Fedor Jeftichew

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"Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy" redirects here. For Annette Funicello song, see Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy (song).
A portrait of Jeftichew

Fedor Adrianovich Jeftichew (Russian: Фёдор Адрианович Евтищев, Fyodor Yevtishchev, 1868 - January 31, 1904), better known as Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy (later Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Man), was a famous Russian sideshow performer who toured Europe with his father, the ‘Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest’, in 1873[1] and was brought to the United States of America in 1884 by P.T. Barnum.[2]

Biography[]

Born in Saint Petersburg, Imperial Russia in 1868,[citation needed] Fedor Jeftichew suffered from the medical condition hypertrichosis.[2] His father Adrian, also hypertrichotic,[2] had performed in French circuses.[citation needed] In 1873 Adrian appeared in European exhibitions as the 'Wild Man from the Kostroma Forest', along with his son.[2] Ten years later Fedor returned as 'Theodore Petroff', was recruited by a P. T. Barnum agent in 1884, and joined Barnum in America as 'Jo-Jo The Dog-Faced Boy'[2] when he was sixteen.[citation needed]

Barnum created a story that involved a hunter in Kostroma who tracked Fedor and his father to their cave and captured them. Barnum described Adrian as a savage who could not be civilized. Barnum made a point of stressing Fedor's resemblance to a dog, and explained that when he was upset he would bark and growl. In the show, Fedor obliged by doing so.[citation needed]

Fedor spoke Russian, German, and English, and toured Europe and the United States extensively.[citation needed]

He died in Salonica, Greece, then part of the Ottoman Empire, from pneumonia on January 31, 1904.[citation needed]

In popular culture[]

  • In the 1940 movie Strike Up the Band (time 54:27), Mickey Rooney takes his date to the fair, and they see a carnival barker who is charging $1 to come into the tent and see "Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy".
  • In the 1988 movie Big Top Pee-wee Benicio del Toro portrays Duke, the Dog-Faced Boy[citation needed]
  • In the 2017 movie The Greatest Showman, a fictional portrayal of P. T. Barnum, Luciano Acuna Jr. portrayed "Dog Boy"[citation needed]

Gallery[]

  • Fedor with his father

  • Fedor Jeftichew, c. 14 years of age.

  • before 1904

  • between 1888-1896

References[]

  1. ^ Un monsieur de l'Orchestre, Les Coulisses de l'Homme-Chien, Le Figaro, no 290, 17 octobre 1873, page 3-4
  2. ^ a b c d e CandyGuy (2006-07-17). "Fedor Jefticheive – Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy". The Human Marvels.

Bibliography[]

  • Hornberger, Francine. 2005. "Fedor Jeftichew". In Carny folk: the world's weirdest side show acts, pp. 144–145. New York: Citadel.

External links[]

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