The Life and Death of The Lobster Boy Grady Stiles
Grady Stiles was born into a family of carnival performers in 1937. Many members of the Stiles family were born with a genetic condition called ectrodactyly. Ectrodactyly affects the hands and feet, it can cause the fingers and or toes to fuse together, giving the appearance of a claw like hand or foot. Ectrodactlyly had affected the Stiles family for nearly 130 years before Grady was born. His father also had the genetic condition and performed regularly in a carnival sideshow attraction. When Grady was just seven years old his father made him a part of his act.
Both Grady’s hand and feet were affected by ectrodactyly, making it hard for Grady to get around. He couldn’t walk but he was able to crawl, and drag himself around the carnival with an intimidating amount of strength. He was also known to use a wheelchair but preferred to move around on his own. Eventually Grady went on to become a featured sideshow performer going by the stage name “Lobster Boy.”
Grady got married to another carnival member Mary Herzog, who ran away to join the circus as a teen. She wasn’t a performer in any of the shows, just a staff member who fell in love with Grady Stiles. The two got married and together they had two children, one of whom shared her fathers genetic condition. Like his father before him, Grady started performing with his children…
