Grace McDaniels
Grace McDaniels (1888–1958) was a freak show star known as the "Mule-Faced Woman" due to a severe facial deformity known as Sturge-Weber syndrome. She joined Harry Lewiston's Traveling Circus, where she was paid $175 per week.[1]
McDaniels was born on a farm in 1888, near the small town of Numa, Iowa. Her parents were described as "perfectly normal" and had had no facial irregularities. As a young child, she had difficulty speaking, but learned to speak more fluently in later years. After winning The Ugliest Woman contest in 1935, Grace joined Harry Lewiston's sideshow, traveling around the country and some parts of Canada. Although she embraced her disability, McDaniels never liked having her picture taken, because she felt that advertising herself would show a lack of self-respect. Grace McDaniels had several hobbies throughout the course of her life. She enjoyed writing poetry, and playing the Selmer guitar in her spare time.
In December 1947, while visiting Archangel, Russia on her first and only European tour, McDaniels was staying in a ground-level suite, when she noticed a stray cat wandering around outside. She let the cat, a Kurilian Bobtail, inside to give it food and water. She later mentioned in one of her poems that she loved the soft texture of the cat's fur, and that cats had always made her feel lucky. The cat, who she named Mittens after Russia's cold weather, ended up staying with her for the rest of her life.
McDaniels was married briefly in the 1930's. She had a single son, Elmer, who she called "her greatest treasure". Grace was described as an incredible mother who would go to great lengths to make her son happy. Elmer McDaniels served as her business manager and traveled with her until her death in 1958. McDaniels died of natural causes in between tours, at her home in Gibsonton, Florida. She was buried in her town, and her grave became a Florida landmark.
References
=