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A still from the 1932 movie Freaks

Prince Randian (b. 1871–d. December 19, 1934), also billed as "The Living Torso", was a successful side show performer in the 1930s, starring alongside many other performers in the 1932 movie Freaks. Born without limbs, he was introduced as the "the human caterpillar who crawls on his belly like a reptile".

Prince Randian, whose real name has been lost to history, was born in Demarara, British Guyana, in 1871, the child of British Indian slaves. Little is known about his early life or how he was discovered, but it seems his incredible adaptability did not go unnoticed. He was brought from British Guyana to the U.S. by P.T. Barnum in 1889. Randian appeared in freak shows, where he demonstrated the ease and facility with which he could shave, write, paint, and roll cigarettes - all without arms or legs. He was even fairly efficient at moving from place to place, wriggling his hips and shoulders in a snakelike motion. Randian is also said to have been a skilled carpenter. The box in which he kept his smoking materials was built by Randian himself, using his mouth and shoulders to manipulate his tools; he often joked that he would someday build his own house.

In a memorable scene from the movie Freaks, Randian is seen lighting a pre-rolled cigarette using only his lips, tongue and teeth. He places the unlit cigarette on a corner of the tabletop while he opens a matchbox, selects one match, closes the matchbox and sets the match on the tabletop. He then places the cigarette on the matchbox, grips the match in its teeth and strikes its head on the table edge. He sets the burning match on the top of the matchbox, picks up the cigarette in his mouth and touches its tip to the flame, taking a deep draw and then blowing out the match.

Randian was a clever and quick-witted man who could speak English, German and French in addition to Hindi, his native language. He married early in life to a Hindu woman known only as Princess Sarah, who remained devoted to him throughout his long show career. The couple had four children together and the family eventually settled in Paterson, New Jersey.

Randian died at the age of sixty-three on December 19, 1934, having toured carnivals and museums in America for forty-five years.

People who worked with Randian recalled that he was fond of perpetrating a certain practical joke. He would conceal himself in a box or some other receptacle too small to hold a normal person. He would wait patiently until some victim came along, then wait a few more minutes until that person was confident that he or she was completely alone. Then, Randian would suddenly scream.

• Freaks of Nature

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