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“THE BROKEN DOLL”

One of my most valued contacts for interviews during the 1980’s in Hollywood was my friend and fellow author Richard Lamparski whose popular series of books “Whatever became of?” gave him almost unlimited access to the once-famous-now- forgotten collection of celebrities. I was privileged to contribute little bits of information and he quoted me from time to time in the last three volumes of his series of books.

It was Richard who first put me in touch with the unforgettable “Johnny Eck” the second person from the amazing cast of FREAKS that I would come to know on a more personal level.

John and Robert Eckhardt were twins who hailed from Baltimore, Maryland, the city best known as the place where Edgar Allan Poe stepped off a train in a state of advanced delirium and collapsed right on the street, ultimately dying there as well. Baltimore is also the home of one of my heroes, filmmaker John Waters, another “fan” of both the film FREAKS and especially Johnny Eck.

Although the Eckhardt brothers were twins (Robert was a normal baby) John was born without a bottom half of his torso. Legend has it that when the attending nurse saw the baby she exclaimed “he looks like a broken doll,” and with that rather poetic pronouncement Johnny would spent the rest of his life being referred to off and on as “The only living half boy” or “Nature’s greatest mistake.” John proved to be anything but these rude monikers and in time became one of the most inspiring case studies of what a man can do if he puts his heart and soul into living, and leaving little or no room for self pity.

John Eckhardt became the character Johnny Eck as he discovered a talent for barnstorming and attracting a crowd through the circuit of sideshows with such showman as Harry Blackstone Sr. His brother Robert became his lifelong companion and protector until his death in 1991.

From all accounts Johnny was very out-going and could do just about anything he set his mind to. He was a very handsome man in his youth with great agility when it came to walking on his hands. Johnny was also a gifted painter and perfected the art of painting on window screens in his own home and for special friends. His staggering disability was never an obstacle in Johnny’s mind, and just look at his accomplishments – he traveled and learned so much from the world around him and was able to do more than most regular people could ever hope to achieve with all the advantages they take for granted.

Richard had given me his home address and I sent him a photograph from FREAKS, which he sent back with a letter on his personal stationary, designed by none other than the great Robert Crumb. After a bit of correspondence he gave me his phone number and we had at least two long conversations which seemed to give him pleasure in having someone to talk to who admired his work.

The first thing he told me about the filming of FREAKS was his lifelong admiration for Tod Browning, who he felt really understood the sideshow performer and his lifestyle from first hand experience. Johnny said if the film had become a success, Browning had plans to star Johnny in his own feature, perhaps even his own life story. The public reaction to the film in 1932 was a real blow because he said “It made us all feel like we had disgraced our own kind in the eyes of the world.”

His memories of working on the film were almost all happy ones and it seemed to me like that film was the number one highlight in his life. I was glad that he had survived to see the reversal of opinion regarding FREAKS and enjoy some measure of fame because of it. Johnny was thrilled that people wanted his autograph and collected his pictures. He was introduced by mail to dozens of fans, some of whom even made sculptures of him from his sideshow days, as well as from the film.

Johnny confirmed what Angelo had told me regarding Olga Baclanova. He was indeed “in love with her, she was a goddess and seemed to become more relaxed with our ‘little company’ as the shooting went on until we all felt like we were living in a separate reality from life as it was before the film. We were like a family: we ate together and studied our parts as a unit on the MGM lot, and Tod Browning was our protector and advisor. When the filming was over and the negative fallout hit it was like the rug being pulled out from under us.”

I was pleased to hear that Johnny and his brother had opened their house in Baltimore up for friends and fans to come over and see his artwork first hand. He was very proud of the window screens that decorated his home. Johnny also had his own darkroom for developing his pictures. There seemed no end to his talents. However all this was about to change when Johnny, now elderly, and his brother, were the victims of a violent home invasion/burglary that left him traumatized as one of the attackers used him as a “pillow” by sitting on him during which time they vandalized and stole anything in the house of value while destroying anything they thought was unsuitable to resell. They even played “catch” using the terrified Johnny as a ball! Later he would say he was lucky to still be alive and for a moment there in his own home he thought it was his last day on earth.

This incident left them forever housebound and fearful; never again would they allow strangers into their home, and the socializing that made them so happy came to an abrupt end.

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