Jeff and the Prince
Midget; Prince Arthur actually worked for
me in 1988 while I was partnered with Jon
Friday. We played a New England route
mostly with Dean & Fl ynn
Fiesta Shows and Capt. Don Leslie was our
main performer. The Prince, Capt. Don and
I all bunked together in the back of my
straight job truck in a small living
quarters area.
It was always late by the time we hit our
beds, usually after 1:am or so, and we
were all very tired after long days of
working a continuous show. The Prince
could not sleep without his transistor
radio playing, and I could not sleep while
it was going. After a few sleepless
nights, I formulated a plan in which I
would wait until I thought he was
sleeping, and then sneak over and turn the
radio off so I could get some shut-eye.
This worked for the first few nights, but
eventually he caught me and would actually
sleep with his head on the radio after
that preventing me from having access to
it.
The Prince also talked in his sleep almost
every night. It's funny, because there was
a reoccurring theme of him having a fight
of some kind. In these dreams, he would
loudly threaten to beat people up and kill
them. He'd say things like; "I'll kick
your ass" and "Don't f--k with me or I'll
kill you"!. He would also fall out of bed
on occasion after dreaming he was
wrestling around with someone. Since he
was only about three and a half feet tall,
it was scary when this would happen. He
also once fell from our main inside stage
after taking to much Vicks Formula 44 for
a cold he had and got high from the
stuff. It required about five stitches in
his forehead.
Another interesting thing was the fact
that he would go home with strangers at
times. These would be other black people
he would meet during the show hours. They
would invite him to their homes for dinner
and to spend the night, and surprisingly,
he would go. We were always afraid he
wouldn't be back for Showtime the
following day, but when call came around,
he'd be there. He had also given up
smoking big expensive cigars when he was
with me, but would take a cigarette if
offered.
Prince Arthur considered himself special
as a perfectly formed miniature black
man. He voiced a great dislike of dwarfs,
especially those in the sideshow business.
He considered them as being freakish with
big heads, short arms and legs, and
unsightly when compared to his perfect
miniature stature. I always thought it
was weird, a black midget being prejudice
against dwarfs.
He spent the season with us, and returned
to his home in Florida after our last
spot. I understand that he passed away a
few years later. He was quite well know
in the business, and once was a featured
attraction on the Royal American Shows
when partnered with a fat lady named LaLa.
They did a dance routine which was a big
hit with the midway patrons. I have good
memories of both Prince Arthur and Capt.
Don Leslie.
Article and Image below are courtesy of
Jeff Murray
©copyright
Jeff Murray - Harmar Shows All rights
reserved
No artwork may be
reproduced, reposted or used in any manner
except that of viewing without the express
written permission of Sideshow WorldTM
or the copyright holder. If you would like
to be include in our sideshow art gallery
please
drop us a line
Back to the
Good Old Days
Back to Main
|