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{{Short description|American side show performer ( |
{{Short description|American side show performer (1880- after 1960)}} |
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{{more citations needed|date=January 2015}} |
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{{Infobox person |
{{Infobox person |
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| name = Minnie |
| name = Minnie Woolsey<br/>Koo Koo, the Bird Girl |
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| image = Koo-Koo_the_Bird_Girl.jpg |
| image = Koo-Koo_the_Bird_Girl.jpg |
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| occupation = Entertainer as sideshow entertainer, film performer |
| occupation = Entertainer as sideshow entertainer, film performer |
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'''Minnie Woolsey''' (1880 – after 1960), billed as '''Koo-Koo the Bird Girl''', was an American [[side show]] entertainer, best known for her only film appearance in [[Tod Browning]]'s film ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'' in 1932.<ref name="humanmarvels">{{Cite web|date=2010-12-13|title=KOO KOO - The Bird Girl - Freaks the Movie|url=https://www.thehumanmarvels.com/koo-koo-the-bird-girl/ |
'''Minnie Woolsey''' (1880 – after 1960), billed as '''Koo-Koo the Bird Girl''', was an American [[side show]] entertainer, best known for her only film appearance in [[Tod Browning]]'s film ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'' in 1932.<ref name="humanmarvels">{{Cite web|date=2010-12-13|title=KOO KOO - The Bird Girl - Freaks the Movie|url=https://www.thehumanmarvels.com/koo-koo-the-bird-girl/|access-date=2021-05-27|website=thehumanmarvels.com|publisher=Circus Freaks and Human Oddities|language=en-US}}</ref> |
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==Biography == |
==Biography == |
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Woolsey was born in 1880<ref>Hartzman, Marc (2005). ''American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers''. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. p. 178. {{ISBN|1585424412}}.</ref> in [[Rabun County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. Little is known about her early life, only that she was "rescued" from a mental asylum in Georgia by a travelling showman and was commonly billed as '''Minnie Ha Ha''' (a play on [[Minnehaha]]) in her sideshow entertainment career. She had a rare congenital growth skeletal disorder called [[Virchow-Seckel syndrome]], which caused her to have a very short stature, a small head, a narrow bird-like face with a beak-like nose, large eyes, a receding jaw, large ears and mild [[intellectual disability]].<ref name="humanmarvels"/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Harsha Vardhan BG, Muthu MS, Saraswathi K, Koteeswaran D |title=Bird-headed Dwarf of Seckel |journal=Journal of Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry |volume=25 Suppl |pages=S8–9 |year=2007 |pmid=17921644 |url=http://www.jisppd.com/article.asp?issn=0970-4388;year=2007;volume=25;issue=5;spage=8;epage=9;aulast=Harsha}}</ref> In addition, Woolsey was bald, toothless, and either completely blind or very [[Myopia|short-sighted]]. She would appear in an American-Indian style bodysuit made of feathers with a single feather on top of her head as her costume and would dance and speak gibberish. |
Woolsey was born in 1880<ref>Hartzman, Marc (2005). ''American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers''. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. p. 178. {{ISBN|1585424412}}.</ref> in [[Rabun County]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. Little is known about her early life, only that she was "rescued" from a mental asylum in Georgia by a travelling showman and was commonly billed as '''Minnie Ha Ha''' (a play on [[Minnehaha]]) in her sideshow entertainment career. She had a rare congenital growth skeletal disorder called [[Virchow-Seckel syndrome]], which caused her to have a very short stature, a small head, a narrow bird-like face with a beak-like nose, large eyes, a receding jaw, large ears and mild [[intellectual disability]].<ref name="humanmarvels"/><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Harsha Vardhan BG, Muthu MS, Saraswathi K, Koteeswaran D |title=Bird-headed Dwarf of Seckel |journal=Journal of Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry |volume=25 Suppl |pages=S8–9 |year=2007 |pmid=17921644 |url=http://www.jisppd.com/article.asp?issn=0970-4388;year=2007;volume=25;issue=5;spage=8;epage=9;aulast=Harsha}}</ref> In addition, Woolsey was bald, toothless, and either completely blind or very [[Myopia|short-sighted]]. She would appear in an American-Indian style bodysuit made of feathers with a single feather on top of her head as her costume and would dance and speak gibberish. |
