Prince Randian

Prince Randian (sometimes misspelled Rardion or Randion; October 12, 1871 – December 19, 1934), also nicknamed Pillow Man, The Snake Man, The Human Torso, The Human Caterpillar and a variety of other names, was a Guyanese-born American performer with tetra-amelia syndrome and a famous limbless sideshow performer of the early 1900s, best known for his ability to roll cigarettes with his lips.

He was brought to the United States by P.T. Barnum in 1889, at the age of 18, and was a popular Coney Island carnival and circus attraction for 45 years. In 1932, he was featured in the film Freaks, in which he is seen lighting up a cigarette with a match.

Early life Randian (whose birth name is unknown) was born with no arms or legs in Demerara, British Guiana. He was Hindu and spoke Hindi, English, French, and German. According to a passenger manifest of SS Parima from April 14, 1917, he had lived previously at Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. In the 1920s he was working for Krause Amusement Company and lived in Plainfield, New Jersey.

Career

In 1889, at age 18, Prince Randian was brought from British Guiana to the United States by showman P. T. Barnum to begin a career as a sideshow performer. Over the next 45 years, he appeared with circuses, carnivals, museums, and at Coney Island. He performed under several stage names, including "The Living Torso", "The Human Caterpillar", "The Caterpillar Man", and "The Snake Man".

Randian was best known for rolling and lighting a cigarette without assistance. He rolled the cigarette from loose tobacco, placed it between his lips, struck a match, and lit it. Marriage and children

At about age 21, Randian married a woman known as Princess Sarah, who was apparently also Hindu and was born . They had five children together. Although contemporary records state that the couple had five children, the identity of the fifth child has not been established from the sources currently cited.

During the 1910s, the family lived in Charlotte Amalie, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. A 1917 passenger manifest records their residence there before they later settled in New Jersey. By the 1920s, Randian was performing with the Krause Amusement Company while living in Plainfield, New Jersey.