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The Life Of A Strange Woman Who Grows A Beard Like A Man With 4 Husbands

Jane Barnell (1879-1945), was a strange American woman who grew a beard like a man. She has participated in circus performances, worked in museums and festivals.

While doing these jobs, Jane uses various stage names such as Princess Olga, Madame Olga and Lady Olga. In the classic movie “Freaks” directed by Tod Browning, Jane uses the stage name Olga Roderick and is nicknamed “the bearded lady”.

Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, USA, in a family of 5 children, Jane is the third child of Russian-Jewish caravan manufacturer George Barnell.

By the age of 2, Jane had begun to grow a beard. At this time, her mother took her daughter to see doctors and healers with the desire to cure this disease. However, everything is incurable.

At the age of 4, Jane was secretly sold by her mother to the Great Orient Family Circus and Menagerie while her father was on a business trip in Baltimore. This circus is managed by a Muslim woman. Her two daughters are dancers, and her three sons juggle and walk the ropes. For several months, Jane toured with the circus around the South before going to New Orleans and then to Europe.



In Europe, the circus toured in Germany. At this time, little Jane had typhoid fever in Berlin and was admitted to a charity hospital, then an orphanage. When she was 5 years old, Jane was found by her father. He followed the circus from the Carolinas to Germany to track down his daughter.

After that incident, Jane was cared for by her grandmother Catawban, who lived in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. She began shaving to hide her condition.

Grandma told Jane stories about Florence Nightingale – The ancestor of nursing in the world and this was the inspiration for Jane to study nursing when she turned 17. Jane worked at the city hospital. Street in Wilmington for about a year until I discovered an abnormality in my appearance that made it impossible for me to lead a normal life.



Jane returned to her farm and in the spring of 1892 met circus performer William Heckler. He advised Jane not to shave anymore and went to work at John Robinson’s Circus. Jane tried several stage names and ultimately chose Lady Olga Roderick. At that time, Jane’s beard was 33 centimeters long.

After 14 years working for the Robinson Circus, Jane also joined a number of other circuses, working at the Hubert’s Museum in Times Square. This woman even drives a sled, participates in movies thanks to her manly appearance.

After becoming a performer, Jane had little contact with her family because she believed her relatives saw her as a disgrace. By 1940, Jane claimed to have not seen her sister and brothers for 22 years, believing they were all dead.



Many people are curious with shaggy beards like men, whether Jane can find her other half. In fact, the “bearded lady” has been married four times. Her first marriage was to a German musician when she was 14 years old. He played for John Robinson’s Circus band. They had two children together.

Later, Jane remarried to a hot air balloon athlete, but this man also had a short life. Her third marriage was to an alcoholic man. This time, it was Jane who took the initiative to divorce.

Eventually, Jane married her curator Thomas O’Boyle in 1931. He was an orphaned circus clown and side storyteller for Hubert’s Dime Museum.

Jane Barnell died on July 21, 1945, ending her life entertaining people. Born with a monstrous disease, Jane was abandoned by her own mother, living as a pastime for everyone. Even her married life was not perfect. However, it is what Jane has experienced that proves to everyone the extraordinary vitality and effort of this woman.