the living Venus de Milo. She would perform normal actions, such as eating, drinking, and smoking a cigarette with her feet.
She also appeared in the once controversial film, Freaks (1932), directed by Tod Browning, in which a number of real people with physical deformities played themselves or other characters. During the sequence at the wedding feast, O'Connor wears a pretty costume that has no sleeves at all, leaving her shoulders entirely bare and revealing that she does not even have stumps where her arms would be.
O'Connor never married, although it was said that she was never short of admirers. She died in relative obscurity in Long Beach, California in 1982, at the age of 67.