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She appeared in the 1932 film ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'', alongside a cast of other sideshow performers from the time, billed as Koo Koo, the Bird Girl. She was not the original Koo Koo however; the billing was previously used by another performer in the film, a "Stork" or "Bird" woman named [[Elizabeth Green the Stork Woman|Elizabeth Green]]. Woolsey is seen in many scenes, particularly at the wedding ceremony, where she is seen dancing on the dining table in a feathery costume. In 1942, a news brief in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' reported that Woolsey was recovering in Coney Island Hospital after breaking her arm while descending stairs.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 29, 1942|title=Coney Island, N.Y.|pages=44, 54|work=The Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Minnie+Woolsey&pg=PT24|access-date=2021-05-26|via=books.google.com}}</ref> She was hit by a car in the 1960s. When and how she died is unknown |
She appeared in the 1932 film ''[[Freaks (1932 film)|Freaks]]'', alongside a cast of other sideshow performers from the time, billed as Koo Koo, the Bird Girl. She was not the original Koo Koo however; the billing was previously used by another performer in the film, a "Stork" or "Bird" woman named [[Elizabeth Green the Stork Woman|Elizabeth Green]]. Woolsey is seen in many scenes, particularly at the wedding ceremony, where she is seen dancing on the dining table in a feathery costume. In 1942, a news brief in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' reported that Woolsey was recovering in Coney Island Hospital after breaking her arm while descending stairs.<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 29, 1942|title=Coney Island, N.Y.|pages=44, 54|work=The Billboard|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQwEAAAAMBAJ&q=Minnie+Woolsey&pg=PT24|access-date=2021-05-26|via=books.google.com}}</ref> She was hit by a car in the 1960s. When and how she died is unknown. |
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[[File:Congress of Freaks at Ringling Brothers, 1924.jpg|thumb|Koo Koo in 1924 (picture top, fourth from Left), was well known for her sideshow career with [[Ringling Brothers]]]] |
[[File:Congress of Freaks at Ringling Brothers, 1924.jpg|thumb|Koo Koo in 1924 (picture top, fourth from Left), was well known for her sideshow career with [[Ringling Brothers]]]] |
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==In popular culture== |
==In popular culture== |
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| ⚫ | * Australian performer [[Sarah Houbolt]] created a performance called Kookoo the Bird Girl. Speaking to Disability Arts Online, Houbolt said “My full length show, KooKoo the Birdgirl, is about Minnie Woolsey, a historical performer with disability, who starred in Freaks (1932). This is an art history piece, and a female perspective on the side show. My passion to uncover her story is as a result of the importance of telling our history from a disability perspective. Minnie lived in a time of compulsory sterilisation and anti-marriage laws for disabled women, which not many people know about.”<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hambrook|first=Colin|date=2017-09-29|title=Accomplished Australian circus and physical theatre performer Sarah Houbolt takes flight|url=https://disabilityarts.online/magazine/opinion/accomplished-australian-circus-physical-theatre-performer-sarah-houbolt-takes-flight/|access-date=2021-05-26|website=Disability Arts Online}}</ref> |
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* The Manchester-based Gypsy folk band Naymedici released a single titled "Koo Koo the Bird Girl" in memory of the entertainer, with a video featuring scenes from ''Freaks''.<ref name="youtube">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG2_4CH26J8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/aG2_4CH26J8 |archive-date=2021-12-14 |url-status=live|title=Naymedici - Koo Koo The Bird Girl (Official Music Video)|via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=August 2016}} |
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| ⚫ | * She is mentioned in [[Tom Waits]]'s song ''Lucky Day (Overture)'' from his album ''[[The Black Rider (album)|The Black Rider]]'', about sideshow performers.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Waits|first=Tom|date=1993|title=Lyrics: The Black Rider: Lucky Day Overture|url=http://www.tomwaitsfan.com/tom%20waits%20library/www.tomwaitslibrary.com/lyrics/theblackrider/luckydayoverture.html|access-date=2021-05-26|website=tomwaitsfan.com}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | * Australian performer [[Sarah Houbolt]] created a performance called Kookoo the Bird Girl. Speaking to Disability Arts Online, Houbolt said “My full length show, KooKoo the Birdgirl, is about Minnie |
