Schlitze's actual birth date and name remain unknown. Schlitze suffered from the condition microcephaly and mental retardation, commonly referred to as a "pinhead". It is also rumored that he had a sister, who also was a microcephalic. He was exhibited by Barnum as Maggie, the last of the Aztecs. Because the Mayans and other Meso-American cultures ...
Upon his death, he was interred at Queen of Heaven Cemetery and Mortuary in Rowland Heights, Los Angeles County, California, USA. His location plot is Grave 69, Tier 21, Section E.
2
Because his guardians had predeceased him since he lived to the age of 70 (longer than most micro-cephalics), Schlitze was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave in Los Angeles County. When visitors to the Find-a-Grave website lamented this on the message board in 2007, an impromptu online fund-raiser was coordinated and a gravestone was purchased and placed.
3
The Ramones song "Pinhead" is about him.
4
Schlitze was cartoonist Bill Griffith's inspiration for his famous "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip (along with a Barnum and Bailey sideshow pinhead exhibited named "Zip the What-is-it"). According to Schlitze's keeper, the pinhead had been taught to talk by California speech experts, and could count up to ten but refused to speak the word eight. Schlitzie's head contained only two ounces of brains.
5
In the late 1930s, Schlitze was placed in an mental institution after 30 years in the sideshow business, where his health began to decline sharply. Mr. Sam Alexander, a Canadian promoter, took Schlitze back on the road, where he remained on the sideshow circuit until he died at age 70 in 1971.
6
In the movie Freaks (1932), Phroso the clown compliments Schlitze on "her" new dress, offering to buy "her" a new hat. Schlitze is said to have loved hats and wearing new dresses, as well as playing with string instruments (either the violin or cello), playing card and board games, dancing and singing. Despite being clinically diagnosed as mentally retarded with a low IQ resulting from his natural born birth defect, he had a relatively developed intellect for a micro-cephalic, although his lines in the movie 'Freaks' are mostly incomprehensible. Schlitze could count up to ten and taught himself to imitate the tone of director Tod Browning's voice.
7
A victim of birth defect microcephaly as evidenced by smaller than normal cranium.
8
Although dressed and exhibited as a female, Schlitze the "pinhead" was, in fact, a man.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Meet Boston Blackie
1941
Princess Betsy - Bird Woman (uncredited)
Island of Lost Souls
1932
Furry Manimal (uncredited)
The Sideshow
1928
Bit Role (uncredited)
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Freaks
1932
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Freaks Uncensored!
1999
Documentary
Pin Head
Sideshow: Alive on the Inside
1999
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Known for movies
Freaks (1932) as Himself
Island of Lost Souls (1932) as Furry Manimal
Meet Boston Blackie (1941) as Princess Betsy - Bird Woman
$16 Million
