Daisy and Violet Hilton | |
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Born | |
Died | January 1969 | (aged 60)
Occupations |
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Known for | Freaks, Chained for Life |
Spouse(s) | Daisy's: Harold Estep (1941-1941, 10 days) Violet's: James Moore (1936-1946) |
Mother | Kate Skinner |
Daisy and Violet Hilton (5 February 1908 – early January 1969) were English-born entertainers who were conjoined twins. They were exhibited in Europe as children, and toured the United States sideshow, vaudeville and American burlesque circuits in the 1920s and 1930s. They were best known for their film appearances in Freaks and the biographic Chained for Life (1951).
The twins were born at 18 Riley Road, Brighton, England, on 5 February 1908.[1] Their mother was Kate Skinner, an unmarried barmaid. The sisters were born joined by their hips and buttocks; they shared blood circulation and were fused at the pelvis but shared no major organs.
They were variously in media called or referred to as The Siamese Twins, The Hilton Sisters and The Brighton Twins or The Brighton Conjoined Twins and in the United States as the San Antonio Twins. The sisters performed alongside Bob Hope and Charlie Chaplin. After years of being managed professionally by their legal guardians, in the early 1930s, on the advice of Harry Houdini, they were legally emancipated.[2]