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| ⚫ | * She is mentioned in [[Tom Waits]]'s song ''Lucky Day (Overture)'' from his album ''[[The Black Rider (album)|The Black Rider]]'', about sideshow performers.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Waits|first=Tom|date=1993|title=Lyrics: The Black Rider: Lucky Day Overture|url=http://www.tomwaitsfan.com/tom%20waits%20library/www.tomwaitslibrary.com/lyrics/theblackrider/luckydayoverture.html |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Latest revision as of 00:28, 29 February 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2015) |
Minnie Woolsey Koo Koo, the Bird Girl | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Minnie Woolsey 1880 |
| Died | after 1960[1] |
| Other names | Minnie Ha Ha; Koo Koo the Bird Girl; Cuckoo Girl; Koo Koo, the Blind Girl from Mars |
| Occupation(s) | Entertainer as sideshow entertainer, film performer |
| Known for | Freaks film |
Minnie Woolsey (1880 – after 1960), billed as Koo-Koo the Bird Girl, was an American side show entertainer, best known for her only film appearance in Tod Browning's film Freaks in 1932.[2]
Biography
[edit]Woolsey was born in 1880[3] in Rabun County, Georgia. Little is known about her early life, only that she was "rescued" from a mental asylum in Georgia by a travelling showman and was commonly billed as Minnie Ha Ha (a play on Minnehaha) in her sideshow entertainment career. She had a rare congenital growth skeletal disorder called Virchow-Seckel syndrome, which caused her to have a very short stature, a small head, a narrow bird-like face with a beak-like nose, large eyes, a receding jaw, large ears and mild intellectual disability.[2][4] In addition, Woolsey was bald, toothless, and either completely blind or very short-sighted. She would appear in an American-Indian style bodysuit made of feathers with a single feather on top of her head as her costume and would dance and speak gibberish.
She appeared in the 1932 film Freaks, alongside a cast of other sideshow performers from the time, billed as Koo Koo, the Bird Girl. She was not the original Koo Koo however; the billing was previously used by another performer in the film, a "Stork" or "Bird" woman named Elizabeth Green. Woolsey is seen in many scenes, particularly at the wedding ceremony, where she is seen dancing on the dining table in a feathery costume. In 1942, a news brief in Billboard reported that Woolsey was recovering in Coney Island Hospital after breaking her arm while descending stairs.[5] She was hit by a car in the 1960s. When and how she died is unknown.
In popular culture
[edit]- Australian performer Sarah Houbolt created a performance called Kookoo the Bird Girl. Speaking to Disability Arts Online, Houbolt said “My full length show, KooKoo the Birdgirl, is about Minnie Woolsey, a historical performer with disability, who starred in Freaks (1932). This is an art history piece, and a female perspective on the side show. My passion to uncover her story is as a result of the importance of telling our history from a disability perspective. Minnie lived in a time of compulsory sterilisation and anti-marriage laws for disabled women, which not many people know about.”[6]
- She is mentioned in Tom Waits's song Lucky Day (Overture) from his album The Black Rider, about sideshow performers.[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Minnie Woolsey - Koo Koo the Bird Girl". altereddimensions.net. Altered Dimensions Paranormal. December 26, 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ a b "KOO KOO - The Bird Girl - Freaks the Movie". thehumanmarvels.com. Circus Freaks and Human Oddities. 2010-12-13. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
- ^ Hartzman, Marc (2005). American Sideshow: An Encyclopedia of History's Most Wondrous and Curiously Strange Performers. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin. p. 178. ISBN 1585424412.
- ^ Harsha Vardhan BG, Muthu MS, Saraswathi K, Koteeswaran D (2007). "Bird-headed Dwarf of Seckel". Journal of Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry. 25 Suppl: S8–9. PMID 17921644.
- ^ "Coney Island, N.Y." The Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. August 29, 1942. pp. 44, 54. Retrieved 2021-05-26 – via books.google.com.
- ^ Hambrook, Colin (2017-09-29). "Accomplished Australian circus and physical theatre performer Sarah Houbolt takes flight". Disability Arts Online. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ Waits, Tom (1993). "Lyrics: The Black Rider: Lucky Day Overture". tomwaitsfan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.